>> Try a '70 single-port engine with Solex 30PICT-3 carb, stock bus
>> muffler, generator, non-doghouse oil cooler, tired rings, one or
>> more vacuum leaks, two oil leaks, and an appetite for brake fluid.
>
>How can the engine eat brake fluid?
>Erik burtis

Long story, Eric..two failed components in a row. Three, actually.

The '71 bus has a long vacuum line (first year that had it) from the
intake manifold all the way to the front axle, to the power brake servo.
The master cylinder also bolts to the servo, obviously.

The '71 bus engine has a large tap in its dual-port manifold, to feed
this vacuum line. The '70 single-port engine I now have, didn't originally
have this tap, but one has been brazed onto this example.

Well, the master cylinder developed a leak, probably long before I got
the bus. The brake servo slowly filled with fluid-- probably the PO kept
refilling the reservoir, maybe not even wondering where the stuff was
going. Eventually, it started running down the vacuum line toward the
engine. It was probably helped by a crack in the one-way valve that sits
in the line next to the manifold-- a nice breeze inside the line to help
it along.

Eventually the fluid found its way into the intake manifold, where it
was pulled into the cylinders and burned. Made huge, choking clouds of
white smoke. I thought the engine was trash... but pulling the vacuum
line off the manifold and capping the tap, made everything run great
all of a sudden. BTW when I pulled the line, a stream of old, grungy
brake fluid poured out.

Before this fix, I had posted to the list asking if this scenario was
at all possible-- sounded like the world's most mickeymouse longshot.
To my surprise, several people replied that this exact thing had happened
to them. Small world!!!

 -Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com   '71 VW Transporter w/no leaks, finally