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Fri Dec 02, 2005 3:16 pm

That Braided German Fuel Line is like a god damn chinese finger trap when you try and remove it...I'm not so sure that hose clamps really do much :P

I had to use vise grips to get the fuel line off this afternoon. If you check you lines periodically for cracks I wouldn't think that they could easily slip off!

Wed Dec 07, 2005 2:58 pm

Another problem, especially in older models, is the fuel pump itself.
The original pumps had a screen that one could get to and clean by unscrewing the top of the pump. With time the seals would wear out, also if you disassembled often, I guess. This would cause gasoline to leak out of the pump and cause engine fires.

I forget when VW changed the pumps to where they were sealed. This reduced dramatically the amount of fires...

Cheers!

Jose Douglas
1970 VW Beetle
1999 VW Jetta GL
2004 GMC Sierra

Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:33 pm

Air cooled VW bus on fire. Burns just like a beetle would.

Thu Jan 05, 2006 3:11 pm

I had a major fuel pump leak a few weeks ago. Really crappy mileage and you could smell the fuel a mile away. I'm lucky it didn't burn up.

I have yet to move the filter toward the gas tank though, I just lengthened the hose so my filter wasn't sitting on top of the distributor. I make it a point to replace the hose periodically.

Mon Jan 16, 2006 6:23 pm

My dad sold his to this girl for her 16th b-day and caught on fire like 6 months later....oopsy poopsy

Mon Jan 23, 2006 12:04 pm

That picture of the bus burning brings back memories and the smell of a burnt up bug. When I was a kid my Mom's bug caught fire because of the battery/backseat issue. My Mom picked up my little brother, little sister and myself from school one day. My bro and sis were riding in the backseat. When we were half way home I started smelling a burning smell. My Mom doesn't have a sense of smell. I turned around and saw a lot of smoke. We pulled over and got everyone out. Within a few minutes it was one big VW fireball. Luckily my Dad had put clamps on all the hoses or else it would have been one big VW explosion.

Nowadays all of our bugs have a big, thick piece of rubber covering the battery.

Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:13 pm

I will tell you first hand that the engine compartment is not the only place to watch for fires!

I dont know if they changed this in other years or not, but the battery under my seat actually arced to the frame and set the seat on fire.

Luckily I was in the car and before I was in the car and had my fire extinguisher on hand. Although I now have a padded Plywood seat that came out rather nice. And doesnt conduct electricity.

So there is my thought on this... what those seat springs.

-E

Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:55 am

8) This one happened to me 2 years ago.

'76 Bug, 1776cc, Mergered four into 1 headers.

Driving on I-10 from Jax to P'cola.100 miles from Home. Exhaust noise seemed to be getting louder? Started smelling rubber burning. Looked in rear view..SMOKE trailing behind car like I was a Blue Angels FA-18!! :( Pulled over.Turned off engine. Killed battery with inboard mounted switch. Grabbed Fire extinguisher,Black smoke and flames pouring from rt hand side of engine. The rubber engine seal had been ignited by by the header pipe.
Put fire out with water from my cooler. (chemicals used in fire bottles are extremely corrosive ).

Burned engine seal, Exhaust pipe ruined, no other damgage. :shock:

Problem : I was stupid :oops: and used header wrap thinking that would keep the paint on engine tin from roasting from exhaust heat.Worked good for about 3 months. The header pipe stressed from exsessive heat and rusted under the header wrap . Cracked open allowing a small spray of red hot exhaust gas onto the engine seal rubber.

Had to call wife to come and rescue me. :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

No header wrap . Ever again. :wink:

BTW I solved the heat problem to attaching to the bottom of the engine tin the same heat shield material that's used between cataletic (sp)converters and floor pans on American cars. Leaves tin cool enough to touch.
Just one of my VW adventure stories. :roll:

Fri Feb 17, 2006 12:42 pm

A couple of years ago I had this aftermarket aircleaner from EMPI the funny part is that it was the only that ever fit right compared to the one on my girlfiriend"s. So my friend found it in my garage and ask if he could have it (I had put webers in my car) so he put it on his car all excited(maybe a little to excited) and we left to go to bug nite and he rounded the corner on PCH and I noticed a big fireball and lots of smoke in my rearview mirrior. So I fliped a bitch to go help him out. Luckly he had a fire ext, as it turned out he never bothered to tighten the aircleaner all the way down so it flew off and grounded on the alt or generator :shock: Luckly all he had to do way put new wiring in.

Sat Apr 01, 2006 1:41 pm

Miguel Arroyo wrote: Delaware Dave wrote: It happens all too often. Just recently two members have lost their bugs due to fire.

The best advice is this. Follow the guidelines set up by the more experienced members for the forums. In a nutshell:

1.If your fuel filter is located in the engine compartment, relocate it to the fuel line under the tank.
2.Replace all your rubber fuel lines on a schedule, say, every other year, or more often if they look/feel hard, cracked etc... (Don't forget the line from the pan to the engine firewall, just at the rear axle)
3.When replacing fuel lines, use the good stuff. The Euro line is fabric coated on the outside, usually gray in color. 5mm internal diameter for carb setup, 7mm for fuelies.
4.Use good hose clamps at all connection points. I use clamps from the local Mercedes Benz place, and they work perfect. Just ask for fuel line clamps. They will be kind of gold in color, and have a clamping band all the way around them. They close with a phillips head screwdriver. They will have an actual MB part number. Don't let then give you a generic hose clamp. (Generic will work okay, but it defeats the purpose of going to MB in the first place).
5.Check the rubber grommet that protects the metal fuel line as it comes through the engine firewall from rear axle area. Replace it if it's worn or old and cracked. That metal line can wear through at this point and cause a leak.
6.No matter what, carry a fire extinguisher!

Excellent well written advice. I would only add to periodically check the condition of the fuel lines (say monthly, or before/after a long trip). Good luck.

also i could add this as it happened to me with my vanagon not to be off topic if you have an electric fuel pump check it mine blew a seam while on a trip and emptied the tank under the van in minutes .....but it would be good to check on any VW

Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:58 am

I just had my 73 super beetle catch on fire on sunday night. Something behind the fuse box shorted out and instantly the whole wiring harness was on fire. I always have a fire extinguisher so I got the fire put out I now have no wires left the bottom part of the dash also burned slightly. But it could have been worse I still have my car she just needs a bit of work.

Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:52 am

67stang302 wrote: I just had my 73 super beetle catch on fire on sunday night. Something behind the fuse box shorted out and instantly the whole wiring harness was on fire. I always have a fire extinguisher so I got the fire put out I now have no wires left the bottom part of the dash also burned slightly. But it could have been worse I still have my car she just needs a bit of work.

Sorry to hear that, hope for an speedy and inexpensive recovery :D

Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:17 pm

I almost lost my 68 beetle to fire as well. The hose that ran between the carb and fuel pump over time had rubbed through and while I was on the highway, ruptured. Noy good with the fuel pump pumping gas all over the engine block...BOOM! Fortunately I had a fire extinguisher, so the damage was mostly replacing wires and such. I use better quality hose now.

Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:19 pm

Great68 wrote: ... I use better quality hose now.

It is amazing how sometimes the little things cause the biggest problems. I use german fuel lines, just to make sure.

Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:07 pm

I had a small fire last night, since I lost my # 3 & 4 cylinders I decided (like an idiot) to drive the bug home from my girlfreinds.. It got so hot on the 1 & 2 cyl side it burnt the tar board soud deadening stuff, the rubber engine seal and the fan to heaterbox hose.. good thing for my quality german fuel line and my fire extinguisher!

Wed May 24, 2006 4:06 pm

I really appreciate all the thoughts and appreciate this sticky on fuel fires, as well.

I found that my new-to-me bug has several serious and dangerous problems. First, the fuel line that goes through the firewall at the bottom left rear of the engine is rubber on my bug. There is no grommet to protect it and it had chafe marks in the rubber where it was being cut by the thin firewall metal as it passed thru. This line is supposed to be metal and protected by a rubber grommet, right?

It turns out that the crappy rubber (not cloth covered) hose that attaches to the #1 cylinder injector was cut through by its clamp and was leaking. I didn't notice this leak when first posting as it was hidden by the air cleaner assembly. I'm glad this fire thread got me worried enough to look harder. Don't want to lose another VW to a fire!

Wed May 24, 2006 7:54 pm

DasBug wrote: I really appreciate all the thoughts and appreciate this sticky on fuel fires, as well.

I found that my new-to-me bug has several serious and dangerous problems. First, the fuel line that goes through the firewall at the bottom left rear of the engine is rubber on my bug. There is no grommet to protect it and it had chafe marks in the rubber where it was being cut by the thin firewall metal as it passed thru. This line is supposed to be metal and protected by a rubber grommet, right?
It turns out that the crappy rubber (not cloth covered) hose that attaches to the #1 cylinder injector was cut through by its clamp and was leaking. I didn't notice this leak when first posting as it was hidden by the air cleaner assembly. I'm glad this fire thread got me worried enough to look harder. Don't want to lose another VW to a fire!

Max Welton wrote: Here:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.vw...mp;rnum=13

Max

8)
Check out this link that Max Welton posted earlier. It is from Bob Hoover's Tulz series. It is the best article that you can get on how to solve the fuel line through the forward tin Problem and other Fire hazard situations.

Enjoy! :D Learn or Burn !!! :shock:

Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:27 am

There is one more potential fire source not mentioned yet- accelerator pump diaphragms.

I was adjusting my carb last year, and in the process was spending a lot of time in the back of the car alternating between adjusting the screws and pulling the throttle arm to keep the engine running. After a while, I started smelling gas. I thought I was just running it rich, but no amount of adjusting made it go away. Just then, while pulling the throttle arm, I saw a spray of gas shoot out the side of the carb! :shock:

I immediately killed the engine. Pulling the arm again confirmed it- the accelerator pump diaphragm was torn, and working the pump squirted gas straight out the side of the carb! :shock: I'm very lucky that I discovered this when I did, and I'm also very lucky that the fuel fog wasn't ignited by my hot engine or exhaust.

So be sure that part of your periodic checkout routine involves pulling the throttle arm (with the car off), and watching for gas around the accelerator pump. It might not spray like mine, it might just seep out- but it could still be very dangerous.

- David

Sat Jun 03, 2006 6:42 pm

Greetings,
I had my '65 Beetle almost go up - portly roommate was on back seat and battery cable had frayed a little beyond the plastic cover for the terminal.

Here's an idea I haven't seen posted yet - I don't know where you might try this to get to it in an emergency - but we have these spring-loaded petcocks on our fuel system in our helicopters. If there's a fire, the crewchief or mech gives the cutoff valve a quick twist to shut off the fuel to the pump. I'd have to look up the vendor information to see how one could obtain this - ours are made by (or at least when the a/c was new back in the 60s) by Boeing-Vertol.

Hopefully one wouldn't need to ever use it!

Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:38 pm

It has taken me over ten years of dreaming and waiting, and I got mine!!
Now I hear that my little dream can burst into flames!! It needs a carb, due to fuel leaking out!! I have been garaged by my husband!
I can't drive it till I get that fixed. I can understand that, as I'm sure you can.
I plan to relocate the fuel filter to the fuel line coming from the tank as opposed to being in the engine compartment. I have the braided hoses on it now. I also have a receipt from the begining of the year from a mechanic that say it got new lines then.
I also plan to cover the battery terminals and to carry a fire extinguisher, just in case.
My question is do I need to do anything else? I could stand it if she caught on fire. It has taken me along time to get her. I already have alot of work into her, I just don't want to leave anything out. Thanks for everything, ya'll are great!!

Sara :D
1973 Deluxe Bettle