Cold Start Valve

Carbs & F.I.

Moderators: Sluggo, Amskeptic

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Cold Start Valve

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:34 am

SlowLane wrote:
Amskeptic wrote:It all gets me dizzy.
Or back off on the GumOut... :cyclopsani:
Never!

Yesterday's screaming fuel pump douche consisted of a bath in WD-40 and GumOut run backwards off a jetski battery, and I remember taking in the fumes with a "that smells just like a blooming iris."
Colin
(fuel pump is now quiet too)
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
SlowLane
IAC Addict!
Location: Livermore, CA
Status: Offline

Re: Cold Start Valve

Post by SlowLane » Thu Apr 14, 2016 1:20 pm

Have you considered plumbing in a second filter in parallel with the existing one, selectable by an A-B switch (or two A-B switches, pre- and post-filter)?

Then, when one filter gets clogged, you can switch to the other and take care of the clogged one at your convenience, instead of "right now".
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

aerosurfer
I'm New!
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Offline

Re: Cold Start Valve

Post by aerosurfer » Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:16 pm

I feel the need to chime in since my thread on samba is being questioned and broken down on the previous page.

I still have no idea the cause of my fire. Suggestions made to me and confirmed by my own parts did show wiggle in the CSV and the metal housing. The bus always started well and both initial idles and O2 readings didn't show unusual to a cold engine.

Like I said in my post on the other message board the fuel hoses were in fine shape. No tears, gashes. To the best of my knowledge the clamps were not wrenched on with a death grip nor loose when I removed them, not we're the plastic barbs on the CSV fractured.

The fuel hose was properly rated Gates Barricade brand.

Purchased locally: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0222

Read the pdf specs if you are still not convinced. No I didn't do a Ray Greenwood type chemical analysis on the hose however.

But I can't bring myself to agree that sloppiness was a factor here, at least not intentionally.
77 Westy deluxe

User avatar
SlowLane
IAC Addict!
Location: Livermore, CA
Status: Offline

Re: Cold Start Valve

Post by SlowLane » Thu Apr 14, 2016 3:30 pm

aerosurfer wrote:I still have no idea the cause of my fire. Suggestions made to me and confirmed by my own parts did show wiggle in the CSV and the metal housing.
Assuming that you're not going to be putting that CSV back into service, would you be willing to cut it apart to try and determine if and how it failed?
aerosurfer wrote:The fuel hose was properly rated Gates Barricade brand.
As I've said before, I keep bleating on about my preference for metric Cohline hose over the inch-sized J30R(9/14) hose because I've experienced leaks when using 5/16" J30R9 hose on my van, even with double-clamping. So please consider that as another possible source of your leak.

I'm fully aware that many others claim to have used 5/16" hose with no problems for years. Maybe they're just better mechanics than I am, or luckier ones.

Oh, and for anyone who's interested, I just stumbled across this document which should provide some enlightenment on what all the SAE J30R numbers actually mean. Scroll down to page 5 for a table comparing the hose specs.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Cold Start Valve

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:32 am

aerosurfer wrote:I feel the need to chime in since my thread on samba is being questioned and broken down on the previous page.

I still have no idea the cause of my fire. Suggestions made to me and confirmed by my own parts did show wiggle in the CSV and the metal housing. The bus always started well and both initial idles and O2 readings didn't show unusual to a cold engine.

Like I said in my post on the other message board the fuel hoses were in fine shape. No tears, gashes. To the best of my knowledge the clamps were not wrenched on with a death grip nor loose when I removed them, not we're the plastic barbs on the CSV fractured.

The fuel hose was properly rated Gates Barricade brand.

Purchased locally: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0222

Read the pdf specs if you are still not convinced. No I didn't do a Ray Greenwood type chemical analysis on the hose however.

But I can't bring myself to agree that sloppiness was a factor here, at least not intentionally.
Howdy.

If anyone should have a burnt to a crisp bus right now, it should be me with that drenching bath the hot engine took in Gainesville just 13 hours after I bathed the engine with a cut fuel hose leak in Homosassa:

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=12955#p219204

So, hell yeah, sloppiness can lead to fuel leaks. But not necessarily fires, and that is where I suggest that you consider what could have been your ignition source. I read on theSamba that someone thought maybe it was the breaker points (you have Pertronix, yes? ), but I am thinking spark plug wire insulation breakdown, especially the new "silicone Bosch" wires instead of the factory original copper wire core that I have on NaranjaWesty. The factory has a plastic wire separator snapped into into a black 90º bracket that attaches to the breather tower with a 10mm nut, then the #1 wire stays separated all the way to the plug as it snakes underneath the intake runners through a plastic clip that attaches to the upper cylinder cover. Why did they go to such lengths?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
SlowLane
IAC Addict!
Location: Livermore, CA
Status: Offline

Re: Cold Start Valve

Post by SlowLane » Tue Apr 19, 2016 9:14 am

Just to add fuel to this fire (sorry), I just checked my own CSV which has been installed on my van since before I bought it 18 years ago. It's wiggly. Have never seen a drop of fuel come out the back of it. Think I'll trust Colin's assessment on this one.

Oh, and as far as fuel spillage goes, I also had a massive leak from the sender interface just recently. See, I had to replace the fuel tank that Colin so expertly helped me replace last visit, and I guess I didn't press down hard enough on the sender when I turned it to lock it down. Vanagon fuel level senders, y'see, have plastic bodies. And Vanagon fuel tanks have sharp steel edges. So sharp steel edges cut into soft plastic fuel sender housing, preventing fuel sender o-ring from doing its job.

Filled up tank to the top after installing new tank. Nice. Make sharp right turn leaving gas station. What's that smell? Stop in Lowe's parking lot and helplessly watch cascades of gas sheeting out of the driver's side frame members.

Run to Lowe's, purchase jerry can and some tubing. Try to siphon off gas to ameliorate the spillage. Discovered effectiveness of VW's anti-siphon device. Ran back into Lowe's for smaller-diameter tubing. Discovered futility of siphoning fuel through a straw. By this time the cascade had subsided to a dribble, so I gingerly drove the 1/2 mile home, ready to abandon ship at the first sign of flamage.

Next day dropped tank again and globbed Hylomar around the o-ring. Since then have only been adding five gallons at a time. Have new sender to install, but haven't bothered to drop the tank again since to install it.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

Post Reply