The Burning Volkswagen Kombi – A Fiery Trouble For A Vintage Van

The air-cooled Volkswagen Kombi is an iconic motor vehicle that just oozes character. Kombis are functional too. You can travel them to work, carry the household all around and go camping in them, and you however see them getting utilized on a every day foundation as perfectly as currently being restored for occasional use. There are nevertheless plenty of youthful fellas and ladies who would like to individual 1 as their day by day driver.

Volkswagen kombis do have one disturbing fault while. They capture fireplace, and then it can be goodbye Kombi.

So just why do they catch fireplace, and what can you do to stop yours burning?

I haven’t observed a definitive report in a VW journal nonetheless, but I’ve been driving my 1976 2 liter bay window as my every day driver for above 14 several years, so I’ve taken an curiosity in the issue and learnt as considerably as I could. I am going to response the query as very well as I can.

There are in fact a couple various factors that can trigger the Kombi to burn, but they all come back again to fuel getting unfastened in the motor bay. Kombis have a gasoline tank in front of and earlier mentioned the engine, a hose likely down from that to the fuel pump, and one more hose heading up as a result of the tinware to the carbies.

Kombis are previous now, and they have a ton of age relevant troubles except if they’ve been rebuilt. Even then, it is most probably not every thing has been introduced back to as new situation.

A person of all those old-age challenges is perished and cracked gas traces. Odds are yours have been changed, but check them anyway. When they crack they can leak gasoline almost everywhere. One particular spark and your Kombi is record. Also, appropriate under the engine are two very hot warmth exchangers that have the exhaust jogging by means of them. I don’t know what leads to the most important problem, heat exchangers or sparks, but it’s largely irrelevant when your van goes up in smoke.

So examine these fuel lines, and if you obtain a kombi will not generate it anywhere with outdated and cracked gasoline traces. Change them! And you should not forget about to examine the hose from the fuel tank to the pump. It really is out of the way and conveniently overlooked.

If you’ve got undone the fuel hoses a number of situations, make sure you haven’t minimize as a result of the hose with the edge of the hose clamp. It can materialize, and then you have gasoline dripping down onto the engine.

The gas hose operates by way of the tinware bordering the motor. The tinware plays a extremely crucial part, it can be important for maintaining your motor awesome. It’s nearly as crucial as the radiator on h2o cooled cars and trucks, so never discard it. But do examine wherever the gas line runs by means of the tinware. There ought to be a rubber grommet defending the gasoline line from the tin. Mine inevitably perished, and it was a person of the number of parts I could not invest in new, so I wrapped the gasoline line in a larger sized diameter piece of hose to quit the rubbing,

A further outdated-age problem is where the gas traces go into the carbies. There is a brass inlet pipe that is aspect of the carburetor, and they appear free. You can envision what comes about. All of a sudden the gasoline that was going into the carby is spraying all more than the engine. Goodbye Kombi!

I was very blessed. I was purchasing components from a very long-time VW mechanic, and he informed me about that particular trouble. I checked the inlet pipes not extended soon after, and one of them actually pulled proper out of the carby quite conveniently. I set it back again in with loctite and verify both equally inlet pipes regularly. If yours are loose, check with your mechanic and get them set ahead of you drive your van yet again.

My Kombi also had unfastened inlet and outlet pipes in the gas pump. They obtained set back again in with loctite, and they also get checked every time I am executing upkeep on the motor.

I’ve come throughout another trouble much too. There is a rubber elbow around the gasoline filler. Mine perished, and I could odor fuel, but could not obtain the leak. At some point I observed gas dripping of the base of the Kombi down below the filler. Needles to say that received changed prior to I drove it all over again.

I am not declaring that I have mentioned every thing that can make a Kombi burn, so if a vee-dubber tells you other causes, pay attention to them. And retain a excellent eye on your kombis fuel lines. If you scent gas obtain out where by it is coming from and correct it. It must be extremely depressing sitting down on the side of the street observing your beloved Kombi likely up in smoke.

And it does transpire. You can study about burning Kombis in VW publications and on forums, and I’ve listened to of a pair of incidents individually. My spouse was driving to perform just one day and up in advance was a column of smoke and the area fireplace crew. As she drove previous she saw a kombi burning. The burnt out shell finished up in a holding yard near exactly where I lived for a several weeks.

A few of months later on the attendant the place I acquired gas advised me about his Kombi. His spouse was driving it, smelt gasoline and went into a gasoline station to get it checked. The mechanic could not see any leaks so she retained driving. The Kombi burst into flames and that was the close of it.

You should not permit it take place to you.