Recommend fuel filter? Some general air cooled questions.

[domromer]

Hi all,

I just picked up an 81 Westy yesterday, it has an air cooled engine and I was told this is the forum to ask questions about that engine. The po installed a new fuel pump and a paper fuel filter, last night the fuel pump was buzzing on the way home. I'm thinking it needs the filter changed and I'm thinking that the $3 paper filter should be replaced with something more robust. He showed me the old filter and it was a large bosche filter that was cylinder shaped. This Westy is also the California model. I'm not sure if that makes a difference. I'm hoping one of you guys can point me in the right direction in terms of the appropriate filter.
_________________
1981 Aircooled Vanagon
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dsrphotography/
http://www.dustybootsphotography.com/

[Randy in Maine]

Usually cavitation of the fuel pump ("buzzing") indicates that something is not allowing adequate fuel to enter the fuel pump.

How rusty is the fuel tank anyway?

[PITApan]

[Wildthings]

Your fuel tank and pump are more 83-85 Vanagon'ish than Bay'ish so read up on the problems people have with the stock pump and filter on the early WBXer Vanagons. From '86 on VW upgraded the fuel system and the problems went away, this sounds like what some PO of your rig tried to do by using the large cylindrical filter, presumably after the pump. If your tank is shot, then upgrading to a later tank might be in order.

[sodbuster]

I left my dealership job back in 1990 and have not touched many Vanagons since. but wildthings is correct. In fact there may have been some factory recalls in regards to that issue.

Just going off the top of my head here ( the research is up to you.) but this may have been something to do with the fuel pick up and return being too close together in the tank. the unused fuel returning to the tank after passing through the fuel system is at a higher temperature than the fuel in the tank.

if the fuel pick up and return are too close together the returning fuel does not have sufficient time to cool before being picked up again by the fuel pump. this condition will eventually cause the pump to cavitate and in extreme cases cause a vapor lock condition.

I'm not saying that this is what you are dealing with but it is something to consider. I'm at work at the moment but I may still have my old binder that I would keep all the recall and campaign info in. If I still have that info I will post it for you.

[domromer]

Without starting a new thread I've got another question. It seems the ac vanagons have a oil filter and seals that need to be replaced when doing an oil change. Is this something I can pick up at a local auto parts store, or Is this an online order type deal, I used to order all my basic tuneup stuff from van cafe but they don't seem to carry anything for the 01 westie.
_________________
1981 Aircooled Vanagon
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dsrphotography/
http://www.dustybootsphotography.com/

[Amskeptic]

[domromer]

Could you recommend one that would have the air cooled parts for this engine. The only one I used in the past was van cafe and they seem to only carry parts for 84 and up.
_________________
1981 Aircooled Vanagon
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dsrphotography/
http://www.dustybootsphotography.com/

[Wildthings]

Most of your engine parts are the same or similar to a 76-79 Bay Window bus, so any place that stocks late bus parts will have much of what you need. For what is is worth I have never spun a Mann or Mahle oil filter onto one of my VW engines, ever. For a Type 4 motor a Motorcraft FL300 works fine for any use on or off road, while a FL-1a (which is a bit longer than stock) if fine for highway use. Both these Motorcraft filters or cross references to them are readily available pretty much anywhere filters are sold in the US.

[raygreenwood]

A couple of notes....be careful...a steel body on a filter does not mean that it is a high pressure filter. There are actually more low pressure steel filters than there are high pressure.

Most of the systems that used filters after the pump were digifant/digijet (than means vanagon and later water cooled cars) and CIS injection.

Those filters are laid out totally differently Internally Than the pull through filters used on D-jet and L-jet.
The after the pump filters were used on digifant and digijet because those pumps were nitable for having poor priming and would have had notable cavitation trying to "pull" fuel through a filter. They had less issues pushing through a high pressure filter. The digifant and digijet pumps had about 10-15 psi higher pressure capabiloty than than the standard L-jet pumps.
By the way....VW/Bosch finally solved the last problems with digifant/digijet pumps in the rabbit/jetta mk 2s by putting a low pressure feeder pump in the tank.

Also....and I dont know how many times I have to go through this...there is no significant or measurable heat rise on the return fuel to the tank. Depending on engine usage at any given times the fuel spends between 10 and 30 seconds traveling the complete loop from pump back to tank. Yes....I bothered to spend time researching and measuring back in the 90s.

A great, high volume cheap, metal bodied high pressure after pump filter with standard fuel line nipples will fit a 90 model cabriolet among other vehicles.

It is a Bosch #71028 (standardized #) or Bosch 045 090 5030. They are $7.95 each at rock auto.
these filters also flow well enough to use on D and L jet and handle pressure well enough to use on CIS....but the connections are not safe for CIS. In fact.....this filter is internally....identical to the Bosch 0 450 905 601 high pressure CIS injection filter....or if you lik3 Mann filters like I do.....the Mann WK853. Both of which require high pressure banjo fittings and gasket rings.

If your pump uses an after pump high pressure filter and has no internal puml check valve....you can use the Vw fox CIS-e filter which is identical internally to all of the filters I lis5ed above....and uses banjo fittings as well....but comes with the check valve on the outflow side. Its Bosch part # is 0 450 905 143....or a Mann part # of WK 8531. Ray