Try the main power relay in the black box that's located above the coil. I have these exact symptoms occur on two Vanagons and both of them needed the 40 amp relay replaced. Cheers, Jeff
**************************************************************** :::-----Original Message----- :::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf :::Of Don in North Carolina :::Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 11:02 AM :::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM :::Subject: Engine dies, now which distributor?? (long winded) ::: :::Hello all! ::: :::Here is my sad tale of woe: ::: :::The van - 1988 Vanagon GL ::: :::The symptoms - While driving, engine would cut out / die for a second, :::tachometer immediately goes to 0. Looked around in engine bay, didn't :::find :::anything. Figured I would live with it unless it got worse. Well, it :::got :::worse - while driving at ~55 MPH, engine dies and stays dead. Coast off :::the :::road, try to restart - cranks over but no joy. Go back, look around the :::engine compartment, wiggle wires (a technical specialty of mine) try to :::restart, cranks but no start. Look in the back again, still don't see :::anything, try to start - starts right up!, runs like nothing had ever :::happened. Drive home, runs fine, no issues. Do a search on the :::archives, :::find a comment from Joy about her issues and how they had found the plug :::loose going to the black box (CDI box above coil on left hand side of :::engine :::bay). Push on my plug, moves about 1/8 inch and feel a click - Ah hah :::says :::I! Next few days uneventful, van runs well and all seems fine (you can :::see :::what's coming, can't you?). Out on a drive, speed about 45 - engine :::dies, :::tachometer goes to 0. This time it would not start, and after ~45 :::minutes :::of trying battery is low enough that it obviously isn't going to start. :::Tow :::home (thanks AAA+). Pull battery and charge. Next morning, put battery :::back in van (battery is ~8 months old, BTW), on second attempt, van :::starts :::and runs fine. Intermittent problems, the bane of troubleshooters :::everywhere! ::: :::The solution (hopefully) - looked in archives (I used different keywords :::this time), found several mentions of the same type of issue and all were :::reported to be due to a defective Hall Effect sensor in the distributor. :::Now I know that the sensor is available separately, but I am planning to :::replace the complete distributor (piece of mind issue). The complete :::distributor is about $70 more than the sensor itself (not counting the :::new :::o-rings and anything else you find wrong when working on the :::distributor). ::: :::The new problem - there are at least three different part numbers listed :::for :::the distributor: :::0.986.237.639, 0237.520.046 and 025.905.205AG. It appears that the last :::two :::numbers may be for the 90-91 models. I know that the distributor caps :::and :::rotors are different for the 90-91 models, but are the distributors still :::interchangeable with the old ones - in other words, are the specs the :::same :::and will the hall effect plug fit? What did they change, to "improve" :::the :::newer distributors? ::: :::TIA, :::Don in Reidsville, NC :::1987 Vanagon GL Syncro (Suzie) - For Sale! :::1988 Vanagon GL (Sylvia) |
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