[T3] Mystery Fix (soaking fuel pump)

[Jim Adney]

On 30 Jan 2013 at 14:52, J. Jonik wrote:

> Isn't the whole point of soaking a dry-stored Fuel Pump in diesel (or
> kerosene or heating oil) that this will swell up those O-ring seals so
> that they, you know, seal? If soaking doesn't work, does this mean that
> my half dozen or so salvaged fuel pumps are (probably) useless? 

What I've found is that if you let them dry out so long that the 
O-rings shrink up, then soaking them later on seldom brings them 
back. I'm guessing that this may be due to rust getting under the 
sealing surfaces, but it may just be a matter of time.

If you never let them dry out, then storing them continuously in one 
of those fuels is a perfect way to keep them in good condition.

Even if they've been allowed to dry out completely, I can rebuild 
them and give them a new lease on life. The only part that tends to 
wear out is the commutator; I occasionally run across one which has 
been running with a lot of grit in the gas. The grit grinds thru the 
copper commutators and eventually they become useless. I can't fix 
that, but everything else, other than physical damage, is something I 
can fix.

If you maintain your overflow hose, you should not have the grit in 
the gas problem. This is just one more reason to install one of my 
overflow repair kits if you haven't already.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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