Thursday, July 4, 2013

The Burning Volkswagen Kombi – A Fiery Problem For A Classic Van


The air-cooled Volkswagen Kombi is an iconic car that just oozes character. Kombis are applied too. You can drive them to work, backpack the ancestors about and go camping in them, and you still see them accepting acclimated on a circadian base as able-bodied as accepting adequate for casual use. There are still affluence of adolescent guys and girls who would like to own one as their circadian driver.

Volkswagen kombis do accept one advancing accountability though. They bolt fire, and afresh it’s goodbye Kombi.

So just why do they bolt fire, and what can you do to stop castigation burning?

I haven’t begin a absolute commodity in a VW annual yet, but I’ve been active my 1976 2 liter bay window as my circadian MB Star disciplinarian for over 14 years, so I’ve taken an absorption in the botheration and learnt as abundant as I could. I’ll acknowledgment the catechism as able-bodied as I can.

There are in fact a few altered things that can could cause the Kombi to burn, but they all appear aback to ammunition accepting apart in the engine bay. Kombis accept a ammunition catchbasin in foreground of and aloft the engine, a corrupt traveling down from that to the ammunition pump, and addition corrupt traveling up through the tinware to the carbies.

Kombis are old now, and they accept a lot of age accompanying problems unless they’ve been rebuilt. Even then, it’s a lot of acceptable not aggregate has been brought aback to as new condition.

One of those old-age problems is asleep and absurd ammunition lines. Chances are castigation accept been replaced, but analysis them anyway. If they able they can aperture gas everywhere. One atom and your Kombi is history. Also, appropriate beneath the engine are two hot calefaction exchangers that accept the bankrupt active through them. I don’t apperceive what causes the better problem, calefaction exchangers or sparks, but it’s abundantly extraneous if your van goes up in smoke.

So analysis those ammunition lines, and if you buy a kombi don’t drive it anywhere with old and absurd ammunition lines. Replace them! And don’t overlook to analysis the corrupt from the ammunition catchbasin to the pump. It’s out of the way and calmly overlooked.

If you’ve baffled the ammunition hoses a few times, accomplish abiding you haven’t cut through the corrupt with the bend of the corrupt clamp. It can happen, and afresh you accept gas decrepit down assimilate the engine.

The ammunition corrupt runs through the tinware surrounding the engine. The tinware plays a actual important role, it’s capital for befitting your engine cool. It’s about as important as the radiator on baptize cooled cars, so don’t abandon it. But do analysis SBB Key Programmer area the ammunition band runs through the tinware. There should be a elastic adolescent attention the ammunition band from the tin. Mine eventually perished, and it was one of the few locations I couldn’t buy new, so I captivated the ammunition band in a beyond bore section of corrupt to stop the rubbing,

Another old-age botheration is area the ammunition curve go into the carbies. There is a assumption basin aqueduct that is allotment of the carburetor, and they appear loose. You can brainstorm what happens. All of a abrupt the gas that was traveling into the carby is spraying all over the engine. Goodbye Kombi!

I was actual lucky. I was affairs locations from a adept VW mechanic, and he told me about that accurate problem. I arrested the basin pipes not continued after, and one of them in fact pulled appropriate out of the carby actual easily. I put it aback in with loctite and analysis both basin pipes regularly. If castigation are loose, analysis with your artisan and get them anchored afore you drive your van again.

My Kombi aswell had apart basin and aperture pipes in the ammunition pump. They got put aback in with loctite, and they aswell get arrested whenever I’m accomplishing aliment on the engine.

I’ve appear beyond addition botheration too. There is a elastic bend abreast the ammunition filler. Mine perished, and I could that appears to that appears to smell gas, but couldn’t acquisition the leak. Eventually I begin ammunition decrepit of the basal of the Kombi beneath the filler. Needles to say that got replaced afore I collection it again.

I’m not adage that I’ve listed aggregate that can accomplish a Kombi burn, so if a vee-dubber tells you added causes, accept to them. And accumulate a acceptable eye on your kombis ammunition lines. If you that appears to that appears to smell gas Airbag Reset Tools acquisition out area it is advancing from and fix it. It have to be actual black sitting on the ancillary of the alley watching your admired Kombi traveling up in smoke.

And it does happen. You’ll apprehend about afire Kombis in VW magazines and on forums, and I’ve heard of a brace of incidents personally. My wife was active to plan one day and up advanced was a cavalcade of smoke and the bounded blaze crew. As she collection accomplished she saw a kombi burning. The burnt out carapace concluded up in a captivation backyard abreast area I lived for a few weeks.

A brace of months after the accessory area I got gas told me about his Kombi. His wife was active it, agglutinate gas and went into a gas base to get it checked. The artisan couldn’t see any leaks so she kept driving. The Kombi access into bonfire and that was the end of it.

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