Another fantastic and well articulated article from Jay Salser. Our timing lights are pointed in your direction. Thank you for all you do here at 1967beetle.com.
I commonly hear the words—“I had a vapor lock!”
We mostly think of vapor in conjunction with heat. So a BIG question arises when the “vapor lock” occurs under cool circumstances. This renders such a diagnosis suspect.
It is very easy to blame a poorly functioning air-cooled engine on a “vapor lock”. When someone calls to ask what can be done to cure a “vapor lock”, I ask lots of questions.
I want to hear how the car-engine acted. I want to hear about the circumstances that led to the problem. I want to hear about the ambient temperature.
My mind follows the Fuel System from the Tank to the Fuel Pump. And I literally ask the caller questions during my mental perusing of the Fuel System. It’s like a movie playing through my brain as I listen and ask questions.
Did the engine just quit?
Did the engine buck, then finally stall?
Usually people try things like pouring water over the Fuel Lines or over the Fuel Pump.
Or, maybe the caller has changed the Fuel Filter.
In any case usually no firm diagnosis is reached and the next time it happens, the same scenario plays out.
One person reported that his car stalled at the roadside. A passing motorist stopped to give aid. He produced a bottle of water and poured it over the Fuel Pump. Soon, the engine started and the driver resumed his journey homeward. The assumption—the Fuel Pump had suffered a “vapor lock”—even though the weather wasn’t even hot.
Recently, Frank Salvitti talked to me about the “vapor lock” which temporarily put his car out of commission. He had driven a few miles, parked his Beetle and gone into the store to make his purchases. When he came out—the car would not start. He said that he could not see any fuel in the Fuel Filter (mounted, still, in the engine compartment). Eventually, after the engine had cooled, he surmised, the car started and he drove home.
Here’s what I asked Frank to do. I asked him to get a Fuel Pressure Gauge to connect between the Fuel Pump and the Carburetor. In a few days, he reported Fuel Pressure in excess of 5 PSI. This is far too much pressure.
The Float Valve (commonly called the Needle Valve) in the top of the Carburetor cannot withstand such High Pressure. Gasoline forces its way into the Bowl and begins to overflow down the throat of the Carburetor. When this happens, not enough air can mix with the un-atomized gasoline and the engine is choking to death on raw fuel. It either stalls or won’t restart after having been turned off.
Until all of that raw gas has dispersed and evaporated.
Think of the Bowl of the Carburetor as a toilet tank. If we hold the float down, water continues to fill the tank until it finally overflows. We have generated “excessive pressure” on the tank float—overpowering the cut-off mechanism.
Sometimes the Pressure is so great that gasoline can be seen percolating in the filter (if it is connected between the Pump and the Carb). With the Air Breather removed, raw gas sometimes can be seen over-flowing down the throat of the Carburetor. This especially can be seen if the car has been parked nose-uphill.
First, let’s review how the Fuel Pump operates through the following photographs.
It is essential to measure the Fuel Pressure. Once the Pressure is known, if necessary, action can be taken to correct High Pressure.
Discovering the Fuel Pump Out-put Pressure:
If the Pressure is found to be much higher than 2.8 PSI, the Fuel Pressure must be reduced! The Pressure doesn’t have to be exactly 2.8. It even could be a bit higher or a bit lower. The Official Manual calls for “about” 2.8 psi at 3400 RPMs.
In that range, Fuel Pressure will not compromise the Float Valve (Needle Valve).
Lowering Fuel Pump Out-put Pressure:
Here’s the theory: by raising the Fuel Pump, the Push Rod (113-127-307) which actuates it will not be able to push the Pump Lever as far. By extending the distance which the Push Rod must travel, Fuel Pressure will be reduced.
How do we raise the Pump? Simply by adding a second or even a third Upper Gasket between the Fuel Pump and the Fuel Pump Plastic Block.
This procedure IS going to require that the Fuel Pump be removed. The Fuel Hoses must be removed from both the Inlet and Outlet Tubes of the Fuel Pump. Once they have been removed, the two 13mm Hex Nuts and the Wave Washers must be removed. The Fuel Pump will lift right off the Fuel Pump Plastic Block.
But, before beginning this procedure, have on hand several of the Upper Gaskets. It is possible that the original Upper Gasket may be damaged upon removal of the Pump. In any case, you will need extra Upper Gaskets. These can be purchased at several sources.
The Fuel Pump sits atop the “Block” (113-127-303), often called a “Spacer or Flange”. This “plastic” Block should NOT be removed—just left where it is.
If you wish, you easily can pull the metal Push Rod from the Spacer Block. Check it for deposits of old oil/grease. You can polish it a bit, if you wish, using a 2000-2500 grit wet-dry polishing paper. If you don’t have that, use 0000 steel wool. Wipe the Rod clean and replace it into the Spacer Block hole–pointed end down.
While you have the Pump removed, check the bottom recess. It should be filled with Bearing Grease. If it seems to be lacking, add Grease. This will lubricate the top of the Push Rod and the Lever and Spring of the Pump.
Now, fit one new additional Upper Gasket (113-127-313) onto the two studs atop the Spacer Block. Replace the Fuel Pump. Install a Washer to each stud and then start the Nuts. Tighten the Nuts to 13 foot pounds.
Reinstall the Inlet Fuel Hose. Then, install the Pressure Gauge between the Pump and the Carburetor. Run the Engine while checking the pressure—you’ll need a helper for this exercise. Have the car out of gear and the emergency brake pulled on. For added safety, chock in front of the front wheels and behind the rear wheels. If the PSI still is too high, repeat the above procedure and add another Upper Gasket. Then, check the Fuel Pressure again.
With the addition of one or more Gaskets, the Fuel Pressure should have been reduced nearer to 2.8 psi. In that range, Fuel Pressure will not compromise the Float Valve.
Frank followed these procedures and, using only two additional Upper Gaskets (a total of 3 Gaskets) atop the Spacer Block, he was able to lower the Fuel Pressure to about 2.5 psi. Wanting to test the car, he put it through its paces. Since Frank drives the Beetle daily, he doesn’t want any more stalls. He’s had no more issues with the engine.
What to do if you do not have a Fuel Pressure Gauge or cannot borrow one?
With the Fuel Pump removed and the car in neutral (Engine off), turn the Engine by hand until the Push Rod extends to its Maximum Height above the Spacer Block. This should be right at 13mm with the original Upper Gasket still in place.
Now, turn the engine by hand until the Push Rod is at its Lowest Height. It should extend above the Fuel Pump Block by about 8mm. Subtracting 8mm from 13mm, we reach the Stroke Value.
The Total Stroke of the Push Rod should be 4-5mm. This should equal in the neighborhood of 2.8 psi of Fuel Pressure.
Add Gaskets if necessary.
Those Volkswagen Engineers spent a lot of time and money perfecting the Fuel Delivery System of these little cars. If we keep them to original standards, we will be able to drive and drive and drive them.
NOTES:
Caution: When working with or around gasoline, always do so with caution. Do not work in a confined area. Having a fire extinguisher handy is a good idea.
Alternative Method for Achieving Proper Fuel Pressure:
I have two friends who are machinists. Rather than to achieve proper Fuel Pressure through raising the Fuel Pump using Gaskets, they measure the Stroke, then mill to remove material from the top end of the Push Rod until they have achieved the correct “lift factor” (Stroke) of the Rod against the Pump Lever.
Fuel Pumps for Engines using Alternators:
Since the “head” of the Alternator is larger than that of a Generator, engines fitted with Alternators must use a distinctive style of Fuel Pump which is canted towards the driver’s side of the engine. Otherwise, the Fuel Pump cannot be bolted into place due to the restricted space. The Push Rod for a Canted Fuel Pump is shorter than the Push Rod for the Upright Fuel Pump for use in conjunction with a Generator. The Push Rod for the Alternator style Fuel Pump measures approximately 99mm. Contrast the Push Rod for use in the Upright Fuel Pump (for use with the Generator) which measures approximately 107mm.
When a Fuel Pump other than the original 1967 type is to be used, make certain that the Push Rod is correct for that Pump application.
Excessive Fuel Pressure results in a Gasoline Glut in the Engine. What happens to that Gasoline?
Excess Gasoline which courses down the throat of the Carburetor and through the Manifold to the Cylinders can end up passing around the Piston Rings. In its journey, it washes Essential Lubricant from the Cylinder Walls. It continues its journey into the Oil Reservoir. Engine Oil diluted with Gasoline soon washes all Lubricant from the Engine Bearings. If this is allowed to continue, the Engine will begin to heat excessively and the bearings will “seize”. The Engine has failed. At speed, it can begin to disintegrate, sometimes resulting in complete destruction of the Engine Case.
Acknowledgements:
My thanks to David Brown for discussing Fuel Pump Pressure with me and for providing VW Part Numbers and other factual information for this article. David has had decades of VW experience and offers a rich source of advice.
I also consulted Doug Smith of R & D Engineering and Barry Blythe of Blythe Enterprises, both Master Mechanics. Their experience and advice added missing information to this Article. Both have dealt with Fuel Pressure issues in Air-Cooled Volkswagens.
As always, my wife Neva patiently photographed the various props, reviewing the pictures until we had achieved proper results.
Frank Salvitti worked closely with me on this project and provided excellent feedback as he solved his Black 1967 Beetle’s Fuel Pressure problem. Thank you, Frank!
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Wow, you did it again, Jay! Excellent information!
Todd…good to hear from you. This was a fun article–the challenge of how to explain it–to myself–first of all. Then to put it down onto paper. My thanks to the several people who guided me along the path. jay
hello im new in this samba it’s so cool , can you guys help please , I have a 1965 beetle and the fuel pump has gone , i remplaced but did no work I notice or my question is how the gas should go out from the gas tank to the fuel pump it has to be like the water coming out of a grift ? thank you and advance i’ll try to find a videos but can’t find none .
I am experiencing a similar problem with my ’71 Westy! I suspected flooding of the carburetor because I could smell gas! Guess it may be time to check the fuel pump pressure! Very informative article Jay!
Hello, Dick…I hope that you folks are safe–given the rains which you are having presently. It won’t hurt to check the pressure, Dick. If it is something else, you have eliminated the pressure angle right off. It might be something as simple as a bad float valve–they do stick sometimes. It’s not a difficult fix. Let us know what you discover–we all can learn from one another’s experiences. Say “hello” to the family for me, please. jay
Hello jay it’s art Brown down in Corpus Christi I’ve experienced this issue twice and now about to install a new fuel pump I’m so glad to read this info it helps explain this problem completely , thank you so much ! You all are so knowledgeable thanks
Hello, Art..Good to hear from a fellow Texan! Yes..check the output of the pump to see what’s happening. If the pump is delivering, then pressure might be the culprit. I also suspect that one of the causes may be after-market (which is all that is available at this point) fuel pump blocks. I have heard that the new ones are not the same “height” which is required to match the push rod length. This is something which I want to investigate. Hopefully I can do this in the near future. I have squirreled away some original fuel pump blocks. Used original blocks still can be found here and there. I’ll make known what I find. Or maybe someone will beat me to the punch with some conclusive information. Keep enjoying your Beetle, Art! jay.
Hey, Art!
I believe you got your restored pump from us. Let us know if you need any install help along the way.
Thank you to both of you guys for good words I’ll keep y’all in loop for this repair ! I would ask , are there many folks out there who install a in line fuel pressure gauge ,for some of these issues ? Or is that only for high performance engines ?
I was having similar issues with the original style pump discussed. I replaced my 1967 unit with the common replacement (w/gold anodized top) which seemed to correct the problem. I did not check the output or measurements you provided.
My question, on the replacement unit, are the measurements, values and procedures the same? I also don’t remember filling the base with wheel bearing grease either. I will make sure these issues are checked.
Thank you for a very informative review.
Please advise.
Bob Long
Hello, Bob. Thank you for responding with your questions. The procedure for adjusting the stroke would be the same for any fuel pump. However, I cannot say, for sure, if the push rod distance from the top of the block to the actuating lever would be the same. I will look into later model repair manuals to see if I can find an answer to your question–or find a mechanic who has done a similar procedure with an after-market/later model fuel pump. I apologize for not having an answer at this point! Yes–check the lubricant, for sure, in the base of the pump. Happy Motoring in your ’67 Beetle, Bob! jay
Hello, again, Bob…I did some checking on later fuel pumps. And, yes, the measurements of the push rod stroke would be the same and by altering the number of upper gaskets, the fuel pressure can be altered to give the proper pressure for the 30 Pict-1/VW 105-1 Carburetor. As you know, for this WebSite, we are attempting to treat only stock equipment on the 1967 Beetle Year Model. I looked into the ’70 and later Bentley’s Official Repair Manual for the above confirmation. BTW–the type of fuel pump which is used for 1967 Beetles continued to be used through 1970. We are fortunate that there still are a few sources of these pumps in remanufactured condition–LaneRussell being one of them. Eric Shoemaker spends
a lot of time searching for rebuildable cores. Premium remanufacturing kits can be difficult to locate, too.
keep up the good work, Bob! jay
Jay, excellent writeup. As I think I mentioned before in your last article I had exactly the same issue, gas dripping into intake after engine shut off. It’s pretty obvious to find, just remove the air cleaner after shutting off the engine and then look down the throat of the carb and after a couple of minutes you will see fuel dripping out of the main carb office. Same issue, I had an overpressure fuel pump, which seems to be all too common with the aftermarket parts. While I did add some gaskets and it helped, the best solution was to install a rebuilt original Pierburg unit. One think I always did wonder was whether stacking gaskets or shortening the push rod, while reducing pressure, might it not reduce the fuel volume pumped as you are in effect shortening the pump stroke.
I am waiting to give the car a full test drive, but we have full on winter here right now in Calgary, too much snow on the road to take the baby out, and -20 weather. i may also have a weak needle/seat assembly in the carb. I don’t like changing too many things at once, as you never know if you have really found the problem
Thanks again for all your technical support!
Dave
Hello, Dave…I’m back on line after having had some computer issues. Good to hear from you! yes…some of the after-market pumps leave much to be desired. I’m still working through a couple of questions which I have regarding the pumps themselves and the pump blocks. Hopefully I can put those questions to rest soon. I’m glad that you have an original pump to install. They work well and they reintroduce that 1967 engine compartment “look”. Stay warm there in Calgary! Sounds like the BUG is snug in its “rug”. jay
Great article Jay and very well written. This is a frequent topic on The Samba as well. I know that in many cases the aftermarket fuel pumps sold today provide way too much fuel pressure. The Airtek fuel pumps sold at many FLAPS are an example as are some of the ones made in Asia. Another note is the Pierburg fuel pump repair kits sold by most VW vendors creates issues as well. The diaphragm spring is too stiff which creates high pressures. Some kits are reported to have issues with the length of the diaphragm assembly rod that holds the main diaphragm and spring assembly. It is too short. As mentioned above, some folks shove too many paper shims under the fuel pump in an effort to reduce the PSI. So many in fact that they reduce the volume of the pump and create new problems like fuel starvation at high RPM’s.
The steel replacement parts in those rebuild kits are inferior to the original parts and the check valves don’t fit. The bottom line is I avoid those kits for those reasons. I’ve found that the NOS kits from the 60’s and 70’s are the best to use when rebuilding an original VW Pierburg pump. I’ve rebuilt a lot of them over the years with the NOS kits and they are produce between 2.5 and 2.8 PSI with no paper shims under the pump and the bakelite mount. I’ve never seen any measurable wear on any of the steel parts like the rocker shaft or rocker itself.
Again, nice article Jay
Well said. This is why we build our pumps with only NOS parts. We’ve always had happy customer and no issues. I’ve seen aftermarket kits put out as high as 16 PSI. There’s not enough gaskets that will fix that. In the future, we are going to start cutting our own diaphragms.
Hello, William…Thank you for your kind words about the article. I agree with everything you put forth in your Comment! Sadly, replacement parts leave not only much to be desired, they can have some devastating consequences! One of the things which I am investigating is the replacement fuel pump blocks. I want to compare them with the original brown bakelite (plastic) blocks to see if the part which sits on the engine case is the same height as that of the original blocks. Height of the block is very important! Thanks for bringing your wisdom to the 1967beetle.com Table! jay
Excellent information
It is an old post but I have just read it
Thanks for your great work
I don’t know anybody nearby me who knows the information you supplied.
It’s very helpful and I will tell my friends who are issuing same problems
Thank you for your kind response, Hakan! I am so happy for 1967beetle.com which allows us to exchange information about our vintage Volkswagens. More and more, we are having to work on our own cars because there are fewer and fewer qualified repairmen and shops. Information which YOU yourself possess is valuable, so do not hesitate to contact 1967beetle.com Also, I know that Eric would like to publish Your Story about you and your ’67 Beetle! Stay in touch! jay
Some additional Fuel Pump Push Rod Information has come from David Brown: David Brown—5-19-2020
Volkswagen Fuel System Service Manual “K”, page number 3.48.572.084.21, says that the Fuel Pump Push Rod lengths are :
—for the “Inclined” 15 degrees Pump (for Alternator) the length is 100mm or 3.936/7″ VW Part Number 113 127 307 A
—for the Upright Pumps 1961 to mid 1973 the length is 108mm or 4.252″ (more exactly–4.2516”) VW Part Number 113 127 307
I recently bought a running 67 Beetle but it kept “running out of gas” every so often. I finally discovered the fuel pump pushrod was getting stuck in the spacer block and that was the end of the fuel pump pumping gas. So I took the fuel pump off and could tell the pushrod met resistance at the bottom of it’s stroke. I took a 3/16″ drill bit which is the same diameter of the pushrod and holding the drill bit with vise grips slowly “drilled” down into the spacer block. When I pulled the drill bit back out a lot of crud came with it. After a few more drill down the pushrod dropped freely in and out of the spacer block. Problem solved. Pretty weird!
Hello, Don…Wow! Sounds to me that an engine rebuild is in order! Have you changed the oil and looked at the oil screen?
With your story, I would expect to find a lot of gunk from the lack of timely oil changes. Let me know if I missed the mark on this one, Don. Thanks for chiming in! jay
After boring out the spacer block I put some Gunk oil flush in the oil, let it idle for 10 minutes and changed the oil. Surprisingly the oil looked pretty good and the screen was what you would usually expect. So I’ll see what happens.
Don..I broached the situation to the local VW Engine Builder (since 1984). He told me that never had he encountered such a thing. When you pulled the Drain Plate–was it covered thickly with settlings? Do you have a Generator or an Alternator. Each requires a different Pump with a different Push Rod–long for the Generator and short for the Alternator.
I never encountered such a thing either after driving VW’s for 50 years. The drain plate looked pretty decent. I posted on Samba and a few people claim that the spacer block can warp a little after so many years. It didn’t take much to bore it out but just enough to get the pushrod to hang up once in a while. I have a generator.
what happens if you accidently put the base gasket where the top gasket should be?
Hello, Ben…Thank you for reading and for commenting. You know, Ben–there is the tiny possibility that a tiny bit of oil might seep
from around the bottom of the Fuel Pump Stand. There’s no real oil pressure at that point. I don’t think that it is anything to worry about. If ever you need to change the pump, then rectify the situation by installing a gasket between the engine case and the pump stand. jay
Ben–re-reading y our comment–perhaps you mean that you accidentally switched places with the gaskets? If this is the case–again–probably nothing is going to happen. The gasket between the pump and the top of the stand helps to isolate the grease which has been packed into the bottom of the pump–keeping the grease in the bottom of the pump. That’s easily adjusted. Just remove the pump, re-install the gaskets correctly. Repack the grease into the bottom of the pump–some will have been pushed into the recess of the pump stand. Reinstall everything and check for correct pump pressure. jay