"melting" fuel lines on '83 quattro coupe

["David R. Derting" <davidder@teleport.com>]

This may be a known problem but it is new to me and it is turning out to 
be expensive to resolve . . 

Recently I found four (of the five) lines that go from the fuel 
distributor to the fuel injectors were literly melted away.

After a great deal of head-scratching I discovered that the ground lines 
from the engine to the chassis were weak and could not support the 
current output from the alternator (when under a heavy load).  The effect 
was that the steel braded covers over the plastic fuel lines were 
completing the ground circuit and acting 
like heating elements, thus, melting the plastic lines.  (Yikes, a fire 
hazard!!).

The solutiong has been to add a supplimentary ground line from the 
alternator to the chassis.  I picked one up at my local autoparts store 
form about $3.  Unforturately, the replacement fuel lines from my local 
Audi dealer are about $50 a pop.  Of course, some of them are coming from 
the old country so there is a 4 week wait . . . 

David Derting
'83 Quattro Coupe
'85 Jetta GLI
'85 Scirocco Wolfsburg Ed.
 

davidder@teleport.COM  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks
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