Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 16:58:15 +0200
Reply-To: Ken Turner <kturner@IAFRICA.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ken Turner <kturner@IAFRICA.COM>
Subject: Idle Stabliser Control Unit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
I’ve just gone through a couple of frustrating weeks when for no
apparent reason our 2.1 litre Digijet Vanagon would intermittently
start, but idle VERY badly, refusing to respond at all to the
accelerator, or pull away. Replacing fuel filter, spark plugs,
distributor cap and HT leads all helped to cure an elusive miss during
normal running, but not this main problem.
Nothing I checked seemed to be clearly the cause, and what was more
puzzling, the fault “disappeared” after anything between a couple of
minutes and an overnight wait. I now realize nothing I did at that stage
had anything to do with getting it going again.
The fourth occasion it happened, I was still at home, which was great,
and this time I duly checked the Idle Stabiliser Control Unit for the
first time. Eureka! Instant success when I bypassed the unit; plugging
it back into the circuit brought the problem back again. I really should
have checked it before, as it’s so easy to do. Problem located if not
solved.
Today I priced a replacement unit - OUCH! No way! Much Too Much!
Which leads me to ask -
1. Am I likely to do any harm by leaving the wires permanently bridged
and the Idle Stabilizer right out of the ignition circuit? (I honestly
can’t say I notice any difference in idling whatsoever, though I must
point out that we in South Africa are currently just past mid-summer
with temperatures well up the the 90's)
2. Has any brave soul ever cut one of these units open? What lives
inside? Any likelihood whatsoever that any part inside might be
replaceable or serviceable? If not by an average Joe Soap then by whom?
3. I see on the wiring diagram, that it lies between the Hall Sensor and
the Transistorised Ignition Control Unit. Can it do anything at all
beyond advancing or retarding the ignition timing slightly? Does anyone
know just what it’s function is and how it stabilizes idling?
4. Has anyone ever located a third party replacement part? (Much as I
like to stick to genuine Volksie parts)
Many thanks in anticipation -
Ken