Oh my god, my Beetle caught fire tonight.

Speaking of which, you should replace *ALL* rubber fuel lines at lease ONCE a year:

fueltank to metal fuel-line metal fuel-line to metal fuel-line #2 (under rear ns/left wheelarch) metal fuel-line #2 to fuel pump and fuel pump to carb.

When I replaced mine in 1999, the original ones underneath the car literally disintegrated on removal. scary...

Oh, and use the proper factory "crimp-on" clips too. Or Jubilee clips, but they're not original :-)

-- Howard

1966 VW Beetle 1300 Deluxe - Austin Mini DeLuxe - Austin Mini Super DeLuxe~~ To email me, go to my website ~~

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 23:00:46 +0100, Howard Rose left Mt Vesuvius in a state of jealous awe as he began spewing from the mouth thusly:

My opinion is that's overdoing it. I can see it being a good idea to replace all of them on a car you just bought and then regularly inspecting them and replacing them maybe every 3-4 years, but every single year TO ME seems overkill. Does some official VW manual recommend replacing them all every year?

-- Travis (Shaggie) '63 VW Camo Baja...

corrodes the vessel that carries it.

Travis,and group. It's not likely you will find a book that states you should replace all fuel rubber lines every year. The lines on my currently running betle are not too bad, but could use replacing, since I have been Neglecting it from drive time, due to lack of time. I have not changed them in at least 3 years, but do take a look often and check condition everytime I run it. I will likely not do any distance in it before the hoses get changed out. (I start it up and check to see if it's still running once in a while) On the other hand I can see how others get a bit paranoid about the fuel lines (what with all the horror stories). I see no harm in changing them as often as one desires to have peace of mind......................That's the best way I can think of to explain the fuel line phenomenon.

As It's been stated by many, and mostly in repetition of Mr. Hoover. " Your the mechaninc in charge of your car." that pretty much gives all of you (us) the personal confidence to make some decisions based on our knowledge and ,to take into account, our fears.

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply MUADIB®

My mechanic thinks hes found the problem. The pin in the 30 year old fuel pump came loose. That would explain why the fuel was sprayed so vigourously all over the back and onto the road.

The car kept on going because of the fuel in the carberator. But once the fuel ran out - it would have backfired and caused the fuel to ignite.

It also explains why the bottom of the engine was so badly burnt.

My mechanic had the same problem with his Beetle 10 years ago. Except that he managed to stop in time. Once the pin is placed back - its OK for now.

Maybe you should replace the fuel pump. What ensures you that the pin won't come out again?

Bill, '67 bug.

vigourously

Hello Bill,

My mechanic told me that he'd replace the whole thing.

But prior to the fire - I could have fixed it back if I had stopped the car three seconds before.

The insurance people told him to replace all the burnt stuff - including the engine lid. woohoo.