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Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:55 am

i changed the oil yesterday. drove her around the block a few times. shes been my daily driver to work all week while one car sorta died (will fix tomorrow) and the other car was having the axles replaced (now fixed so at least i have a driver).

started her this morning. backed out of the garage to sweep her out and double check the bleeding on the brakes (they still werent quite perfect) parked her and went inside to make breakfast. when i came out i smelled fuel. i looked underneath and saw a small puddle and a drip, drip, drip of gasoline. i have a dual carb setup and the passenger side carb is leaking fuel.

on the bright side this happened in the driveway and not in between my house and mumfordville (about 80 miles one way) on the trip we were going to take today. she would have burned for sure. i cant see exactly where the fuel is leaking from but now she wont start at all. it LOOKS like its coming from all over though. right now im going to go pack the car and go to mumfordville anyway (my friends have a farm. we were going to sleep in the bus but now we will sleep inside).

ill post some pictures late tomorrow after we get home and see if i can goof around with it. best case scenario seems to be a spot on the side with a blocked off hose coming out of it that has some sort of silicone or something holding it in place has ruptured (yay PO!) the worst case seems to be the gasket. anyway i dont have time to work on it now but i had a couple of minutes to vent.

again ill be back tomorrow and mess around with it and get some pictures posted.

Sat Nov 17, 2007 10:49 am

The fuel bowl in the carb is overflowing because the float has not stopped fuel from coming in. Float, valve or excess fuel pressure.

Excess fuel may be in the cylinders and you may have to remove the spark plugs on that side to get it empty and set to fire up.

Smell your oil to see if it smells like gas. IF it does, you need to change it.

Sat Nov 17, 2007 12:02 pm

Mumfordville. Is that near Mayberry?

Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:29 pm

Patrick199 wrote: Mumfordville. Is that near Mayberry?

id say it aint a fer piece away.

as far as the bus though:

gas in oil - yep
spark plugs? havent checked. will check tomorrow or tuesday when i have time to drain oil etc.

questions:

if my float is stuck is this something that will need to be replaced or is this something that will right itself?

if i have excess gasoline in the cylinders when i remove the spark plugs will it work its way out when i crank the motor or is this something i need to remove and if so how?

what is this part i have pictured with the silicone coming off from around the connection? do i need to re-seal it somehow and why is there a screw blocking the little rubber hose coming out of the end?

and one last question. will i need to remove the new oil filter and put on a new one or should i just remove it, drain it, and reuse it. it was brand new and my vw guy i buy my mahle filters from isnt open again until tuesday. i dont mind buying another if i need to but would rather not if i dont need too.

thanks for the information. i was pretty worried. other than not having ye olde bus we had a great time down on the farm.

Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:14 pm

no sealent is fuel proof silcon not at all! its ok for the bath room even then i wouldn't use it rather a polysulfide

Use good new hose or cork for gaskets/joints and good clips & enjoy your VW,when you havent got one is when you will miss the driving experience

Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:04 am

still need a little help with this one.

anyone?

Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:35 am

The part with the sealant is an egr valve and I don't see how it could leak fuel.

To check your float needle valve, remove the carb cover and take a look at it.

Also, look in the back of your carb as some have a float bowl drain plug and it could leak (mine did).

Also check where where the fuel line connects to the carb.

Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:04 pm

Your float may also be taking on gasoline. Haven't seen, a solex float do this... but on american stuff they do it all the time. (German's...)

If you hear fuel sloshing around, or just if the float isn't a floating that will not close the needle valve. If your float needle has been replaced lately it may be a crap part, I got a bum one in a rebuild kit a few months back. (GP sorenson kit, generally decent stuff.)

If your gas always smells like oil (and you burn a fair amount) its possible that the nipple on top of the carb has pulled loose, or is in the process... and the leak is on the outside of the carb. Give it a tug and see, JB weld it in.

I'd pull the carb and bolt it up in a vice and top up the bowl (straw in the vent works... or hook up a gas line and can. I used to have a bottle with a nipple for this.) watch and see what happens.

Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:12 pm

it doesnt burn any oil. i have a tiny leak but what vw doesnt. ive also never had fuel in my oil until this happened and im on my 5th oil change since march. there has been a puff of white smoke when i start her for the first time most days (not every time) and saturday is the first time ive had this leaking fuel issue or smelled fuel or anything like that.

when i got in there yesterday and pulled the air cleaner part off the top of the carb i noticed there was gasoline around the rim. it looks like the float valve IS the issue and that fuel was overflowing from the carb. i wont have time to mess around with this until tuesday or maybe wed/thur/fri. ill be coming back to the thread with updates. if anyone has further comments/advice it will be much appreciated.

Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:28 pm

Before I would pull the whole carb, I would remove the cover to see if the float is floating and it the float needle falls back down after you push it up with your finger several times. Then maybe you could replace the carb cover gasket for good measure.

Sun Feb 10, 2008 2:44 pm

well its been a while. ive been a bad owner by not getting around to this due to everything else thats been going on. hopefully she will forgive me when we get back on the road next month.

turns out the problem was a bad gasket. fuel over time has slowly worked its way through at the corner and created a leak. ill get a new set and probably go ahead and replace the gasket on the other carb as well and then on to the parking brake, rear drum adjustment and door/window seals. hopefully between starting the garden and writing a record i will have her running in the next couple of weeks. new seals come after i get my hog. http://www.ehx.com/ehx2/Default.asp?q=f&f=%2FCatalog%2F01%5FNew%5FProducts%2F07%5FHOG