So I have a strong smell of fuel in the 72 van and it has gotten a lot worse when filling up. This vehicle is new to me less than a month ago so still discovering things. I searched and found some threads and have looked at the parts suppliers but my breather pipe setup looks different to the diagrams I find. I can see on the right the pipe is not connected to anything and doesn’t meet at the centre of the rear. The left is one long metal piece not like the multiple joined pieces in the diagram. The joiner rubber on the left is destroyed. can anyone explain what exactly is missing as I need to order/source the bits to join the right and left properly. Also I am not taking the engine out at the moment but can/should I be replacing anything else like the filler neck seals or other connected things I am not aware of, particularly now with E10. Sorry I don’t know how to rotate the photos when posting this by phone.
Here is Ratwells article which covers pretty much all you need to know and then some. In the article you'll find the VW diagram of the breathers. Work through yours systematically. You may find the smell is actually coming from the lower joining hose from the filler neck onto the tank. They go porous over time and weep when the tank is brimmed... https://www.ratwell.com/technical/FuelHoses.html This diagram. Pay attention to number 6...
Can you get to them all from above? It could also be tiny rust pin holes in the tank. I had that, too.
Part of the diagram is arse about face. However, strong smell quite likely to be this bit just inside your fuel filler cap.
The joint in your picture is the most common source of smells, as it gets overlooked. ( think it's no.24 ) Replace any old crusty bits of fuel hose you can see before you tackle the filler neck ... things may not be as bad as you think.
That makes since if you reverse the diagram because in my second photo you can see the end of the metal pipe which doesn’t quite reach the start of the tailgate is on the right not left. The third photo shows the metal pipe on the other side which goes all the way to the centre of the engine lid and then has a 90 degree bend towards the engine. All the images like above show the metal pipes meeting straight in the centre of the engine lid straight and a T junction piece in the middle? I. An’t see how mine must have joined and then gone to the air filter? I am therefore missing a straight section of metal pipe on the right to go to the centre of the engine lid. I can’t find this pipe for sale anywhere.
I came across this diagram on an old thread but my metal pipes don’t seem to be the same. My left pipe goes to the centre of the tailgate and the bends 90 degrees towards the engine. My right metal pipe stops short at the rear corner.
The diagram is wrong 100% sure of that. The breather is just steel pipe, measure it and look on ebay? You could even get some stainless for example. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/26375106...NzTeNfBDZ6C//axv0ZNFk/fG7T8l|tkp:BFBMloHV9Llg
Yeah, as Zed says it may be appropriate to improvise. The principle is there though and it gives you an idea of what's going on
If you brim the tank the joiner behind the spare wheel gets filled with petrol, or leaks if it is missing.. its before the high loop. On the right the joiner is after the high loop so doesnt tend to drip petrol. Just about every piece of rubber pipe will have suffered after 50 years of heat and exposure to hydrocarbons. Just dont buy any hoses that are cheap and fabric covered just like the originals. Plenty of modern ethanol and heat proof hoses. Treat the joiners as fuel hoses and fit good quality there too.. the life of that hose behind the spare wheel well is especially hard , judging by how often I have to replace mine. Brake pipe will do for metal pipes, but you can get steel pipe. Quite often when a part is not sold its either fiendishly difficult to make or.. VW had millions and they are all sold out now.. or its just a bit of metal or pipe that can be made from stock materials .. or Brazil stopped making them and nobody knows whether they are going to bother ever again, after COVID and even longer since the last aircooled bus was made in Brazil.. In this case the critical thing is to connect the tank breathers through to somewhere where the pressure is a bit lower than ambient, either into the stock hole provided downstream of the stock air filter or oil bath air cleaner, or downstream of the paper filters beloved of hot-climate Californians.
Thanks for the replies. So in terms of parts in the diagram above. I need 1 & 6 and also some rubber fuel hose and then maybe the following elbow joint for in the centre of the engine lid to join the two side metal pipes? T2 68-79 Fuel Breather T-Piece - Cool Air VW Is there a particular fuel hose that you guys recommend? I see that there are various ones available from Heritage and Just Kampers etc and they are pretty expensive at £20-£30 a metre? Also is it possible to replace the fuel filler two rubbers without removing the engine and tank?
https://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/fuel-hose-woes.94036/ It's all in this thread. It is possible to do the filler hoses without dropping the engine, even with a type 1. But it's not fun. I will say that if you do go for it without dropping the engine, make sure you give yourself plenty of time and very carefully follow @Chrisd 's instructions about getting the filler through the paint tin lid. That alone will save hours and at least some of your sanity
You won't know if you don't look, they could be fine? Prise off the "paint tin lid" from the RHS of the engine bay to see number 6. No.1 take the filler cap off and have a good look wangle of that rubber part to see if it's split, not always obvious even when it's in tatters. If your bus has a top access hatch to the engine compartment things get easier for part 6. This one is very very tight onto the tank and onto part 7 and very difficult without as you say removing the engine and getting yourself into it's place. This is why you should have a very good look first, you don't want to be replacing parts just for the sake of it - that one could take you all weekend! Fuel hose, try your local motor spares place. Preferably one with a brand name hose on a reel e.g. Gates. More like a fiver a metre.
I think I will check but not order the filler neck rubber houses just yet as I don't have much time and space to do that right now. The rubber hoses from the fuel tank to the metal pipe and then metal pipe to the fuel pump and then from pump to the carb all seem okay and look like they have been replaced recently. I am guessing they are the 5.5mm ones as it says that 7mm was after 1972 models? So for the breather pipes it says in the Ratwells article above that it is 7mm hose. I am guessing that these will also need to be E10 compliant, but the usual VW parts suppliers and links on google all list 7.6-7.9mm so I am now wondering where you can even get the 7mm E10 compliant hose?
I think your 72 will have the alternative style filler neck which is a fitted metal tube from the flap end which is part of the body and not replaceable. If there are no screws to undo at the filler cap, you don’t need the small rubber elbow. There is a rubber between the tank and the metal tube behind the paint tin lid.
Personally if in doubt about your fuel lines I would have them all out and replace all and not try and save a few quid - buses 40 plus years old can go up in flames due to perished hoses. My advice drop the engine and replace all hoses and filler. Then it’s done and you can rest easy - these buses go up and very hard to save once back end in flames.
