Former VWDieselParts.com Forum

Did you ever get into the tank and inspect the inlet filter to see if it's plugged? I'd do that, and if you haven't verified if the vent to the tank is moving air like it should, check that. If it happens again, loosen the gas cap and see if that fixes it.

82vdub wrote:Did you ever get into the tank and inspect the inlet filter to see if it's plugged? I'd do that, and if you haven't verified if the vent to the tank is moving air like it should, check that. If it happens again, loosen the gas cap and see if that fixes it.

I will now! I was going to before but that was before I got it running decent and I had way to much fuel in the tank. I have no clue what I'm looking for in the tank either. I was going to try and look that up.

I noticed under injector #4 where the cylinder head and block meet I had bubbles going on.. So I don't know if the head gasket is on the way out too

Welp... dug into the tank and pulled this out..




and cleaned up



Took it out for a test run and is waaaaaay better... like it was before it started sputtering and lack of power.
So hopefully that's all it was but man.. I wish i would have cleaned or check that long ago or before i left.

live and learn i guess

That's what happens when they sit, which you had mentioned that it had before you bought it. Hope this solves the issue.

So far it has..
The day after I got home I tried messing with the lines & re bleeding them AGAIN and didn't fix it.

So last night after I cleaned it it was back to how it was before. So guessing that was my problem & probably what the inside of my IP looked like too.

I wonder if my new filter is all dirty now too? I may change that soon after I run a few tanks through it.

A fuel filter is cheap and easy to replace.

Just pulling the intank filter and cleaning it isn't enough.
There is a bunch of crap that fell next to the filter when you pulled it. It got pulled into the screen again when you started it.
I have a fuel pump with a clear plastic filter before it. I used it to pump fuel out of the pickup area, clean it and send it back. I call it "vacuuming" the tank.

I also want to mention that a dash-mounted vacuum gauge connected to the fuel line will let you know there is a fuel line restriction way before you are stranded beside the road. All my cars have one because by the time you feel a problem; vacuum is way high, up around 20inhg.
If the restriction was caused by a clogged vent line, that's enough to collapse your fuel tank.

I will have to look into doing both!

Thanks for the tips! Gonna run the tank down a some to make it easier, I probably have 5 gallons in it at the moment.

Took a 15 min. trip to my sons Tball game and home, I just wanna make sure i get all or most the crap outta the take if there is some in there.

Yep, it's hard to fix with a full tank, ha.

What kind of pump did you use with your set up? Was looking around on amazon and found a couple little lift / transfer style pumps.
I plan on checking that screen here again until I can try to get something rigged up

Just an electric fuel pump from NAPA,.. purolator or something like that.

I wonder what happened to the Rabbit. How does it look like right now?

I still have it