[Vwdiesel] Banjo hits sour notes

[Scott Alexander]

I had the same problem. After doing some work, I didn't get around to  
replacing the rubber separators and developed a pinhole leak in one  
of the lines. I replaced all four figuring that I wasn't sure if the  
others had been damaged and I didn't want to have another go bad later.

I'd be leery of trying to patch the line, particularly with something  
soft. I've read that the lengths of those lines are carefully set as  
part of the engine timing. Additionally, of course, the injectors  
fire based on pressure. It seems to me that it'd be pretty easy to  
either end up with a different length or to end up with enough  
flexibility (particularly for a low volume, high pressure application  
like this one) that the injector would end up firing late and  
possibly weakly.

If you were going to try a patch, i would be more inclined to split a  
piece of hose lengthwise, wrap it around the hardline and then clamp  
that. That way you've still got the length and strength of the rest  
of the original line. Of course, I didn't open up my bad line to see  
what sort of failure there was and whether it was about to get worse.

OTOH, I did have a job interview the day that I discovered it, so  
drove about 15 miles to the interview and the same distance home in  
the evening. (Actually, I discovered the problem in the parking lot  
of the company before the interview when I had a few extra minutes  
and looked to see why it had been running rough on the way down.  
After the interview, I borrowed a wrench thinking the problem was  
just a loose injector fitting.) Once the new lines arrived, I also  
had to drive the car another 5-10 miles to get to where the lines  
were so that I could install them. All of that happened with the  
failure becoming noticeably worse.

FWIW,
Scott
'82 Rabbit D


On Jul 4, 2007, at 3:10 AM, Milt Kaplan wrote:

> Well doesn't look promising for my July 4th meeting at Loren's  
> Pacific Beach get together. Seems the 2nd from flywheel end metal  
> line from the injection pump (85 Jetta TD engine) has sprung a  
> pinhole leak where it turns to go into the injector. I saw a  
> emergency replacement flexible line in Parts Place catalog; I  
> laughed when I saw that item at the time!  But not laughing now. I  
> didn't expect a metal line to develop a pinhole leak. There wasn't  
> any metal to metal tube rubbing. Biut the injector lines are  
> missing the rubber separators, so maybe some vibration created a  
> stress point. Anyone experience this kind of problem? Unfortunately  
> 4th of July is not good day to find parts. Do you think I could  
> remove and cut the line and splice in a piece of hose with hose  
> clamps?  Its high pressure in those lines. Anyone do this? Also,  
> anyone know of some parts place around Seattle that might have the  
> Banjo? Milton.
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