Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 07:10:47 -0800
Reply-To: Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Lethargic starter (Update)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Hi All,
Well, some of you may remember that I was having
difficulty with trying to get my '86 van started and
I'd like to thank the following generous folks for
lending their suggestions (in no particular order:
John Klun
Gerald Masar
Justin B. Jensen
Richard Golen
Ron Olsen
Kenneth Lewis
Joel Walker
Samuel Walters
Andrew Fox
Jon Hathaway
and to anyone else whos name I failed to mention
above that sent help for this problem...
***** Meanwhile, back at the problem ****
Well since then, I've replaced the transmission to
chassis cable, the spark plugs, spark plug wires,
starter, battery, cap & rotor. Changed oil to
10W-30W (filter is VW). All to no avail. :(
So I had to have the van towed up to my house in
New Hampshire and for several weeks have not been
able to start the engine. I also added 5 gallons
of gas and gas treatment to see if maybe that would
help. Still no-go.
The van sat for a week or so since I last touched
it. Then along came this last weekends storm and
30+ degree warm up. about mid-afternoon, I thought,
"Ahhh what the heck." I jumped in the van and tried
the ignition and Wam! It started right up! What!?!
I couldn't believe it... It had trouble idling and
so I restarted it again and held the accelerator pedal
down and let it warm up. After a few minutes I shut
it down and checked the engine compartment to make
sure everything was secure. A few minor things were
reattached and I took her out for a drive. Wow! It
ran just fine. But I'd sure like to know what was
wrong. I've since started it up in 20 degree F
weather
with no problem! Idles fine too. So, it's still a
mystery and I don't want it to not start out in the
middle of no-where. I will be checking/cleaning all
grounds and still want to check the resistance of the
main fat wire from the battery to the starter. I
don't know what else to check. I know that before
when I tried jump starting it, I could hear the donor
engine idle drop when I turned over the starter of the
van. Other than that, I have no clue. But at least
it runs now. But for how long?
Thanks to all for the help,
Steven Johnson
'86 vanagon
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