Bambalam

Hi Rennlisters,

Some advice please, my car is a 90 S4.

Unfortunately my CAD plating shop flooded before he was able to courier the parts to me - he replated everything but the fuel dampers and regulator have been full of water, there now appears to be alot of corrosion around the threads and also the air pressure side as shown in the photos below.

My question is can these be salvaged or cleaned or should I just replace them?

Thanks guys,

Simon

FredR

If those things are that old that they needed replating then the best thing you can do is bin them and buy a new complete set of the correct Bosch fuel pressure controller and the two [different] dampers. The diaphragms inside the pieces typically last at least 10 years or so and after that it is a crap shoot as to when the diaphragms will fail.

Not sure having those things replated is such a good idea given what they are exposed to in the plating process unless they plater can guarantee no fluid ingress by sealing off the internal components somehow. One also wonders why they corroded like that if the plating process worked correctly.

Bertrand Daoust

I would change them.

Bambalam

Thanks Bertrand, I had the same thought that if they were plated correctly then why is there corrosion at all and I am not sure if he sealed them completely prior to plating.
I only threw them in with all the other components as I am trying to clean up the engine bay and they had lost there original coating. I thought I had seen others re-plate these but maybe they were new.

Simon

Bambalam

Thanks Fred, I had wondered how long the internal diaphragms would last. I have the same issue wondering if the plater sealed them properly.

Looks like another parts order from Roger.

Simon

SeanR

Agree with Fred, once they are that old (and they all are) it's best to just replace them all.

Bambalam

Thanks Sean. Appreciate the advice guys.

Simon

G.P.

I recently did the replating job, and replaced the regulator and dampers with new. The car was running well before, but after installing the new regulator and dampers, it seems to run better and smoother.

dr bob

On a local project a few years ago, even without the water immersion the pieces were not reliable. The FPR, particularly, suffered from new metal in internal places where new metal wasn't wanted. The ports were blocked with stoppers but still got stuff inside. Just replace with new.

Bambalam

Excellent, thanks guys. I was curious as to why they are a sealed unit but obviously they are meant to be a replaceable item and with fuel running through them constantly then they are just as likely to wear out as the rubber fuel lines - I should have thought about that before re-plating, just happened that I through them in with the other stuff without thinking.

Great forum here with some very good advice.

Thanks again.

Simon