[200q20v] Yikes! Fuel Leak

[Brett Dikeman]

At 6:50 AM -0700 10/5/01, Rob Winchell wrote:
>After starting my car today, I felt like I smelled gas
>more than I should. I popped the hood for a little
>look-around.
>
>There was a LOT of gas dripping from the fuel
>regulator. By a lot I would say 2-3 tablespoons per
>minute (had I let it go that long). The leak appears
>to be coming from where the regulator attaches to the
>fuel rail.

do you mean the banjo bolt connection at the back of the rail, or the 
connection that faces in towards the engine, on the regulator itself?

>  I can't really see in there very well,
>since it goes up behind the intake manifold.
>
>Anyone have an experience with this? It may just be a
>loose connection I guess, which would be nice. Is
>leaking like that a failure mode for the pressure
>regulator?

Hmm.  That connection from the regulator to the fuel rail is a set of 
two metal fittings and a rubber piece in between.  Maybe one of the 
joints has failed...I don't think I've ever heard of that.  If it is 
just the fitting on the regulator itself, you'll still have to remove 
the regulator to tighten.  Here's hoping it just needs tightening.


>  Am I going to need to remove the manifold
>to get in there?

Nope...btdt.  Removal procedure is to remove the two bolts that hold 
the frame to the engine, disconnect the return line(bottom of the 
reg), disconnect the upper banjo bolt, pull out.  Bently covers the 
procedure...I forget what heading it was under, took me a minute to 
find it.

 From rather unpleasant experience, the washers are NOT reusable, 
they'll leak like a sieve(I tried to replace my regulator, and found 
out the hard way.)  Any VW or Audi dealer carries them however; the 
part number is N 013 812 8; dimensions are A12x15,5.  They're quite 
inexpensive, I picked up 6 for about $2-3 including tax.  Don't 
forget you need two, top of the banjo fitting and bottom.  I bought 
an extra set just in case(if I had any idea where they were, I'd give 
them to you, I'll be in  MA this weekend) and one other set because I 
needed to open the system up again at that point.

It's shown as # 40(along with the rest of the assembly) in section 
"THROTTLE VALVE ADAPTER INTAKE MANIFOLD FUEL LINE" under 91>200 
quattro>engine at http://catalog.exist.ru.

The hose assembly that might have failed is shown as #38 in the 
diagram, part number 034 133 717 T.  The Bently shows the hose much 
better, the family album doesn't show much at all.

I also -gently- smoothed the surface of the top of the banjo bolt 
with some super-fine 600 grit paper; I didn't touch the rail, because 
I was afraid I would knock some rust or paint chips into the system.

The banjo bolt has a surprisingly low torque number; 25Nm I think. 
If it makes a squeak, you've got it tight enough, but this is very 
much a watch, look, and smell sort of deal.  Dry the connection 
before starting, and during engine running, keep a fresh rag under 
the connection for a few seconds to look for leaks.

As for getting the lines off, you have a few choices for bleeding 
pressure.  I didn't have access to a vacuum source, but you can apply 
vacuum to the fuel pressure regulator, which bleeds off 
pressure...then cautiously open various connections.  Pulling the 
fuel pump relay with the engine running, then cranking it a few more 
seconds, also does the trick.  A tip...if your driveway has any slope 
or you have some ramps, orient the car nose down a bit.  This orients 
the fuel rail so that fuel won't drip out of the connection when you 
undo the banjo bolt and makes the job almost completely mess-free. 
The return line did not drip so much as a drop.

Using a hand pump to bleed off pressure has another advantage...smell 
the air coming out of the pump...if you detect a gas smell, it might 
be sign of the regulator going out the door.)

If you need to remove the regulator from the frame it's attached to, 
I found a metalworker's vise held it securely.  I placed one of the 
slanted edges flush with one of the jaws.

Hope this helps...drop me a line if you have any trouble...

Brett
-- 
----
Brett Dikeman
brett at cloud9.[nospam]net
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/
(vm/fax)212-894-3749x5271