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Date:         Fri, 3 Oct 2003 16:02:08 -0400
Reply-To:     Hans Brouwer <h.brouwer@SYMPATICO.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Hans Brouwer <h.brouwer@SYMPATICO.CA>
Subject:      Re: Compression test on 1982 aircooled westy
Comments: To: David and Shirin <daveshirin@ENERGYUNITED.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I had the same problem with #1 cylinder on our 86 Westy.

After the compression test (150, 150, 150, 135), I changed the cap, rotor, plugs, and wires but number #1 still did not work. Frank Condelli suggested to check the fuel injection wires by unplugging the electrical injector plugs. Sure enough the problem was a break in the negative wire to the #1 fuel injector.

In your case a quick check is to take the #3 injector plug and plug into #4. If #4 works after this swap than it is a break in one of the white wires (on the '86 all the wires are white, yours might be different).

In my case since both wires are white on the plug, I used a double test light to see if it was the + or - that was faulty. Since all the negative white wires join together somewhere in the harness (same counts for the positive white wires), I just spliced in the negative wire from #2 cylinder.

Where do all these white wires join?

I did this fix this morning and the Westy runs great again..

Good luck,

Hans Brouwer

Cumberland, Ontario 69 Bus (Speedy) 86 Westfalia (Slowpoke) 92 Cabriolet (for sale)

----- Original Message ----- From: "David and Shirin" <daveshirin@ENERGYUNITED.NET> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Friday, October 03, 2003 3:13 PM Subject: Compression test on 1982 aircooled westy

I have been having problems with my 2.0 aircooled engine since halfway back from our trip to the Outer Banks in August. I just now had the time to really check into it. I assumed the worst and was preparing for an engine rebuild, assuming we had burnt a valve, or cracked a head. The symtom was the engine was only running on three cylinders. Number four cylinder was not doing anything and its plug was badly fouled out. Installing a new plug had done nothing. So before pulling the engine I did a compression check on all the cylinders, hot and cold, wet and dry wet meaning I added 1 tablespoon of oil down the sparkplug hole.

Bently manual compression check values for this engine are taken with a minimum oil temp of 86deg F Compression pressure values, 87-131psi

Wear limit bar 73 psi

Maximum permissible difference between all four cylinders 44psi

#3 120 cold dry #1 130 cold dry 125 cold wet 135 cold wet 123 hot dry 125 hot dry 125 hot wet 135 hot wet

#4 145 cold dry #2 145 cold dry 150 cold wet 150 cold wet 130 hot dry 125 hot dry 140 hot wet 140 hot wet

It is definitly not firing on cylinder number four at all. So we have spark, we have compression, what could be missing???

David White 1982 aircooled Westy

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