[T3] Fuel pump and Wiring

[Adriel Rowley]

First off, not sure why, but a few days ago got switched to digest, and now real annoying to reply. Any way it can be changed back to standard? Despite my lack of presence, I do read the letters to get my fix. ;) Should be better this semester...

> From: jadney at vwtype3.org
> To: type3 at vwtype3.org
> Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 13:52:06 -0600
> Subject: Re: [T3] Fuel pump and Wiring
>
> On 4 Jan 2012 at 8:46, Adriel Rowley wrote:
>
>> Adney, sorry to see. Wish I had gotten to this all sooner...
>>
>> Came back to Sandy Eggo for couple days to get a lot done. Made an
>> effort to get to the Squareback and do the test. Fuel sure did come
>> out! I double checked the hoses, and they are all not kinked. Now
>> what?  Per another letter, seems this means the pump is bad. Going to
>> get some diesel and test the spare two I have.
>
> Read the paragraphs below first.
>
What did I miss? :S  I thought I read it all...

>>> From: jadney at vwtype3.org
>
>>> Noisy pumps usually mean a restriction in fuel feed to the pump. At
>>> some point I suspect this might blow a fuse, but I've never seen it
>>> get that bad. The first thing to check would be to pull off the hose
>>> to the pump inlet and just see if you get a good flow of gas out of
>>> that hose. It should be a pencil diameter stream that comes out
>>> disturbingly fast.
>>>
Pencil size, but hard to tell the shape. Disturbing is right, and also
painful on my skin. Have yet to find a place that sells the blue or
purple gloves, anyone know a source?

>>> Do this outside, no smoking, no flames or sparks in the area.
>>>
Yep, outside as far as possible from cars and structures, with a fire
extinguisher ready to grab.

>>> If you get just a dribble, you need to work your way back toward the
>>> tank. The most common problem is a clogged filter; second most common
>>> is a clogged filter screen in the tank.
>>>
Fuel lines and filter are basically new. Sock looked good when I cleaned the
tank.

>>> If the tank is close to empty and the passages in the bottom of the
>>> tank have been clogged with rust, then you may just be drawing air,
>>> so make sure the tank is at least half full when you do this.
>
Full tank for storage per your advice, I.I.R.C.. ;)

I ended up testing the two pumps I have, but they both leak from the crimped
cap. In reverse, does not leak. Is this something that I need to have you fix?

For the test, I got diesel and put some in a bucket enough to cover the pumps.
I had a fuel pump lead with connector that was long enough to reach the rim
of the bucket. Jack uses a battery charger as power source, so did the same,
hooking the leads over the rim to prevent shorting and free both hands. At
first thought white was negative, black positive like house wiring, but when
handling the leads found a plus sign molded into the white rubber. The mistake
was noted and results corrected. I did run the spare pumps forwards and back
several times to be sure they were cleaned out. No discoloration was present.

Per Jack's idea, I also tested the current fuel pump, and got the same results.
It just shakes all over the bucket, but no pumping. In reverse, it was pumping
out a milky color, unlike the other two. This is the same milkiness that was in
the fuel. Not sure if it is on theSamba, but can link it if desired.

My understanding of this all, considering the results are the same even when 
immersed in fuel preventing air intake, the current pump is not working properly,
especially when compared to the two spares. The spares leak fuel out the crimps,
so also not a solution. So, at this point, need to at least resolve the leak, so
as can test the rest of the system. Electrical has passed, as far as I can tell;
no more blowing fuses.


Thank you so very much!
Adriel