TheSamba.com :: View topic - check your fuel inlet they come loose. lost my bug today

Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:41 pm

today while driving my 1972 beetle. the fuel inlet came loose from the carb. didnt know this could happen. but it did. after the FIRE was put out i have a hulk of what used to be a sweet bug. so this is my warning to all of you check your fuel inlet tube. make sure its not loose and lock tite that bad boy in. its a sad day in beetle heaven....a great little bug has died........ :(

Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:45 pm

sorry to hear bud iv seen some people use wire to make sure it doesnt come out but a little late was it a total loss?

Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:47 pm

the whole back end is toast..not the good kind.its rebuildable. just not sure if i want to yet.its still to fresh in my mind.ill post some pics later. when the tow truck gets here with it.... :(

Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:52 pm

Sorry to hear that man. Press-Fit fuel inlet tubes weren't the Volkswagen engineer's best idea. I say if the structural integrity of the car's frame is still good, rebuild that sucker!

Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:56 pm

I had the same thing happen to my 70, rewired everything in the engine compartment and rolled it. 8)

Sorry to hear though man, I know it sucks biggins.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:00 pm

ohgawd that sucks SOOO bad :cry: how long did the fire last? This is VERRY common with aircoolds, thats why we carry fire extinguishers. If the back end only got damaged, your luckey. Watch this fire and be happy that didnt happen to you.

*EDIT* lol at 6:45 when the fire fighter though the engine was in the front

Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:05 pm

Quote: This is VERRY common

Not if you take the proper precautions it's not. If you check your fuel lines regularly, and have made sure that the fuel inlet is secure, you'll be just fine. Someone, like Glenn for example, put over 400k miles on his car and never once did anything like this happen because he was on top of it.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:58 pm

I started with safety-wiring mine in the 1970s, after smelling gas while driving home; I drove it like 5 miles like that, didn't think that the gas smell was from me.

Anyway, got home, got out, smelled gas, realized I was the car leaking, opened the hood, found a fuel line loose at the fuel pump outlet. There was liquid gasoline all over the engine compartment, but the fuel line didn't come off completely, so the VW still ran.

I was afraid to hose it off for fear of a fire, so I just let it evaporate away for a few hours. I seem to remember a German crimp-on clamp came loose, but not sure any more. I did NOT have an add-on fuel filter there either. Anyway, I ended up installing worm-type hose clamps to the fuel lines, and safety-wiring them so they couldn't fall off ever again.

Glenn in NY started safety-wiring his about the same time, but did a prettier job of his.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:00 pm

I'm sorry to hear that, I love my bug more than my old lady... Look on the bright side now you get to buy more parts! Rebuild and put life back into your bug.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:04 pm

TjdTaylor wrote: ohgawd that sucks SOOO bad :cry: how long did the fire last? This is VERRY common with aircoolds, thats why we carry fire extinguishers.

Unless you have one of those huge 9kg extinguishers they are next to useless on a fuel fire unless your tank is almost empty.

PatterBon wrote:
Someone, like Glenn for example, put over 400k miles on his car and never once did anything like this happen because he was on top of it.

You can probably count the number of those miles on one hand that he actually had a stock solex carb :wink:

Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:15 pm

if it didn't get totally destroyed, bring it back! you love your car, or you wouldn't be here. if my car did like the one in the video, it would be like losing a family pet. i will stay on top of my car like a skinny hooker on a fat guy with money. i would absolutely go into shock if i lost my car to a fire like that....
sorry for your loss, man. bring her back to life!!

Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:15 pm

Is this problem limited to VW carbs or are aftermarkets like Webber and Delorto guilty as well?

Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:42 pm

all of em, its the hose popping off the carb itself. And as for the fire extinguisher not helping, when you shutoff the engine, it kills the fuel pump does it not? Should i look into a remote fuel pump kill switch for just in case?

Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:37 pm

Aw man, didn't you just buy that car? Sorry to hear about it. Hope you decide to rebuild.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:42 pm

That shitll buff out..

Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:57 pm

That is only one of several design issues with the stock fuel system that can torch your bug. Most new aircooled VW owners don't know what they are. For them, it's just a matter of time. :cry:

The "Beetles and Fires" thread is required reading if you plan to avoid a fire.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131225

Max

Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:13 pm

i gota wire that sucker down !
and maybe even get around to putting that dang fuel filter behind the wheelwell,...

Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:36 pm

TjdTaylor wrote: all of em, its the hose popping off the carb itself. And as for the fire extinguisher not helping, when you shutoff the engine, it kills the fuel pump does it not? Should i look into a remote fuel pump kill switch for just in case?

Webers and dells use screw in fittings.
Well not the cheap repoop ones.

THe original pumps usually stop the flow but alot of crappy aftermarket ones don't and the rubber fuel lines are the first thing to melt away in a fire so the fuel just keeps dumping into the fire till the fires out.

I was in the rural bush fire brigade when I was younger, one of the first things we were taught was about VW mag fires.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:17 pm

Mine caught fire in the summer of 1990- two months before I was going to take it to college. Ended up with no car- and no girls- my first 2 years in college because of it.

Luckily my fire was supposedly electrical- whatever it was, the damage was limited to rear engine deck and rear window only (and that was because the firefighters smashed it out to douse the interior.) It took about 5 years total for the burn smell to completely remove itself from the car.

But it is worth the time and effort to rebuild it.

Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:23 am

That is the saddest effing video I have ever seen. Jebus. I know what my spring project is going to be now....sweet jebus....