The air-cooled Volkswagen Kombi is an iconic vehicle that oozes character. The Kombis are also practical. You can take them to work, take the family, and go camping in them, and you’ll still see them being used daily and refurbished for occasional use. There are still plenty of young guys and girls out there who would like to have one as their daily driver.

However, the Volkswagen kombis have a disturbing flaw. They catch fire and then Kombi says goodbye.

So why do they catch fire and what can you do to prevent yours from burning?

I haven’t found a definitive article in a VW magazine yet, but I’ve been driving my 1976 2-liter hatchback as my daily driver for over 14 years, so I took an interest in the problem and learned as much as I could. I will answer the question to the best of my ability.

There are actually a few different things that can cause the Kombi to burn, but they all come back to fuel being released into the engine bay. Kombis have a fuel tank in front of and above the engine, a hose that goes down from there to the fuel pump, and another hose that goes up through the tin to the carburetors.

The Kombis are old now and have a lot of age related issues unless they have been rebuilt. Even then, chances are, everything hasn’t been as good as new again.

One of those old age problems is damaged and broken fuel lines. Chances are yours have been replaced, but check them anyway. When they break they can leak gas everywhere. A spark and your Kombi is history. Also, just below the engine are two hot heat exchangers that the exhaust passes through. I don’t know what’s causing the bigger problem, the heat exchangers or the sparks, but it’s largely irrelevant when your van goes up in smoke.

So check those fuel lines, and if you buy a kombi, don’t drive it anywhere with old, cracked fuel lines. Replace them! And don’t forget to check the hose from the fuel tank to the pump. It’s out of the way and easily overlooked.

If you have loosened the fuel hoses several times, make sure you have not cut the hose with the edge of the hose clamp. It can happen, and then you have gas leaking onto the engine.

The fuel hose goes through the tinplate that surrounds the engine. Bodywork plays a very important role, it is essential to keep the engine cool. It’s almost as important as the radiator on water-cooled cars, so don’t throw it away. But check where the fuel line goes through the tin. There should be a rubber grommet protecting the fuel line from the can. Mine eventually went bad, and it was one of the few parts I couldn’t buy new, so I wrapped the fuel line in a larger diameter piece of hose to stop the rubbing.

Another age old problem is where the fuel lines enter the carburetors. There is a brass inlet tube that is part of the carb and they come loose. You can imagine what happens. Suddenly the gasoline that was getting into the car is spraying all over the engine. Goodbye Combo!

I was very lucky. I was buying parts from a VW mechanic for a long time, and he told me about that particular problem. I checked the intake tubes not long after, and one of them came off the carb pretty easily. I put it back on with loctite and checked both intake tubes regularly. If yours are loose, see your mechanic and get them fixed before you drive your truck again.

My Kombi also had loose inlet and outlet lines at the fuel pump. They have been put back on with loctite and are also checked every time I do maintenance on the engine.

I have also encountered another problem. There is a rubber elbow near the fuel tank. Mine perished and I could smell the gas but couldn’t find the leak. I eventually found fuel leaking from the bottom of the Kombi under the filler. Needless to say, they replaced it before driving it again.

I’m not saying I’ve listed everything that can cause a Kombi to burn out, so if a vee-dubber tells you other causes, listen to them. And keep a good eye on the fuel lines of your combis. If you smell gas, find out where it’s coming from and fix it. It must be pretty depressing sitting on the side of the road watching your beloved Kombi go up in smoke.

And it happens. You’ll read about burning Kombis in VW magazines and on forums, and I’ve personally heard of a couple of incidents. My wife was driving to work one day and later there was a plume of smoke and the local fire department. As she passed, she saw a burning kombi. The burned shell ended up in a dump near where I lived for a few weeks.

A couple of months later, the gas station attendant told me about his Kombi. His wife was driving it, smelled gasoline and went to a gas station to have it checked. The mechanic couldn’t see any leaks, so he kept driving. The Kombi burst into flames and that was it.

Do not let that happen to you.

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