My 412 these days..

[ClassicCamper]

[Pepperbilly]

Ron,

Read the thread “412 Tie Rod Ends?” Discusses the angled tie rod ends.

Bill

[ClassicCamper]

[ClassicCamper]

The previous owner of my T4, who only had it a very brief time was kind enough to send me photos of the car when he bought off of Ebay. What a stand up guy! It gave me a glimpse into it's California residency. The PO was from the Nashville area and must have done a lot of reading about what it takes to get one of these cars roadworthy. (especially the front end)

I almost passed on the car myself as I had no clue about D-Jet, gas heaters, unobtanium front end parts, etc, etc. I was pretty lost when it was delivered and almost gave up a few times. But, one of the best things I did was buying this car. I never get tired of it and it always needs a little attention. Pictures were circa 2014.

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1973 412 Wagon
1976 Westy
1978 SB Vert

[Pepperbilly]

Love the historical photos! You've come a long way baby. By the way, sent you a PM.

Bill

[ClassicCamper]

Greetings 412 friends, it’s been a while. Been recovering from a long illness, but always eager to check out the posts. Happy to see everyone is going strong! Took the 412 out today for a nice ride to Pennsylvania. It ran beautifully:


Link


I was thrilled to get back in it. It’s been a long time, but have always made sure it has been looked after. It ran effortlessly at 70-75 mph and still wanted to go. Roughly a 100 mile trip. Once I got to my destination, I noticed the engine was idling a bit high- I suddenly remembered I had the idle set on the higher side to help run the A/C compressor in the summer.

Well… I had a few moments to spare, so I figued that I would take my stubby screwdriver and slow it down while I was waiting. That decision very likely saved my entire car. By luck, I saw this:


Link


The drip is coming from the adjusting screw/nut in the rear of the FPR and running underneath it, dripping at it’s seam onto the foam engine seal. I tightened the nut, thinking it was loose, but no… something failed. It seems like a strange area. The hoses are fine, there was NO smell in the car. When I took the engine cover off, I could smell the fuel, but it wasnt overwhelming. The area was SOAKED with fuel, so must have been dripping for most of the trip. I did notice a faster than usual decrease in my fuel gauge, but figured it was just sender fluctuations. Reiterating… I was pretty lucky here, this could have been a disaster! It was 20 degrees out and I didnt have the gas heater on, another bit of luck.

So, I decided to do this:

All‘s well that ends well. No fire. I know the job at hand is to replace the FPR, but very curious to understand what causes such a dangerous failure. I hope my luck serves as an alert to everyone to keep a periodic eye on this area. If the car burned to the ground, I would have never known what caused it. I thought for sure it was a leaky hose, but they are all fine. The leak isnt coming from the seam of the FPR either. If there are any suggestions where to buy one, I‘d appreciate recommendations. I carefully read Ray‘s post with the dissection of the FPR, but the links to replacements seem to be sold out.

Happy Holidays to all, and cheers to my 412 seeing another day!
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1973 412 Wagon
1976 Westy
1978 SB Vert

[raygreenwood]

How old is your FPR?

If it's new.....is it NOS?

The failure you are seeing is a crack in the rubber diaphragm inside that is letting the fuel from the inside of the diaphragm leak to the outside where it should never be.

It's a rare failure. I have only seen a couple of them do that. I also have never gotten a chance to purposely or accidentally drive with one like that.

It would also be very instructive.....to learn what this failure does to the fuel pressure.

I am purely guessing that it does not much to the fuel pressure because the diaphragm is not really what exerts pressure on the metering plate so much as the spring and the adjusting screw. The diaphragm is mainly a flexible seal between the two halves.

A reminder of how it works:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=656298&highlight=fuel+pressure+regulator

So, with age the very tough diaphragm cam get brittle and crack. Yes, being in fuel many years is part of that but age alone could be just as much of a factor. So, sadly even if you nought a new in the box FPR.....if it was VERY NOS...that could be part of the root cause.

Put a new one on.....take the old one and dissect it and add pictures to the other FPR thread above!

Ray

[Pepperbilly]

Wow, you got lucky to discover that! From the video it almost looks like it is leaking through the body, like a pinhole. Hard to determine from photos though. That is why a fire extinguisher is a mandatory piece of equipment. How far did you have to flat bed it?

Bill

[vw81jetta]

you must be in southern PA as i dont see any snow or road salt . Beautiful wagon btw deffenitly got lucky finding the FPR leaking
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~Jay
68 dunebuggy ,72 411, 75 Westfalia, 85 Cabriolet , 99 new beetle,

Greater Toledo Volkswagen Club Staff