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Date:         Sat, 4 Aug 2001 16:02:57 -0500
Reply-To:     Mark Ingalls <ingalls_mark@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Ingalls <ingalls_mark@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: 02 sensors
Comments: To: SeabornProduct@aol.com
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Hi Jeff,

I don't think the 02 sensor would cause a sudden stall. You could test it when it happened by disconnecting it and seeing if the van starts. It shouldn't be making it that rich to make it stall.

The things I have heard that will cause a sudden stall are:

1. Faulty computer harness. You can test it by moving the harness around while the engine is idleing and see if it will stall. Warning- Be very careful not to get loose shirts, scarves, long hair or loose clothing tangled in the moving belts or you may DIE.

2. The Digijet ECU (computer) rarely fail I've been told by a expert who repairs ECUs. And when they do it is usually total failure, not intermittent.

But the ECU is grounded to the van body through the screws of the mounting fixture. You may want to make sure it is getting a good ground there. I added an extra ground wire there on my van.

3. One guy on the list reported his positive coil wire connector was faulty and his car stalled.

4. Ignition switch failures are somewhat common on the Vanagon.

5. There is a bundle of ground wires that ground on the left cylinder head. I cleaned that ground up on mine. There is also a bundle of grounds on the left engine bay, I also cleaned that point well.

6. The temp 2 sensor has given people trouble, but I think that causes hard starts when cold.

Let us know if you find anything.

Bye, Mark Ingalls 85 GL 75 Beetle

>From: SeabornProduct@aol.com >To: ingalls_mark@hotmail.com >Subject: 02 sensors >Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 00:23:59 EDT > >Hi Mark, >I'm new to the list and finding it VERY helpful. >I'm having wierd (what I think are) fuel problems with my '84 GL. It >stalls >on me and then won't start now and then. The fuel pump and spark are fine. >Just today, a mechanic helped me a bit and we took off a connection to one >of >the fuel injectors and tested it, then the engine fired up...??? > >You said that NOT having an 02 sensor will cause running rich... could this >also cause flooding to the point of stalling? > >Any advice is greatly appreciated! Below is the message I sent to the >list: > >Sorry for the long message, but I've got to get all this out now that it's >fresh in my head. I've searched the archives to no avail: > >I've had intermittent fuel delivery problems for 3 years now. Once I >replaced the fuel pump (which had actually failed) and everything was fine. >Then the pump failed again, so I put a filter between the tank and the pump >(on California water-cooled's, the fuel filter is between the pump and the >engine... seems odd). I still get intermittent stalls and no-starts. I've >even had it towed to a mechanic, only to find it starts right up again when >the tow truck dropped me off - then the mechanic really coulnd't find >anything wrong. > >Most recently (like an hour ago!) it stalled in rushhour traffic and had it >towed to a thoughtful mechanic. Luckily, it did NOT start after being >dropped. This is what we found: good spark, fuel pump fine. Here's the >wierd part: he pulled a fuel injection connection off (the wires from the >computer to the injector) and put on one of those small bulb testers (which >lit-up fine). Then he reconnected to the injector and it started up! Then >we turned it off and waited about 5 minutes and then it failed to start >again! So he tried the same trick: pulled off one of the injector >connections, tested it and reconnected it: it started fine! He's baffled, >I'm baffled. He thinks "maybe" the computer, but he's really pretty >baffled. > > >I took the chance on driving it home and it made it all the way. I rarely >r >ev the engine very high, so I thought I'd try that to see if maybe it just >needed a good high voltage charge. Oddly, at high RPMs the engine sort of >sputtered a bit (like not good, clean acceleration). After doing this a >few >times (about 5-10 good revs in both 2nd and 3rd gear), the acceleration >became clean and fine. I"d really like to keep this "bus" but it's kind of >frustrating having to be careful about carrying stuff around (like music >instruments) on the off-chance it's just going to die again. > >I once heard of a friend's BMW that had a similar problem (wierd >intermittent >stalls) for like 5 years, and it just took someone who REALLY knew how to >give it a good tune-up to solve the problem... > >Any ideas? > >Jeff T. > >Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 18:09:12 -0500 > Reply-To: Mark Ingalls <ingalls_mark@HOTMAIL.COM> > Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com> > From: Mark Ingalls <ingalls_mark@HOTMAIL.COM> > Subject: Re: digijet fuel pressure > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed > > > > >At 03:16 PM 8/1/2001, Dave Baker wrote: > >>On the subject of O2 sensors, mine is disconnected on my 85 Westy 1.9 >L; > >>nevertheless, I still get ok mileage... between 17 and 20. What >problems > >>might this create for me? > > > > Hi, > > The 02 sensor provides info to the engine computer so the computer can >fine > tune the fuel/air ratio. > > The engines were set up from the factory to run on the rich side until >the > 02 sensor warmed up and started working. > > So most likely you are running a little rich. I haven't heard of anyone > having problems running this way.... > > Your gas mileage is as good as mine. > > Bye, > Mark Ingalls > 85GL w/02 sensor and digitool read-out of it's operation.

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