Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 13:02:08 -0700
Reply-To: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Subject: Re: Resetting the ECU and hesitating
In-Reply-To: <3F65FF8B.D1688BF9@transcanada.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
The pig tale / harness / capacitor / garlic is just a band-aid fix. The
problem is the AFM has an arm inside of it that slides across a resistive
surface. Over time it wears though this surface and it will start to have
spots that the ECU can't get a reading from. The pig take / harness /
capacitor / ginseng fix fools the ECU in to thinking there is a signal there
at all times. After a while the circuit board will become so worn that
these band-aid fixes will no longer work... I would find a different AFM and
see if that fixes the problem before you start tearing into everything else.
David Marshall
Fast Forward Automotive Inc.
4356 Quesnel-Hixon Road
Quesnel BC Canada V2J 6Z3
http://www.fastforward.ca mailto:sales@fastforward.ca
Phone: (250) 992 7775 FAX: (250) 992 1160
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-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Keith Adams
Sent: September 15, 2003 11:06 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Resetting the ECU and hesitating
I'll have to rephrase my question from a couple of weeks ago
into the form of the problem. I wanted to know which
systems were influenced by resetting of the ECU.
My 86 2.1 2WD van has developed "The Vanagon Syndrome" but
BEFORE anybody starts emailing me about capacitors and
pigtails and other such goop, I already have the factory AFM
pigtail harness, a'ight? Save those emails.
My van will hesitate, lose power and run brutally rich, and
turning off the key and turning it back on quickly will
reset it and get rid of the problem. For a few seconds.
Now, it doesn't only do this on the highway at sustained
speeds, it will do it around town. It has done it to me
just idling in the driveway, from a cold start to not even
being warm yet. Ran fine, then ran rich, spat black soot on
my driveway, sputtered (dying idle) and died. It will also
go away for a while, then come back (unpredictable).
My first head scratching instinct is to suspect the idle
circuit or possibly the fuel pressure regulator (but it's
not part of anything electrical connected to ECU)? Since it
does it before even getting warm, I presume it's not O2
sensor related. It seems to have started doing this after
running out of gas, but I replaced the fuel filter already
(brand new one too, grrrr....). That's why I was looking
for what systems resetting the ECU will affect...
Danke schoen
Keith Adams
calgary.ab.ca
86 Westy
