Ride-On goes Subaru power

[Vee Dub Nut]

[ROCKOROD71]

[Ride_On]

[captincanuck]

Glad you made it home safe with the bus. It sounds like your pump didn't like its first taste of Canadian gas. I have the same Bosch pump in my bus and have had no problems with it, so maybe it is just pump roulette like others have suggested. The only difference in my setup is that I do have a large pre filter and a much larger than stock outlet on the tank.

I think Ben (Hasta Alaska guy) had a problem getting NAPA in Canada to honor a warrantee for some part he bought at NAPA in the USA. Might be something to consider when deciding where to get you new pump.
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1979 Westfalia "FireFly" Subaru 2.2 with Subaru gears 5spd.
Build Thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=634777&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[Xevin]

[Ride_On]

Honestly, not even going to bother trying to warranty the fuel pump. At least it's not on my radar right now. If it were a couple of hundred $$ part, maybe, but $75. The harder part of a refund might be that it cost $75USD but is $142.29CAD. Creating bilingual packaging is expensive don't ya know...
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1977 Westfalia 2.0 FI Skills EJ25 w SubaruGears 5sp
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687254
2018 Golf Sportwagen 4MO DSG (Dieselgated 2013 Golf Wagon TDI DSG)

[Abscate]

If I can Facilitate border crossing of parts, let me know. I have a trip to NRC upcoming, and am in QC monthly at least

I have to be straight up about what I bring in as I am on Nexus (and there is zero tolerance) but the I87 border crossing is a breeze so I can do regular
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.ssS!

[Ride_On]

Thanks! Appreciate the offer!!

[skills@eurocarsplus]

In terms of a pre filter....

A good idea for sure...but hear me out.

My 82 rabbit no filter

Bronco no filter

All of my swaps...no filter. I think its shit luck. That said the bosch in my truck is 6 years old. Besides, ride ons tank is 100% clean....

Thanks for being understanding. I still feel really bad. It sucks but this too shal come to pass.

I spoke with napa as well. Long story short....I will be buying very little from them moving forward....and zero electical components
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[TDCTDI]

[Ride_On]

Okay - back with some fuel economy and range data! Only 4 trips to the gas station, 2 of which were top-ups (after leaving Skills and, of course, a fill-up before crossing the border (~$0.89/L vs $1.10/L (up to $1.21/L today!?)), and 2 of which were "full" fill-ups.

Stock fuel tank capacity = 55L or 14.6 gallons (plus a gallon reserve I believe)

Before (original 2L FI Type 4, stock 091 4sp):
Full fill-up = 38-40L or 10-10.5 gallons (think I did one 12 gallon fill-up once)
Average fuel economy = 16-19L/100km / 12.5-15mpg
Distance = ~200km or 2hrs

After (1999 Subaru 2.5L EJ25, SubaruGears 5sp):

Tank 1
- quick top-up after leaving Skills' place

Tank 2
- first half: heavy snow, cold, full heat on, 1.5hrs crawling in 2nd gear, lowish coolant temp due to slushy roads
- second half: cold, but dry roads, 65mph cruising, coolant ~170-175F
Fuel Economy = 13.8L/100km (17mpg)
Volume = 42.28L (11.2g)
Distance = 306km (190 miles)

Tank 3
- border top-up, cold and clear, mostly 50-55mph 2-lane roads
Fuel Economy = 10.5L/100km (22.4mpg)
Volume = 22.04L (5.8g)
Distance = 211km (131 miles)

Tank 4
- cold, dry roads, 70-75mph for last 1.5hrs
Fuel Economy = 12.96L/100k (18.1mpg)
Volume = 41.5L (10.96g)
Distance = 320km (199 miles)

Pre-swap, it would have been 4 full gas stops on our route home. Speeds would have been ~65mph on the highways, but way longer to get up to speed and that flat ground 70-75mph run into a headwind? Ya, no.

Comfy, quiet, economical and fun... killer workmanship and working with some great guys (Skills at the helm, Matt Steedle, Jeff Robenolt, Christopher @ T3Technique). Couldn't be happier!

And - the new fuel pump ordered and en route. It's heading to Philly where my brother will pick it up. What a cliché - some good ol' brotherly love. Of course, he was "busy" on Sunday night when it was pushing time...
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1977 Westfalia 2.0 FI Skills EJ25 w SubaruGears 5sp
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687254
2018 Golf Sportwagen 4MO DSG (Dieselgated 2013 Golf Wagon TDI DSG)

[curtp07]

Great numbers.....my T4 averaged 20mpg last 1500 mile trip..but I was always 55 and under. Would NEVER be able to maintain that last set of speeds...
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Subaru

[albe]

I'm going Subaru power in the 73 camper I'm restoring. I'm at least a year away from getting into the motor, but I can't think of anyone else I'd have do the work, not just cause I'm in your neck of the woods. I've seen the posts from happy customers on the samba, and heard good things about you from local folks too. Happy customers trump a bad fuel pump any day.
Thanks for posting these builds!

[Clatter]

Could it be possible that the design of the bus fuel tank is not compatible with the pump somehow?

Not that I know anything about the pumps, or details here,
Just throwing it out there..

Maybe the new pump pushes enough more flow,
That it causes different swirl, maybe aerating the fuel near where the pickup pulls it in again?
Weird shit happens in fuel tanks..
Maybe cavitation?
Needs a swirl pot?

Fuck 2017. :fist:
I got my own reasons for hating it too.
It's almost over, and we can get on.

Weird how any little failure eats into your head.
Especially when your name/profession/experience/career/ego plays into it.
Years ago, you woulda shrugged it off, old man.
Shit is still hard to do, no matter how good you get at it.

Just got to figure out what the issue is and sally on.
(And that's not Sally, with a capital "S")..
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[curtp07]

I'm happy you made the decision to continue. I'll be visiting you again in 2018 hopefully

Curt
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Subaru

[orwell84]

Unless you are constructing a pet rock, gremlins happen. Old stuff, new stuff, it just does. It's not a workmanship thing.

[Ride_On]

Yes - we are back in business! And... sadly... tucked away for the winter.

Lets start with some pics, then I'll blab on below if you're interested.

A Christmasy Repair!

Hot rice hack - moist rice in a Ziploc nuked for 1-2 minutes = great parts and hand warmer! Warming up the fuel hose:

Skills' great work back in action - the last pic before winter storage:

Thanks to Skills' tutoring and my brother's courier skills, we now have a Walbro fuel pump installed in place of the dead Napa. I did the work out in the driveway, under a big camping tarp with the bus up on ramps. The highest temp I had was -15C / 5F. I removed the old pump and prepped the new one for install on Saturday night, then went back out in -25C / -15F to get the job done on Sunday morning. Hot rice made the hose work possible but the final re-mounting of the fuel pump was a bit tricky getting the clamps closed and nut and washer in place. Once done, several tests of priming the fuel pump to find leaks, then fired it up good as new.

I let it idle for quite a long time, long enough for it to come up to temperature and even cycle the fan once... for a brief moment. Then I turned on the interior heater on and that kept the operating temps below fan level.

Next was a quick shakedown run to a local carwash shop with indoor bays to get the CT --> ON salt off as well as possible. A 20 minute low and high pressure bath and rinse, followed by a (likely useless) run on the wax cycle around the lower half of the bus. Of course this led to frozen locks and nearly being frozen into the bus, but I managed to get out and carefully used a heat gun several times to finally dry out the driver's latch. The locking fuel cap? Ya, no. Not ideal, but I had to put Fourbie away with no fuel stabilizer and only a mostly full tank.

Monday morning, we drove the 40 minutes out to storage after rush hour had passed. Again, not ideal, it was snowing a bit, but road spray was light enough that I didn't have to run the wipers once on the highway.

I had bought a 1 gallon weed sprayer with the thought that I'd hose out the wheel wells before pulling into the barn. Should have tested it first... it had a small air leak so pushed barely a trickle. Oh well.

Big thanks to Skills for upgrading Fourbie and pushing to get it done on time for it to be repatriated for winter. The weather didn't quite cooperate as well as the forecast looked for the pickup and drive home, but it sure is nice to have it back! And Bonus - we were the last vehicle into the barn so we'll be the first out in the spring! Can't wait!

And yes, coming back from the carwash... it was rather fun accelerating beside the Acura RDX and matching his pace
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1977 Westfalia 2.0 FI Skills EJ25 w SubaruGears 5sp
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687254
2018 Golf Sportwagen 4MO DSG (Dieselgated 2013 Golf Wagon TDI DSG)

[skills@eurocarsplus]

Jesus tap dancing Christ is that thing covered in salt

I have driven all of the conversions I have done in rain, and coming back from a show it was raining so hard the traffic was doing about 10mph.....but that salt spray

man, it looks like I was never under there and it was pulled from the side of the barn

and no problem with the coaching. I still feel so bad, you can't even imagine. I have all the respect in the world for you doing this in such adverse conditions. so glad it's back up and running
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[Abscate]

I'm okay doing driveway mechanic down to about 2C,after that , unless it's real simple like an oil change, it isn't happening until Spring or my indie gets it.

The good news is only 3 hours south of Canada, we rarely for for a week with out 5C-10c and dry during day, so I can still get stuff done Jan Feb
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.ssS!