hi y'all,
It's been ages since I have posted to the list but this bore mention.  I
pulled my '84 Westy out of winter storage last week and just about burned
it to the ground right on the spot.  How?  Everything looked ship shape and
it started right up on the first try, so I wandered off to let the motor
warm up before attempting to move the bus.  Came back a minute later to
find gasoline spraying under the bus and in the engine
compartment.  Yikes!!!  My fuel line had failed in multiple places, and
gasoline was spraying everywhere under pressure.  I immediately shut the
motor down that that was that.  I am so lucky the bus didn't burn!

Now the other scary part.  This was the recommended expensive, German-made
Cohline high pressure hose, installed new only 18 months ago.  Cohline is
the stuff with a braided black fabric sheath on the outside.  On
inspection, I found that the rubber was cracking/hardening throughout.  I
have not used any alternative fuels or fuel additives that might cause the
rubber to fail prematurely.  Maybe I just happened to get a bad batch of
hose or something, but I don't trust the stuff anymore.  It should not have
failed in such a short time.  Has anyone else had problems with this brand?

And a friendly word of advice, for what it's worth... if you have really
old fuel lines, REPLACE THEM.  You can use 5/16" fuel hose from any auto
parts store.  Just be sure to get true fuel-injection rated line, not the
cheap stuff.  The right stuff will cost $4 a foot or so, and have "SAE
30R9" stamped on it.  Run a single piece all the way back from the fuel
filter to the engine, bypassing the white plastic junction fitting on the
engine bay forward firewall if your bus has it.  (This plastic barb fitting
is unnecessary and is also a known potential leak point as it ages and gets
brittle.  You are better off without it.)  Short of a wreck, there is no
surer way to total your bus than to have a fuel fire.

older and wiser,
Robert
Ithaca, NY
<www.people.cornell.edu/pages/rdh24/vw/index_vw.html>