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I rebuilt my fuel pump a year ago and it is working well, but the base gaskets leak. I installed another set of new gaskets about four months ago and they are also leaking. I watched the pump closely after the second set of gaskets were installed, and over a few weeks noticed the gaskets getting slowly wetter and wetter until they became saturated and started to leak. Not a lot of fuel coming out, but more fuel than I like leaking onto my engine. The fuel pump bolts are sufficiently snug, but I don't think so tight that they are distorting the gasket. Any thoughts?

The only thing you should be leaking from those gaskets should be oil coming up and out of the motor...and that's if the gaskets are poop. If you are leaking fuel out of those gaskets then you have internal pump issues. Fuel should not be anywhere near those gaskets. Either the diaphragm tore or maybe a cracked pump-housing. How's it run? I would think if you were leaking that much fuel then your rig wouldn't be running very well.

Use Indian shellac on them. Also make sure it is not warped. Take a file to the surfaces.

Roverchef wrote:The only thing you should be leaking from those gaskets should be oil coming up and out of the motor...and that's if the gaskets are poop. If you are leaking fuel out of those gaskets then you have internal pump issues. Fuel should not be anywhere near those gaskets. Either the diaphragm tore or maybe a cracked pump-housing. How's it run? I would think if you were leaking that much fuel then your rig wouldn't be running very well.

Good point. Might be time to get a replacement. Quality VW maybe? Check www.thesamba.com for a rebuilt original German one

I'll disagree. I had a hell of a day once pulling folks out of the sand and the pump went out on me. I pulled it out, flipped over the diaphragm and snugged up the screws. The truck went back to normal.

I have to guess heavy usage can cause an issue with what is a subpar seal to begin with. It's a simple rebuild if you need.

Hard to tell if the fuel pump is causing running problems since the rings on cylinders three and four had bad rings. I'll know more about how well things are working in the pump when the engine is back together. I'll remove the pump and take a look inside, and see if I have a cracked housing. I have a replacement VW pump in my spare parts pile, so I may install that for comparison if I don't find anything amiss with the original pump.

Indian shellac?