Spending the money for the new pipe is only part of the issue. Putting
the damn thing in looked to be a nitemare when the sleeve came out of
one tube in my 87. I think they are embedded into the ends. Like a
shrink fit. What I did was to heat iup the plastic with a PROPANE TORCH
and then tap the sleeve back in with a chunk of 2x4 (improvised wood
mallett!)
Yes, I used a piece of furnace tin to avoid igniting the adjacent
burnables. A heat gun might have been safer, but where's the cord?
It's worked okay for over a year now.
This might be one of those items to inspect while you've got the thing
up on stands anyway. Take the hoses off and check the ends of the
plastic tubes for failure. I think they don't fail suddenly, but rather
over a period of time, so a little PM here could save a tow.
BTW, what's a tow? In nearly 15 years of ownership, I've never had to
tow a Vanagon. LOTS of limping back home and a few roadside repairs, but
never a tow!
Al Brase

jbange wrote:

> At 08:28 PM 2/27/2005, you wrote:
>
>> It looks like no one has responded. That sleeve was part of the plastic
>> tube. The tube has failed allowing the sleeve and the flare for the hose
>> to grip to come out. The tube should be replaced. That sleeve prevents
>> the tube from deforming as the clamp is tightened.
>
>
> Just curious-- has anyone attempted to clean both the brass reinforcement
> and the plastic tube and epoxy them back together? Sure, it'd probably
> require removing the flared ridge from the brass piece with a grinder,
> but
> is JB Weld not enough to hold it? And if it's not, wouldn't a couple
> brass
> rivets do the trick? Is it an issue with deterioration of the plastic
> tubing that calls for total replacement? Just wondering, 'cause I can
> think
> of a dozen ways I'd rather spend that money [when/if] that time comes.
>
> John Bange
> '90 Vanagon "Geldsauger"
>