I know there's a billion posts on this, but I just have one quick question. Do I need to remove the firewall to replace all the breather hoses? Diagram is a little difficult to interpret without the bus in front of me.
sarcy answer is no as you can replace the one behind the wheel well with it in and you said all..... but unless you have a blooming great hole in the deck above i see no way of replacing the top ones.... hence mine not being done since i've owned it.
i think it is possible with a lot of struggling to remove the fire wall with the engine in - especially if you're running f.i. and have more space - it's as easy to run with 3/4 tank and know you have a possible issue i guess..... i've just never got round to it and the same goes for the filler pipes, i've changed all the other stuff twice but not the tank area ones.
I think it's an engine out job to do this properly, no? I can't see much point in doing half of them... edit: think it's engine out for type 1 or firewall out for type 4 but someone may correct me.
Doing half of them is better than doing none of them. I never did the ones on my tank until the engine change.
the point of doing half is this - the breathers are never full of fuel unless you've brimmed your tank and it's really hot and the fuel has expanded - same with the filler pipes, as long as you're aware they haven't been done the only fuel you get is vapour really hence my run 3/4 full comment.
Well, I'll start with the easy to get to ones. Better than nothing! Maybe I'll get a fire extinguisher after all!
I'm not convinced, but I do welcome others' views as safety is #1. Like @rickyrooo1 I also avoid brimming the tank as a precaution. I started doing the ones that were accessible from the engine bay, in the end decided not to bother. They're fiddly to get to and IMO by replacing you're likely to disturb (and destroy what's left of) the other ones further around the system as you move the metal pipes. My conclusion was that in replacing half I'd (if anything) do more harm than good, but (more likely) just achieve nothing.
The metal pipes are fixed, not just floating around between the rubber bits so you're unlikely to disturb ones you don't change. If you change 50%, that's 50% that are less likely to spring a leak. All imho.
I've just done this job - all of them. The 2 in the engine are the the easiest to get at and the most likely to fail. The one under the spare wheel well has an 'S' bend and so is under stress...so most likely to fail. The one at the upper right corner of the hatch (in mine) that passes through the diagnostic socket bracket rubs on the bracket and is also prone to fail. All the others (behind the firewall) are straight, so not under any stress. I also did the filler neck rubber. The upper part (that screws to the filler cap flange) was cracked, but the long lower section was pristine...no cracks at all.. I guess I have a spare now! It was definitely a (T1) engine out job, though you can get away with just unbolting the engine and lowering it on a trolley jack...no need to competently remove it. P.
Cheers. That's helpful. Mine's a Type 4, so not the same, but similar. Will look into it when I get home, as I have had the hoses for a couple of weeks now.
It's an engine out job to do them all on a type 4 .....try doing them just taking the firewall off and after about half an hour of reaching over the engine, snail fan hitting your head and your back Oh my god your back will ache . You will really really look forward to taking your engine out to do it . And there not exactly a piece of cake even sitting inside the engine bay .
Gotta be done really. I have a "manual" powder one, but would like an automated one so I don't have to open a flaming engine lid to put it out!
Change the ones you can see in the engine compartment. It's easy enough to do. This will at least stop heating stinkiness. The main cause of fires will be the feed lines from the tank and hose runs to the pump and carbs, tho'
Exactly why I wasn't over worried about doing my tank ones, there's a hell of a lot of pipes/clips in a f.i engine bay as well.
I have am access hatch on the rear bed so I can get to mine from above but I did mine with engine out and still smashed my head to smithereens
Interesting. The metal pipes aren't rigidly fixed in my bus - there are some clips holding them in place but still allowing quite a bit of flex. I wonder if this is another crossover thing (it's a '73) or if mine is missing something. @zed what's your early like?
