Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 07:30:25 -0500
Reply-To: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Uncle... '91 won't catch
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Mark, it sounds to me like your ECU is dead. They put the coil
driver's in the ECU (makes the ECU hotter) then they moved the ECU from
the engine compartment (plenty of airflow) to under the rear seat (no
air flow). On top of that they did a poor job with some of the solder
joints which makes them prone to fail. You can easily test this
hypothesis by swapping in a known good ECU from a 86-91 Digifant
Vanagon. It should fire right up. If you need a rebuilt unit I have
these available for $200 (I will need your old ECU as a core). Hope
this helps.
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
http://www.vanagain.com
Phone: 856-327-4936
Fax: 856-327-2242
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Belanger <belanger@FLUID.COM>
Date: Friday, February 28, 2003 0:11 am
Subject: Re: Uncle... '91 won't catch
> So thanks to a number of people, but especially Ward Smith, I've
> managedto track down the problem to electrical. Nothing is coming
> off the
> coil, despite having proper voltage. I actually had a spare coil
> handyand swapped it in with no change. Oh, yeah, this is fun...
>
> Following Bentley, I tested the Hall Sender(28.43) and got ~11V,
> so that
> looked good. However, on the function check, I didn't get any flicker
> from my light meter. Uh, Bingo? Since I was at the second to
> last page
> in the chapter and since the most complex ignition system I've
> worked on
> prior to this was in a '76 Bronco(battery, coil, distributor, wires,
> plugs and voltage regulator: now that's what I call an ignition
> system!), I decided to do the final ignition switching function
> test(28.44) and it returned 4.66V, which seems normal.
>
> So, can I take Bentley as definitive: dead Hall sender? If not, I
> assume the Hall control and Hall generator is next, but is it the same
> process to test as in the Digijet section of Bentley
>
>
> Thanks much,
> -MB
>
> Mark Belanger wrote:
> > Greetings all,
> >
> > After scouring Gerry and trying to digest about a million
> messages with
> > the topic of "won't start," pouring through Haynes and Bentley,
> I'm at a
> > loss.
> >
> > Here's the scenario:
> > I have a '91 Automatic, originally from Florida that I picked up
> about 6
> > months ago in California. She's always purred(apart from a
> month of
> > cold stalls, but that went away). About a week ago, I was
> driving back
> > from work had gone about 5 blocks when she just died at a light and
> > wouldn't start. Plenty of juice and the starter cranked, but she
> > wouldn't catch. It was raining early that day, so I chalked it
> up to
> > some electrical problem, but after a week in a dry garage, she's
> still> dead.
> >
> > Here are the things checked and/or replaced:
> > - Fuel: half a tank
> > - Battery: removed and fully charged
> > - Battery contacts cleaned and greased
> > - New cap, rotors, wires
> > - New plugs - old ones looked very clean
> > - Checked coil resistance per Bentley
> > - Checked voltage coming off Hall wiring connector per Bentley
> > - Checked air flow meter resistance per Haynes
> > - Checked fuel relay on ignition - clicks
> > - Checked fuel pump on ignition - pressurizes
> > - Checked and cleaned two ground bolts near coil
> > - Checked every visible connector within the engine - no corrosion
> >
> > Odd things:
> > - rotor and inside of cap *heavily* scored at contact points.
> > - Figured it hadn't been replaced in a while.
> > - Power steering pressure sensor disconnected.
> > - However, it was covered in grease, so it had been
> disconnected for a
> > long time.
> > - Wiring harness at tee near left rear lights, split with some cuts.
> > - Suggested the previous owner had some electrical problems
> that were
> > troubleshot.
> >
> > So none of this points to a clear culprit to me. The only remaining
> > tests on the ignition system listed in Bentley that I haven't done
> > involve the ECU, which I'm not comfortable screwing with yet. Also,
> > having never owned a fuel injected car before(god bless the
> carburetor),> I've resisted anything beyond superficial fuel
> system tests.
> >
> > Is anyone aware of a thorough checklist of how to troubleshoot
> such a
> > problem. I'd really like to be able to track this down myself,
> but am
> > at a loss to what to do next.
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> > MB
>
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