Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2007 15:40:16 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Vapor lock? Static electricity? Help!
In-Reply-To: <000801c7cca2$264eb890$72ec29b0$@net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hi paul in ft. Collins,
< I went to CSU for 3 years a lifetime or two ago )
first....which fuel injection system does it have ? CIS ( metal braded
hoses running all over the place ) or electronic fuel injection....like you
know, an electrically triggered fuel injector for each cylinder, etc.
those two systems are entirely different so please say which, and I assume
someone didn't covert it to a carburetor system.
I had two for sure vapor lock events this year, one in April, on a week
ago. In both cases it went from a fine running car to one that wouldn't go
up hill, flamed out, stalled out, and wouldn't re-start. . And it was hot
both times, very hot, and the engine was hot.
Waiting 20 minutes for things to cool usually results in the engine being
totally normal again.
That's what vapor lock is like - it's always hot, and after letting things
cool down for a while, things are normal again.
Altitude contributes to the problem. Although you may get high-altitude
formulated gas in Colorado- I would expect so. Gasoline is formulated, and
changes, for season, altitude, regions sometimes, and by state laws
sometimes. I'm sure you don't have winter fuel in your van, but if you did,
it would be prone to vapor lock.
I don't think your problem is the fuel itself, but I will say it's rare that
any tech ever considers the fuel itself that often - for water in it, wrong
type or grade, or bad brand. I have for certain gotten bad Arco gas, and
probably bad Chevron diesel fuel once.
I suspect that something wasn't perfect in the first place...since you had
some minor running glitches but didn't do anything at the time.
You should also say if it's points or electronic ignition. I rebuilt a
guy's CIS rabbit engine in a diesel westy once......a year or two later it
was just 'shutting off' ( it was the coil in that van.....any coil that is
15 years old is suspect ) ...it had points too....very hokey system -
electronic ignition is the ONLY way to go, it's quite superior in about 5
ways......
My point is, if you have points in your distributor - very weak area
....easily gets out of whack with long term 'just leaving it alone' ....like
who knows to keep the points cam lubed anymore .......hmmmm ? maybe a few
people.
So need to know that piece of info too.
'rabbit engine from an 85' isn't quite enough to go on to help you well.
More info please,
Scott
www.turbovans.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Paul Chubbuck
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 1:52 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Vapor lock? Static electricity? Help!
Mine is a 1982 Vanagon, originally diesel with a conversion to a rabbit
engine from about 1985.
Do these symptoms ring a familiar bell to someone knowledgeable on this
list?
Last Wednesday I took off at 3 PM intending to drive about 500 miles. It
was about 100 degrees out. After a short time, I noticed a frequent,
partial loss of power, much as if I had suddenly backed my foot partway off
the accelerator. When I had to stop, the engine died unless I kept the
engine RPM's up. Both problems became worse, so I limped my way back 35
miles to my mechanic right at quitting time. I also noticed that when
stopped and holding the engine above normal idle (to avoid stalling) that I
could hear the fuel pump cycling every few seconds between high and low rpm.
When it reached the low end of the cycle, the engine would almost stall, and
then pick up again as the fuel pump took off.
I suspected a bad fuel pump but my mechanic wasn't convinced it was so
simple and I'm not a mechanic. The next day was cooler and he has so far
not been able to repeat the problem.
A VW mechanic friend told me about a static electricity problem with this
engine series that might cause such symptoms and could be corrected with
some kind of an adaptor. I found a reference to this problem in the
archives, although not much detail. My friend also thought that the high
temperatures could be causing vapor lock. If it's that, I don't know how to
confirm or resolve it.
I should say that I first noticed this unsteady power problem more than a
month ago, but then it was infrequent and subtle, so I let it go. But last
Wednesday it wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it home, never mind
my intended trip across the hot plains of Eastern Colorado and Kansas.
I appreciate any help.
Thanks,
Paul in Fort Collins
