Date:         Sun, 10 Jun 2001 18:14:05 -0400
Reply-To:     John Haddad <jgh3rd@MINDSPRING.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Haddad <jgh3rd@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject:      Re: On being well grounded
Comments: To: Mark Ingalls <ingalls_mark@hotmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <OE3458tP9DLf4bg5Xml00000479@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=us-ascii

Thanks Mark,

I'll give that a whirl to see if it makes a difference to driveability.  I
had no idea that the ECU was grounded through the case, but I wondered.  I
wouldn't imagine that it would help though, because when I'm testing at
the ECU connector, it is completely detached from the ECU and wouldn't
benefit from the ground you describe.  Still, it seems like a good idea.
I hope that I figure it out, because I know that an overly rich mixture
over the long term will kill my engine.  My goal is to find all vacuum
leaks and bad conductivity so that the ECU can do the job it was designed
to do.

Yesterday, I continued my quest to provide good grounds to the ECU.  I
renewed the tranny to body braided strap and the ground from the fuel pump
to body (whew, was that one bad!).  Very easy to do and it does seem to
improve driveability (throttle response, even power band, smooth idle)
although nothing radically different for me.

John Haddad


On Sunday, June 10, 2001, at 02:19  AM, Mark Ingalls wrote:

> In the past it has been suggested to add a ground on the top left cylinder
> head towards the front. There is already a unused tapped bolt hole there.
> Look, you'll see it.
>
> Darrell Boheler who has done a lot of work with the ECUs also recommended
> adding a ground to the Digijet ECU case. The digijet ECU grounds through
> the
> case to the frame of the van.
>
> So I ground down to bare metal on the upper ECU mounting screw area (where
> the ECU mounts to it's holder) and hooked a wire there with the
> appropriate
> eyelet. Then I brought that wire around and connected it to the new bolt
> on
> the left cylinder head. From there I brought the wire around to the right
> front side of the engine bay where the power steering and AC solenoids
> sit.
> I cleaned that to bare metal and used that to ground the ECU and cylinder
> head to the van frame.
>
> Hope this is of some help to someone.
>
>
> Mark Ingalls
> Nebraska City, Nebraska
> 85  Vanagon GL    'Aimee Airheart'
> 75  Beetle   'Salvation'