Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 16:40:19 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: 88 vanagon gl "issues"
In-Reply-To: <ed96608f0702141035k673eb1ads2d72971c7acae3ea@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Chris,
Sounds like you need to do some personal exploring of your van and learn
of it's condition first hand. It is the unknowns on these vehicles that
will eat your lunch or just plain bite you in the butt! I know....... I
have two 88 GL's!
First, looking at the picture of the engine bay raises a really big
question immediately.......
Have you ever had the fuel lines and injector nozzle hoses changed
since you bought it?
If not - DO IT NOW! These vans are seriously prone to catching fire and
burning due to fuel line failure caused by old age and rot. It will cost
you about $60 to $75 in a parts kit from one of the list vendors, and a
bit of time - it's a do it yourself task - and it is relatively easy. Do
yourself a favor .... and all of us as well .... change those hoses
ASAP. You will hate yourself if it burns, and we all will hate to read
about it. So "Get'ter done, Boy!"
On other things it will be somewhat of trial and error.
Start by pulling the Distributor cap and inspect it. If OK, re-install,
start the engine and warm it to full operating temp. Turn the engine
off, Then disconnect the wire at the end of the idle stabilizer
valve(ISV). Start it back up and check the idle speed. Should be around
900 rpm. Drive it just a bit and see how it performs. If there is no
weirdness, you may have a stabilizer system problem. otherwise, no. In
the former case make ready for further checking.
You can check wires for proper firing by putting a strobe timing light
on the plug wires. Faults will show in the light.
Leave the ISV disconnected, but disconnect the O2 sensor screwed into
the catalytic converter. There is a connector on the cable about 18
inches out from the sensor itself. Disconnecting will put the ECU into
default mode Run the engine, observe the characteristics. If you have a
bad sensor, the operation of the engine should smooth out now that it is
removed from the system.
ECU's do fail, but it pretty rare.
When looking down on the engine, you will see a hose coming off the ISV
which goes to the Air Flow Meter (AFM). Check this for holes. Also,
directly under this AFM hose is a hose that also connects from the AFM
to the Crankcse Vent Tower. Be sure that this hose is in good shape. It
is bad to rot out and cause the engine to operate strangely.
Hope these few things help. I'm sure there will be others, many more
comments by other list members for sure.
Good luck,
Regards,
John Rodgers,
88 GL Driver x2
Chris Lisica wrote:
> All, thanks for contributing to such a great list. I've thoroughly
> enjoyed
> combing through the archives the last few days. Very informative!
>
> However, my 88vanagon is having a couple issues that I was not quite
> able to
> pinpoint, and was wondering if I could get a few pointers. First off,
> I can
> turn a wrench, take things apart and reassemble when explained, but
> i'm not
> a certified VW mechanic. Second, it's not my daily driver, i've put on
> maybe
> 10K in the last 3.5 years. When I bought it, my mechanic put in new cap,
> rotor, wires, plugs, and filters. Everything ran fine for the first year.
> The last couple years I've had the issues.
>
> Issue #1: During normal driving conditions, at stop, it will be idling at
> 900 rpm's, then suddenly it will dip down to 400rpm's, jump up to
> 1400rpm's,
> then suddenly die. Sometimes, it will start up again, but lately, it
> won't.
> I have to let it sit for 5 minutes, or roll it down hill, and clutch
> start
> it. Then, race home, trying not to let it get below 2000rpm's.
>
> Issue#2: Perhaps unrelated, or related, lately it's having a real hard
> time
> starting. It will crank and crank and it seems as if one cylinder is
> catching, but the others are not. Then, it will start to fire ( i
> think ),
> cylinder by cylinder, then be fine. It will idle for about 5 minutes,
> normally(good strong idle), then die. Then, I can't get it to start.
> Where
> i'm at now, it won't start.
>
> Any ideas/suggestions/comments/plan of attack would be greatly
> appreciated!
> If you have any parts swap recommendations, please tell me where they are
> located as I have an outdated Bentley(83). For reference, here's a pic
> of my
> engine bay:
>
> http://i18.tinypic.com/2zs0375.jpg
>
> Thank you, thank you, thank you.
>
> -chris
>
>
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