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> So this clamp is in the trunk, not under the fender? No, it's in the fender well. The Piece of tubing that runs from the filler goes across the gap over towards the trunk. It goes into a piece of rubber tubing with a flange that obviously goes into the trunk and hooks to the gas tank on the other side. The clamp that I'm talking about is where the filler neck goes into this rubber piece. There is a clamp around the outside of the rubber. This clamp was as tight as it would go and was not providing much clamping action on the rubber. I took strips of duct tape and wrapped it, a couple times around, in the groove that the clamp rides in. Now the clamp tightens up in the middle of its range, so it is actually clamping the rubber to the steel filler neck. The duct tape is only acting to make the groove, that the clamp rides in, larger. In that capacity, I'm sure it will last a long time. This car was pranged in the front end, and a lot of stuff replaced (fenders, etc.). I bet you are correct that a rubber piece was left out or damaged, etc., when it was fixed, hence the loose clamp. I will just leave it alone though, as long as it continues not to leak. There is no leakage on the tank side of this rubber piece, in the trunk. I will get the rubber piece you talk about though, in case I have a problem in the future. Who knows, it may not be available then. Thanks, Jim Showker ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Adney" <jadney@vwtype3.org> To: <type3@vwtype3.org> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 7:28 AM Subject: Re: [T3] gas mileage fix > On 20 Sep 2005 at 20:31, Jim Showker wrote: > > > >This IS the overflow hose, isn't it; I can't imagine > > > what else you could be clamping under there. > > > > Nah, not the overflow tube, the big tube/hose that hooks to the gas tank > > from the filler . Probly 2" in diameter. It looks like the original high > > quality VW clamp. The neoprene rubber, or whatever it is is just smaller, > > either from being 36 years old, or from being clamped for 36 years. The > > duct tape is only acting as a spacer, to enlarge the tube/hose so that the > > clamp can clamp. should last as long as the hose. > > So this clamp is in the trunk, not under the fender? > > There is a somewhat common problem with that connection that is caused when the > gas tank gets removed and not re-installed correctly. For some reason, VW > designed these joints (2 per car) to require a thin rubber sleeve to go between > the steel tube and the outer hose. This sleeve is only about 1mm thick, but if > it gets left out, torn, or wrinkled, that joint won't seal. > > It is common for these sleeves to just be left out after someone removes the > gas tank. By far, the best solution is to just put them back in, but it is > somewhat difficult to get everything re-installed and wrinkle free. Last time I > checked, these sleeves were still available from VW, because the same part is > also used on Beetles. They are probably outrageously expensive, around $2 > apiece, but worth the price. A piece of mountain bike inner tube looks like it > should work, but it won't, because the butyl rubber used for inner tubes reacts > badly with gasoline. > > I know this problem well, because my '73 came with that leak also, and those > sleeves were missing. Replacing them fixed the problem permanently. I don't > think the duct tape will last as long as we might hope for. > > -- > Jim Adney > jadney@vwtype3.org > Madison, WI 53711-3054 > USA > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >