Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 22:31:50 -0400
Reply-To: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Organization: Bulley-Hewlett
Subject: Re: why didn't my van start??
In-Reply-To: <200208190021.g7J0L3OF002961@mail.aros.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
I know you feel spastic right now, but first off don't worry. This
*could* be something minor.
The first thing I would do is allow the van to cool completely, then try
to start it with a SMALL burst of starter fluid in the hose that leads
from the PCV valve to the intake. If it fires on starting fluid, even if
for only a few seconds, then proceed to (B) below.
(A) If it doesn't fire with the starting fluid, pull all the plugs,
clean and regap them. Check the compression. Less than 100 psi? motor is
close to toast and won't start when hot unless you use "Motor Honey".
Around 110-120 or above, the fault lies elsewhere. Add a pint of Motor
Honey and try again.
(B) the fault is not mechanical. Check the timing. Bleed the FI lines by
loosening the fuel line fitting at the pressure regulator and cranking
until fuel comes out BEWARE THIS IS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS, AND YOU SHOULD
HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER NEARBY, AND COMMON SENSE IN YOUR HEAD>>>DON'T
SMOKE, ETC... Try cranking again with cleaned/regapped plugs.
YES, FI systems can suffer from vapor lock, though it is rare in the
Vanagon. However, the aircooled motor can discharge a LOT of heat in the
minutes following shut down, particularly if you have been driving on
the highway, and it is hot out.
Let us know what happens.
Developing business and guiding change since 1996,
G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Marketing & Communications
Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
AIM = IExplain4u
Phone: +1.919.658.1278
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of John Brush
Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2002 8:08 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: why didn't my van start??
81 Air cooled. Runs flawlessly. Until a few hours ago.......
Today it failed me for the first time in ten years and I don't
understand
what it could have been.
Its around 90 degrees today, and I drove about 20 miles to pick up my
son.
Turned the van off, and spoke with some folks for about 10 minutes. When
I
got back in and tried to start it up, it sounded okay for a split
second,
like it was about to fire up, and then it just cranked and cranked and
refused to start.
I think most of us know how our vehicles sound when all is well, and for
an instant, it was okay, and then sort of, well, stopped firing and
never
did start up.
Cranked just fine. In fact, it spun the engine pretty fast, almost
faster
than when it is cranking up to start. No sign of any ignition taking
place. Hope that makes sense. :)
I got spark out of the distributor, although I only checked one of the
four wires.
At that point, I realized that I know nothing about these engines with
regards to troubleshooting a no start.
I waited, in the heat, for about 10 minutes, and tried again. Same
result,
just a fast cranking, but absolutely no sign of any ignition happening,
or
any chance of it catching. Just cranking along.
I called a friend and when he arrived, after about 30 more minutes, I
tried again. Still nothing. Just spinning over and over.
He rope towed me home. What an adventure. I thought I would need the
truck escape lane at one point :) and when I rolled up in front of my
house, after about a 50 minute tow, I tried it again, and after a longer
than normal cranking, it started up. Right in front of the guy I took
away from Sunday dinner....... :( Probably should have waited till he
left.
I will be buying lunch for Joe tomorrow, but we won't be going in the
van,
as I have no idea what happened, how to check out a no start scenario,
and
if it happened once, I assume it can/will happen again, at the worst
possible moment. It has been a lot hotter around here and its never
failed
me, but it is still very warm if that might contribute to the situation.
<shrug>
Can anyone make suggestions or offer an opinion of what might have gone
wrong? I can't see driving it again until I can get some sort of warm
and
fuzzy about what happened.
Out in the middle of nowhere, with some tools at my disposal, what steps
should I have taken to try and find the problem.
Can fuel injection suffer vapor lock? With carbs, sometimes cranking
with
the pedal to the floor will clear it out. What does one do with FI?
Much obliged for any words of wisdom I can apply.
Thanks for reading this far!
Regards,
John
