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RE: [T3] excessive fuel consumption


On 18 Apr 2001, at 19:28, Leon Martinez B. wrote:

> The excessive fuel cosumption of your efi 
> system can be caused by vacume leaks, even
> around missing or cracked injector seals.

I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree with this. On the D-jetronic 
FI ONLY, MOST vacuum leaks cause no problems at all, except 
that they may cause a higher than normal idle speed.

Leaks at the outer ends of the air runners will cause that cylinder 
to run LEAN, which is not good, but is not rich.

Leaks near the center of the system, near the air distributor, will 
cause no effect except a high idle.

Only leaks IN the pressure sensor will cause the engine to run rich. 
Of course running with the pressure sensor hose disconnected (on 
either end!) is the biggest leak you can have, and is certainly a 
possibility in this case.

In all cases, the effect will vary with the size of the leak.

> Check for all vacume leaks everywhere and place clamps on the
> intake runners to the manifold. 

I see these ALL the time and I always take them off because they 
just tear up those hoses. Sometimes the engine assembly was 
done poorly and the tubes don't line up right. In these cases you 
are much better off loosening the air distributor bolts and the 
manifold bolts and let these parts all line themselves up. Then 
retighten in a stress-free condition. Sometimes rotating the hoses 
around the tubes will allow them to get into a position where they 
seal better. In general, if you can get the tubes to line up well and 
the engine to idle acceptably, then just letting those hoses relax 
into place WITHOUT CLAMPS will result in their seating and 
sealing better and better with time. 

> Make sure your pressure sensor holds vacume for a minute (I suck
> with clean clamped hose to the sensor)

A good suggestion. It doesn't have to be for a minute, of course, 
but you want to be able to suck on the PS and verify that you don't 
just keep getting air.  

The thing to understand is that the later FI systems are 
fundamentally different from our D-jetronic systems. Vacuum leaks 
cause big problems for all the later systems, but this is NOT true 
for the D-jetronic. If your mechanic is giving you a big line about 
vacuum leaks, he's most likely well trained in modern FI systems 
and just assuming that this is true of your system, too. 
Unfortunately, this is wrong, but this assumption is very common.  

Finding someone who really understands the type 3 D-jet system 
these days is hard, and misinformation is rampant.   

-
Jim Adney
jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711-3054
USA

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