Bad Accumulator?

[Reverend Grant]

Greetings,

I've got an '81 fuel injected pickup; it ran fine and then I had to park it for most of the last two years outdoors. It may have been driven while I was away and run into the ground; not sure.

Now it won't start. It's got spark, but gets no fuel. It will run on misted starter fluid just fine for as long as I want to lightly mist the intake.

If I manually pull up the airflow gate at the filter, I can get it to run on its own fuel for maybe 3-7 seconds.

With the key on, I cracked open the lines at the tank side of the filter, got fuel; at the distributor side of the filter, got fuel; at the regulator out, got fuel; regulator in, got fuel; cold start valve, got less fuel; fuel tank return, got fuel, but virtually none at any of the four injector outlets on the fuel distributor, unless I manually pull up the air gate again while turning over the engine, in which case I'll get a tiny dribble.

For the heck of it, I pulled and inspected the fuel filter; it was fairly new before it was parked, but it had about a teaspoon and a half of sediment to shake out, so I put a new fuel filter on. Now the engine will almost start on its own, maybe run for 5-10 seconds, then starve for fuel again.

Removed and inspected pressure regulator piston and spring/shims; seems clean and free.

I have a fuel pressure gauge, but do not have the correct adapter for VW, so, I found the volume test in a Haynes manual. Following their instructions, I bypassed the relay, and got:

• 650cc/30 sec. at the distributor -> tank return line (900cc spec)

Extrapolating on their test's presumption that a low value indicates either a bad pump or "trouble with the accumulator", I also tested and got:

• 700cc/30 sec. at the accumulator -> to filter (no spec listed)
• 1300cc/30 sec. at the fuel pump -> accumulator (no spec listed)

Does this sound like a bad accumulator? Is it clogged, or is it meant to generate that kind of volume restriction? Might I just have a tired pump, capable of lots of volume, but no real pressure or volume under standard restriction? I've replaced lots of fuel pumps on VWs, but never once have I even heard of an accumulator going bad (frankly, I never really paid attention to its existence in the first place).

Is there another reason why fuel might flow through every point of the fuel distributor -- albeit at less volume than I expect -- except out through the injector feed lines?

The pump sounds good; quiet, strong, no rattles, whines or howling, as others have done to me in the past. It does not draw too much current, and does not blow fuses or trip the relay.

I will try to find a pressure line adapter tomorrow, but any info or advice tonight would be great. Oh, and anyone know where to buy one for a good price? I only found one online for $181.00 (!!!).

Cheers

Rev. Grant

[alistair]

i had exactly the same problem on my 1.8 injection, had wot i thought was enough pressure as when i cracked open the injector nuts i got squerted GOOD and propper, but just a dribble at the injectors could occasionally get a spray from 1 or 2 of them if i was cranking and held the airflow meter wide open i replaced the pump with one off an audi problem solved so id say its your pump loads will do the job tho so shop around any k jet style pump will work too ford vauxhall ets SO iv been told, :)

[Reverend Grant]

Thanks for the reply.

I was able to find enough wrong fittings today in order to cobble together the "right" configuration to test the fuel pressure; it was a solid 72psi, indicating a good (enough) pump, after all. On closer inspection, the braided line from the pump to the accumulator was collapsed, almost crimped. I didn't have a repleacement handy, but used some larger fuel line to wrap around it, and then used some band clamps to return it to a round state. This opened up the volume flow to within spec.

I also think there must have been an air lock (vapor lock) of some kind inside the fuel distributor, because I had to bleed off quite a bit of air and aerated fuel off the pressure gauge tap before I got a good solid flow. The pressure also read barely 40psi until I got all the air out, so it's possible there was too much air in the lines/distributor to generate enough pressure to open the regulator.

Anyway, besides having a bad cold start valve, I finally got it to sputter and run on its own.

On another note, I was gifted a nifty Suburu 4WD today, and am thinking I should sell this Rabbit pickup to someone who will give it more love and care than I can afford. It's a bit tired; but runs well and is generally straight; has a decent camper shell, too; and I even have a spare engine I kept from one that got wrecked. I'd consider parting it out, too.

Cheers

Rev. Grant