[T3] Gas Leak and Followup

[Jim Adney]

A few months ago, when there was still snow on the ground here, I smelled 
gas around our cars on our driveway. A closer inspection revealed a very 
slow drip coming from under the gas tank of my '73 Square. It was slow 
enough, maybe a drip every 10 seconds, and the car is parked outside, that I 
figured I'd leave it alone until our weather warmed up a bit.

A month later, things were warmer, the snow was gone, and I figured it was 
time to tend to the leak. I got everything ready to deal with it, but discovered 
that the leak was from one of the unpressureized hoses, which meant that 
when I disconnected that hose, gas was going to GUSH out and into my 
face. The good news was that this also meant that the leak would not be any 
faster when driving.

It's a LOT easier to avoid gushing gas if you're on your feet, compared to on 
your back.

A couple weeks later I called a friend who had a lift I could use and decided 
to drive there to do the repair.That shop is about 22 miles south of here, so it 
takes some time to get there. Once there, however, the hose replacement 
went quickly and I was able to head home, after some car talk with this 
always interesting friend.

The drive home was uneventful. The car drove well, and I was within a mile 
or 2 of home, when I heard a "click" from somewhere in back, and then the 
engine started to run rough. It popped, wheezed, and bucked. I nursed it and 
it kept running, but poorly. I barely made it home, and figured that the "click" 
was the voltage regulator and that it had failed in some way, making the FI 
run rich.  

We've been having a lot of chill and rain, so I just put this new problem out 
of my mind, waiting for warmer weather.

Warmer weather is here at last, so yesterday I went out and started the car 
so I could  monitor the charging system voltage. The engine still ran poorly, 
but the charging voltage was completely normal. Time to take a close look at 
the engine. Since the charging system was okay, I was left with a hose 
disconnected or a problem with the FI trigger points in the distributor.

The trigger points in my '71 had acted up on our drive down to the Alabama 
Invasion, so that was my next suspect, but lo and behold, I saw that the hose 
had fallen off the MAP sensor. I reconnected it, with a little better support 
this time, and the engine runs perfectly once again.

Love those simple solutions!  ;-)

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