Dave, did you do the test for the bad fuel pressure regulator?  These go
bad more than the pumps.  I have an economy aftermarket pump for $125 if
you decide to go this way.  I wouldn't rig it with a check valve.  You
didn't like the other guy's rigging, and if the check valve in the pump
is bad the pump isn't far behind.  Let me know if I can help you further.

Ken wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com

Dave Arthur wrote:
> I hope I never get to be one of those PO (Previous Owners). I hate it when
> technicians(?) take short cuts and 'make it work'.
>
> I've been tracking down an uneven idle and decide it was time to do a test
> of the injectors. I work at a community college and borrowed an OTC kit, it
> consists of a pressure gauge and an electronic device to manually fire the
> injectors.
>
> The procedure is to fit the pressure gauge into the fuel system, turn on the
> ignition to pressurize the system (pump should shut off after 5 seconds),
> note the fuel pressure and then fire the injector (50 pulses at 1 ms per
> pulse was suggested), note the resulting fuel pressure and calculate the
> drop. All the injectors should have approximately the same drop which
> correlates to fuel passed through the injector. Now of course it doesn't
> evaluate pattern etc. but its a fast test.
>
> So I set up and turned on the ignition, the fuel pump runs continuously and
> doesn't turn off after 5 seconds. Being a new Vanagon owner I thought that
> this was normal... But I'm now suspicious.
>
> I checked the wiring diagram and see that the pump is actually run through a
> relay, that is controlled by the ECU. I removed the relay, turned on the
> ignition and the pump still ran. Turns out the PO/Tech had run a wire from
> terminal 15 on the coil directly to the pump. So ignition on, pump on.
>
> This of course is a huge safety issue ...
>
> I replaced the relay and connected the pump up properly and all was well,
> until I checked the fuel pressure. As soon as the pump stopped the fuel
> pressure bled down rapidly to zero (~2-3 sec). The manual expects at least
> 29 psi after ten minutes!
>
> I pinched off the fuel return line and individual injectors to test for leak
> down issues and concluded that the pump itself was not holding the pressure
> when it stopped.
>
> So the engine runs, but starts hard, with the pump running all the time as
> before, the engine started immediately.
>
> I guess I need to know my options. Could I put a check valve in the pressure
> side of the fuel line or should I bite the bullet and get a new pump?
>
> Dave
>
> '86 Westy
>
>