Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 06:51:40 -0700
Reply-To: Tracy Bonin <icculus22420@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tracy Bonin <icculus22420@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: 85 - Bucking and misfiring
In-Reply-To: <55E09379.2470EA6F.00B0D2D4@netscape.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Hi , at first I would say to check your air intake again, since a car needs three things to make a engine work properly.....air, fuel, and spark.......but the smoke and oil smell lead me to believe that you may have an internal leak into the combustion chambers.....your best bet in that case would be to do a power balance test, then a compression test, if compression comes out wary then a vaccum test, and so on to pinpoint the problem.....
I don't know where you live, but if it's near or in CT I would be happy to do them for you, I'm sure those tests are costly at a shop, but they aren't difficult to do.....
good luck,
Tracy
85' GL "Ripple"
65' Splitty
WVVW <wvveedub@NETSCAPE.NET> wrote:
Greetings,
I've been off the list for a while. Other life obligations made even simple things to much.
I have been having issues with my '85 GL that I need some input on to help diagnose the problem. Recently it began having problems with bucking and misfiring. Initially it was during accelleration, but went away above 3000 RPM. I immediately changed out the fuel pressure regulator since it felt similar to when the FPR had gone out before. That was a distaster I don't care to relive, so teh $50 was worth it, even though it didn't fix the problem.
I went back and checked the basics, fuel filter, plugs, wires, cap & rotor, grounds... The only thing I came up with was that the rotor was pitted and the fuel filter was a little gunky. I went ahead and changed them both along with a new cap. Only a slight difference.
I when searching through the archives looking for similar issues and found a few more suggestions. I went back and double checked the fuel pump ground, manually inspected for vacuum leaks..., just general stuff since I don't have any of the diagnostic tools that Bently wants you to have.
The basic run down is this: from first start in the morning, idle is very rough, sometimes hunting between 500 and 900 RPM. Pulling out it seems way under-powered, and sounds like it's only running on 3 cylinders. It continues like that, though the power gets slightly better at higher RPMS, until it gets warm. After it is warmed up, it runs relatively smooth on the flat sections, downhills, and RPMs above 2500-3000. On uphills, it bucks slightly, has low power (below 3000), and sounds like it is misfiring. The bucking is most noticable when I slow down and then, in the same gear, accellerate. Even when it is fully warmed up, the idle sounds like the intro drum solo from "Hot for Teacher", though the RPMs are relatively steady.
An additional note: I normally run 87 oct (cheap stuff) in the tank as I have been doing for the past 2 years and have been having the issue for the past two tank fulls. I almost always buy at the same station since I only use this van for commuting.
UPDATE: (I origianlly tried to send this out yesterday) I drove it at lunch yesterday to Shepherdstown (round trip is about 12 miles). On the way out, it seemed to take and unusually long time to warm up/smooth out. On the way back, it never did and the power really seemed to be lacking on the uphills. Back at work, when I got out, I smelled burning oil and saw a puff of smoke coming off the top of the muffler. (Needless to say, I freaked out a bit) During the drive, the oil light never came on so much as a flicker and when I checked the oil level, it was completely full. But, when I opened the cover, there was oil dripping down from the motor mount. At first glance it looked like the main pulley seal was leaking, but I haven't checked it to be sure.
I guess I need to start over at the beginning, but I'm not sure where to even start.
Thanks,
Brian
'73 Beetle
'85 Vanagon GL
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