Hi all Been off the site for a while and put my Bus into stasis. I'm slowly working through a recommissioning process to, above all, make sure she is safe. Unsurprisingly she fired right up once a new battery was connected but the original Solex PDSIT have sadly passed, leaking their juices all over. I originally intended to rebuild these but on inspection the shaft on one has a tab broken where it sites in the 12v choke so that will have to wait until I can source some spares to help with the rebuild. In the meantime I'm going with an ICT 34 kit I've had sat on the shelf instead. Parts are on the was to reject them properly together with a Malpassi fuel reg etc. The existing fuel pump does look a but leaky so questions: Should I leave well alone or replace with new? I'd rather keep mechanical pump? Should I drain the petrol tank or just replace in line filter for new? Assuming I've not missed anything else from a recommissioning PoV then I have 2 weeks to get her back up to motorway speed.
do you have an inspection plate for the fuel tank? if so take a look inside with a torch to check out its condition. If not and your not overly concerned about the tank i would just buy a few filters and keep an eye on them / change it more often that a standard service internal.
I'd also replace all fuel hoses if I were you. Modern petrol can degrade them when sitting for a long time. Get ethanol resistant ones such as from Advanced Fluid Solutions. A few quid well spent for peace of mind.
A fuel pump shouldnt be leaking , but the trouble is replacement mechanical pumps tend towards higher pressure. Which will be counteracted by the fuel pressure regulator. So change it for another mechanical pump, and new ethanol and heat resistant fuel hoses all round.
How old is the fuel in the tank? It goes off, so don't be surprised if it runs rough until you put some new in.
Thank you for all your replies. I'll answer in turn: 1) I don't have an inspection plate unfortunately. Kinda wish I'd put one in when I did the lines and tank to filler neck replacements a couple of years ago... 2) I changed all the lines about 3 or 4 years ago for some CODAN stuff from Volksbolts which was/is supposed to be pretty damn good. Should I still replace them? 3) I'll see if I can source an original good replacement pump for my existing fuel pump. 4) Finally, the fuel would have been 18 months old perhaps? No more than that. I put a couple of gallons in her same day she fired up. I'll make sure I change the filters a few times and note what comes through. Bits arrived from Eurocarb this afternoon. Amazing what £170 doesn't really buy you...
Its the volatile part of the fuel that evaporates making starting harder. So adding a bit of fresh fuel spices it up again. Stored in a steel tank mostly sealed from the air it will last quite a long time. I notice the three month life often quoted for fuel is at 27C to 35C the USA .. which we dont see often. If you havent run the engine a lot even original style rubber hose will last a lot longer. Good quality hose should show no cracking yet. I found my original fuel filler hose between tank and metal elbow that took off the bus a few years ago recently and it has lost some plasticity but there is no cracking as its away from engine heat.
