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Ugh... ethanol? Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 10:39:33 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
A don't drive the 5-door very much (for many reasons) but started it up last weekend to find it wasn't very happy. Tracked the likely culprit down to the fuel pump, which when powered up sounded like it was trying to pump maple syrup. My first though was bad gas - which I have never actually experienced first-hand due to the fact it takes a *really* long time for gas to go bad in California. It'd been nearly a year (seriously) since I'd last driven the 5-door and I've let cars sit *way* longer than that, but who knows right?
I pulled the fuel pump out and during inspection my finger went *through* the rubber mounting boot/isolator! The whole thing had turned to mush! I've been in Saabs for twenty years and never seen this happen before... It's the same effect you get when gas gets on something rubber that's not rated for gas - but this isolator obviously should be!
The only thing I can come up with is all the fear that was spread about ethanol ruining rubber parts in old cars is responsible here... and it just took ~10 years to take its toll.... or maybe last time I got gas I got an abnormal quantity of ethanol.
Anyone have any thoughts?
This is really troubling because the fuel pump situation on the 5-door is not readily fixable. On a later car I could swap tanks with a late-style one that uses the Walbro pump and no boot, but the shape of the 5-door's underside prevents that. My only option is a used isolator, which sure seems like a short-term fix. Maybe have someone build an aluminum tank? (That is totally on the table - I've never been fond on my fuel pump situation on this car! :)
posted by 69.62.18...
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