Massive headache, losing power (and the will to live) (1 Viewer)

[boze]

Hi folks, my friend has a 1984 VW Transporter, its the 1.6 litre diesel model (I think its the T2 made in Brazil from '81-'85) and we had a bit of a disaster coming back from a camping trip at the weekend.

All was fine until it started losing power and slowing down, eventually stalling and stopping altogether. It would start ok and idle and even drive for a few metres but pretty fast it would just fade then stall again.

There seems to be a large number of bubbles in the fuel line between the fuel filter and the engine and the flow of bubbles gets higher if you rev the engine up. I reckon theyre probably related and think there might be a problem with the fuel pump seals but I have no idea how to access the fuel pump as the only Haynes manual I could find is for the petrol models...

Can anybody help with how to get to the pump? Or even better does anybody have any info as to where I might be able to find a workshop manual for it?

I know it might be a bit cheeky signing up to the forum and making my first post a "help me" post but we really dont know what else to do :-(

Thanks in advance for any help

Damo

 

[Snowbird]

No problem...thats what we are here for.
Have you checked the fuel lines..jounts for air leaks?
It sounds and also with the bubbles that you have a simple fix with a fuel line delivery leak.
To confirm this..take the sucktion end of the injector pump and gat a can of diesel and put the pipe in it...if alls well you know its an air leak in the fuel line.

 

[dave newell]

Sounds like a fuel pump failure to me.

D.

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[pappajohn]

if its recently been serviced check the fuel filter and filter pipe unions for tightness.

to me, bubbles between filter and mechanical pump indicate a leak in that area...not a fuel line before the filter.

 

[rangi]

if its recently been serviced check the fuel filter and filter pipe unions for tightness.

to me, bubbles between filter and mechanical pump indicate a leak in that area...not a fuel line before the filter.

Me too!

 

[Snowbird]

VW injector pumps are vertualy bombproof...I know I have one.
They are so strong they can be run on old chip fat...I do.
Air is much easier to pull than diesel, so it will show bubbles in the clear fuel line regardless of where the leak is.
That means anywhere between the pump and the stand pipe in the tank.
The only way to test this ecenomicaly is to feed the pump from a seperate tank.
But thats only my opinion.

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[aba]

could be the pipes on top of the tank sender unit they do tend to rust away.

 

[boze]

Awesome folks, only problem is Ive no idea how to get to the fuel pump.... Dont have a manual and cant seem to follow the fuel line all the way.. Any ideas?



D

 

[boze]

Anybody? Even how to access the fuel pump? Is there an electrical in-tank pump and a mechanical pump in these?

:-(

D

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[Jaws]

No idea where it is but have you tried following the lines from the injectors rather than tother way round ?

But I am with others.. Reckon the filter case is loose or the feed pipe from filter to pump is...

 

[cornishaich]

Just follow the pipes from the injectors and they will take you to the fuel pump. :thumb:

 

[boze]

Ok cool folks ill let you know how I get on

Thanks!

D

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[Snowbird]

Do you mean...you cant find the lift pump...or you cant find the injector pump???.
The injector pump is on the side of the engine with four pipes coming out of it...if memory serves me right,there is no lift pump on the four pot VW,its built into the injector pump.
There should be a hand primer on top of the filter housing...these often give problems,I have taken mine off.
Agood souce of info is Google The Brick Yard.