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Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:38 am

Hi Samba,

Cause we love fuel questions! :)

I have owned my current vanagon for about 1.5 years. When I bought it I was told that all the fuel lines had been replaced. This quickly proved to be some sorta joke. Although, some lines had been replaced I can say that the job at best was half baked because of the leaks that I later repaired at the injectors, fuel t and other junctures.

Certainly the lines in the engine bay had not been touched. Any how, now I can say that all the lines leaving and returning the gas tank are pristine and in working order. I took the time to also add a post pump (round) metal filter and replace the square pre pump filter a couple of times (this is an 85)

As I was rummaging thru the pile of receipts that the PO had in the Van I noticed that he bought from one of our vendors some seals and grommets. Mainly the breather grommets, filler neck seal and fuel tank sending unit O-ring. Other receipts are for vast a arrays of fuel lines and clamps. Recently I have been smelling the faint smell of fuel, but no leaks on the ground or undercarriage.

Given the stuff that he bought, I presume that the PO may have drooped the tank and replaced these seal, grommets and maybe lines sometime in 2006.

NOW the questions: Is it possible that these items may have degraded since 2006, just 3 years?

What says the list? Should I drop the tank and replace the whole Medusa's head under there?

Thanks,
Tony

Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:40 am

mmmmmm yes...mine have only been lasting about 3 years

http://www.kayakwesty.com/gastank.html

Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:28 am

kayakwesty wrote: mmmmmm yes...mine have only been lasting about 3 years

http://www.kayakwesty.com/gastank.html

less than that for me, perhaps we should not keep our gas tanks full

Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:33 am

Tomasz wrote: kayakwesty wrote: mmmmmm yes...mine have only been lasting about 3 years

http://www.kayakwesty.com/gastank.html

less than that for me, perhaps we should not keep our gas tanks full

That would make for very short road trips no?

Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:41 am

Neptuno wrote: Tomasz wrote: kayakwesty wrote: mmmmmm yes...mine have only been lasting about 3 years

http://www.kayakwesty.com/gastank.html

less than that for me, perhaps we should not keep our gas tanks full

That would make for very short road trips no?

Well, not during the trips but when parked in the garage days at a time. I in the past kept the tank always full even though there were not trips planned. Again, it's just my speculation. But having rubbery grommet submerged in gasoline can not be all that good.

Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:13 am

Quote: Well, not during the trips but when parked in the garage days at a time. I in the past kept the tank always full even though there were not trips planned. Again, it's just my speculation. But having rubbery grommet submerged in gasoline can not be all that good.

But I have found if I don't keep it full the tank rusts like a sieve and then I have to change out the filters more than I care too

Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:39 pm

Some of the aftermarket gaskets have been known to give out in a few years but the gaskets from the dealer seem to be OK.

Earlier this year I replaced all the lines to and from the tank as well as the gaskets.

Allthough the expansion tank gaskets are NLA I was able to find them from a dealer who had them sitting on the back shelf collecting dust. Might be worth calling around the various dealers, maybe they still have them in stock.

Airhead parts has some aftermarket gaskets for the expansion tanks but Im not sure of the quality.

The VDO sender unit, and the overflow tank valves and the fuel filler tank grommets are available (as of 6-8-09) from Bus Depot.
Those are an original VW part and had the Audi/VW logo stamped on them.

Some have ventured a guess that the additives in todays gasoline can cause issues with the rubber gaskets but I havent heard any problems with the original stuff.

On a side note...I have some of the black plastic tube that attaches to the valves on the expansion tanks so if anyones interested, no reasonable offer will be refused. Part number N-020-130-2

I also have an extra plastic "T" that all the tubing connects to. Part number 113-127-563.

Thu Dec 10, 2009 5:05 pm

Dealer gaskets - ok, you guys had me scared for a while.

now, are there any mail-order Dealers that sell parts w/o all the markup?

the Dealer here (Eugene, OR) is terrible - doesn't stock; doesn't know; doesn't care...

Thu Dec 10, 2009 5:38 pm

Its been my experience that if I call a local VW dealer and give them a part number and they come back saying that they dont have it I then ask them to do a Nation Wide Search of all VW dealers for the part Im looking for.

For instance...when I was interested in the fuel tank crossover pipe, no one seemed to have one available at the regular parts houses, BD or VC or GW.

I called a local dealer and asked them to do a search for the part and they found two of them in stock at a VW dealer in another country :shock: .

Further investigation, and I found one at EW VW parts.

Many parts are still out there sitting on a back shelf collecting dust
and it seems that if you really want an original part and the local parts houses dont have it, you can luck out by searching for it online.

Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:30 pm

why is the GW kit $70 and the VC kit $110?

Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:43 pm

On my '83, I dropped the tank in 1996 and replaced the gromets... purchased from a VW Dealer.

They are still good 14 years later.

Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:57 pm

My new filler neck grommet lasted about a week before it degraded. No Joke!

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=362988&highlight=gas+grommet