I have been gradually adding biodiesel to the diesel mix. When it was running mostly biodiesel, I dared take a trip with the car to Orlando with my wife, using smaller roads. I charged the second battery as insurance against the inevitable battery failure. When I got to Ocala cars started honking at me. I'm used to that since the car doesn't accelerate normally. Then I noticed smoke coming from the front. I stopped and looked under the hood. The whole motor area was covered in biodiesel. I turned on the motor and noticed a fountain coming from one of the valves. A man came by who claimed to work on diesels and using a knife, took off the problem hose (one of the small ones), cut it short, and put it back on. I had called AAA already so they had recommended the local VW dealer. When the hose seemed to be fixed I went by the VW dealer just to have them check it out for safety. They were very excited to see this type of car, none of them had before. This amused me, but also worried me. In the end they turned one of the fuel input valves somewhat in order to avoid chafing and also replaced another hose because it was cracked (this was a different hose than the one that had broken).
Back on the road about a half an hour later, I checked the car just because of anxiety. One of the large hoses had split at the end and was leaking fuel in large amounts. It had emptied the tank, which had been half full. That hose had not been a problem before, so I still don't know if it broke later, or was involved earlier, or if the VW guys accidentally broke it. I was near an auto parts store, bought some clamps and reattached the hose with multiple clamps so it wouldn't bend. We drove to a gas station to fill up and from there managed to drive home. The next day the battery was dead again.
I tell the story because I don't know exactly what caused the (three) hoses to fail, and why they failed in such quick succession. I had been using biodiesel, but it's supposed to take months before they degrade, and these were supposed to be the Viton hoses, so they shouldn't degrade at all. When I do the hose-check (pinching the hose into an L shape) they seem fine. Could it be the shaking of the motor; do they all need to be clamped to avoid bending?
I have ordered more of the 1/8 inch Viton hose to replace the one (with the fiber sheathing) that the Ocala VW people put on. That one seems to be "sweating" already.
