Bedtime story: April is fuel month!

[jlagnese at massed.net (John S. Lagnese)]

Things had been going suspiciously well for you recently! Its amazing how
fast the gas can come out of those small lines! Last time I changed a fuel
pump, in my 92 Jetta, not only could I smell gas in the garage, but
throughout the entire house!
John
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "C Boyko" <roccit_53@scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca>
To: <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2005 9:30 PM
Subject: Bedtime story: April is fuel month!


> Okay, so March was brakes month, so if you're still doing brakes, you're
> out of fashion. Get with the programme. (My total for the 2005 calendar
> year? bug-rotors, caliper, pads, one line; Cabby: brake cables, two wheel
> cylinders; 16V- one caliper, a veritable bleed-a-thon)
>
> So Klaus had been running like ass, the fuel pump was the likely
> candidate, a few weeks back I installed a used one a friend had given me,
> no drama, but it made no sound at all. Not a whir. Likely pooched. Not
> wanting to be left out of all this malodorous entertainment, the Cabby
> decided to leak gas too, I looked at it and was ready to fix it, but
> decided against doing it myself. So it's done. A fuel line near the pump.
> The tech had a real good time with it.
>
> So on to today. I hauled six rims to the city to get fresh rubber (yes,
> you can fit the rubber for two A1s into the hatch of a bug). Get home,
> install said rubber, decide to go for a drive in the Cabby, no problems,
> life is good. Next is Klaus, my beloved 79. He has a brand new minty fresh
> fuel pump sitting in a box from the Potterman. Tasty Boschy goodness. I
> had just done this job, on him, right? Tools, pans were all still out on
> the floor, so I jack him up, undo a bunch of stuff, and proceed with the
> "installation is reverse of removal" part of the task, which is a repeat
> episode, right?
>
> Banjo bolt on and semi tight, now just slip the other end on, should be
> easy, right? Clamp all poised to get snugged back down, big basin to catch
> the slop, what could go wrong? I JUST DID THIS. IT WENT WELL THE FIRST
> TIME.
>
> Now my family's not at home, I'm on my own. Maybe not such a great idea in
> retrospect. So I go to put the nipple of the pump into the hose, it's not
> going, gas is pouring all over, down my sleeve, soaking my shirt, oh well,
> I could say nipple again at this point, but I won't. It's like the pump
> forgot its Viagra or something, come on Klaus, big boy, you can do
> it,.....so I have about a gallon of fuel in the basin, no signs of relief,
> the hose just IS NOT going on there, and I hear the dog barking. Oh oh,
> she's moving, with a calico flash in front of her. She's snapped her
> chain, hell bent on killing my cat. Meantime I'm on my back in a pool of
> gas. And can't move.
>
> Oh, factiod, Klaus has no transfer pump, this hose feeds off the BOTTOM of
> the tank, which I fill to the brim for the winter. (The car was running
> WAY too badly to drive it far enough to run it low) Yep. All that high
> octane spilling out, or try to save the cat. I hear all this
> rustling/snapping, gasping stuff from the bush, not a good thing, and in
> my gas huffing induced stupor I concentrate on stopping up the leak, since
> I figure the cat is either toast, or has escaped. Well, the hose is
> pooched, it's inner layer is peeling away from the outer layer, (which is
> why it wouldn't go on) so the next leak will be from the tank itself when
> I replace it. The dog got her chain tangled on some roots and didn't have
> the cat in her mouth, so I'm hopeful. No signs of the cat yet.
>
> I love my life. So much adventure. This on the heels of a week at work
> that if rated on a 1-10 scale would earn some triple digit negative
> number.
>
> So Mr Keith and I are planning to bond for the rest of the evening. Mmmm,
> beer.
>
>
> -- 
> Cathy
> "A true friend is someone who thinks you are a good egg even though he
> knows that you are slightly cracked" (Bernard Meltzer)
>
>
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