Marc,

There is a definite cycle of preventive maintenance on the Vanagon that
for sure, and  entails hose REPlACEMENT within given time periods. It's
not written in Bentley that I know of - but experience dictates. The
same is true of the fittings in the cooling system as well as the hoses.
The fittings get brittle with age. After all, even the youngest of the
Vanagons is now what - 19 years old? My two 88 GLs are of course 21
years of age.

The fuel system hoses have the same cyclic requirement. I replace mine
every 5 years regardless. I look at them once a month, regardless. And I
look at them every time I have the hatch open - regardless. On the fuel
hoses you just cannot be to careful.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Marc Perdue wrote:
> Jeff,
>
> Good that it was an easy fix!  I now have this irrational fear of
> stopping at a drive-through because two different times a similar
> thing has happened to me while I was ordering fast-food.  Hmmm, I
> wonder if someone's trying to tell me something?  :^)  In one case,
> the hose that goes over the license plate door to one of the tanks
> came loose.  In the other, it turned out I had a broken hose.  In the
> latter case, I was way out in the middle of nowhere and couldn't find
> where the leak was till I limped on home and had some time to
> investigate more thoroughly.  It was a slow leak and I was able to
> keep it topped up as I limped home, but that was a pain . . .  I'm
> trying to wait till after festival season then replace all the coolant
> and fuel lines . . . as a precautionary measure.
>
> Have a great weekend everyone!
> Marc
>
>
>