Gary, there's a tee in the fuel line in the engine compartment for taking a
line off to test the pressure.  Just to the right of the distributor.

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 10:03 AM, Gary Bawden <goldfieldgary@gmail.com>wrote:

> Greetings fellow Vanagonauts,
>
> I just put in the third fuel pump in Hector, in about as many years.
> The  blamed thing always whined, until finally it would give out,
> sometimes in an inconvenient location (the last one was in Las Vegas
> in the middle of the summer, had to push it around a corner into a
> parking lot, so needless to say it was a quickie fix, put in the spare
> and get going).
>
> So following list advice, I have had the fuel tank out a couple of
> times for cleaning, changed the filters, etc. What I didn't do: never
> checked the pressure, or really looked at the wiring.
>
> Last night put in the last spare pump I had (found a Pierburg at the
> Pick n Pull), and was looking at the ground wire. A light went on - -
> a pump struggling for full electrical power would not be a happy pump!
> Took out the ground screw and scraped it down to bare metal, then
> after looking at the wire, cut a new on and crimped on new connectors.
> Put it back together, turned the key, and thought, just my luck, I
> picked up a dead pump. I couldn't hear a thing! Took the pump back out
> and filled the inlet line with fuel system cleaner, hooked it up to a
> battery, it ran fine! Reinstalled in Hector, not a sound was to be
> heard. Tried to start the engine and it fired right up, pump runs but
> so very quietly. Color me amazed!
>
> I will still put a tee in the line and record the pressure, but I
> think I've found the problem. It truly pays to bear in mind that 90%
> of automotive complaints are electrical in nature (or at least that's
> what they told us in Auto Electrical 101, years ago).
>
> Gary
>

--
Jake

1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"

Crescent Beach, BC

www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27