Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 08:54:34 -0700
Reply-To: Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Vanagon cold hard start issues
In-Reply-To: <E1IfASw-0003ZT-00@pop-knobcone.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Hey Max. I don't know much about your Haltech system, bit it does sound like
you're not getting the fuel enrichment when cold.
The old school way to check that kind of start issue is to tip a quarter cup
of gas down its little throat and see what happens when you crank it. If it
starts and runs for a minute before it dies, your "choke" isn't working and
you can focus on that.
Good luck
On 10/9/07, Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@ipa.net> wrote:
>
> Well, I've cried to the list before about how my 90GL with the
> Haltech ECU system on it won't start at all below 10 degrees
> F. About a month ago, it started showing these same symptoms when I
> first start it up in the morning when it's 50-70 degrees F out. It
> might be a little worse when it's been raining or really humid out,
> but the difficulty of starting the engine is almost exactly the
> same. Once it's been driven 15 min. or so, it's good for the rest of the
> day.
>
> 1. Compression in all 4 cylinders is good.
>
> 2. Ignition- engine certainly sounds like it's getting spark, but the
> plugs are old(Bosch Plats) and the ignition wires are over
> 60k(expensive aftermarket "performance" wires bought from Gene Berg
> when the motor was overhauled). Cap and rotor are less than 6 months
> old and the coil is new Bosch less than a year ago. Will check
> timing, but the ECU pretty much controls that. Hall Sender was new
> 3-4 years ago.
>
> 3.Fuel- The Haltech has it's own cold start program and I have no
> idea what's considered "rich or "lean" if I were to change it. The
> fuel injectors are original equipment, but I took them out earlier
> this year and tested the flow and the patterns were okay and none
> leaked after the power was shut off. Wasn't skilled enough to test
> the volume of spray, but this is a cold start only issue, so I'm not
> certain the injectors are at fault. In town mileage has never been
> very good, but the last few hwy. trips, the mpg has been in the 18-19
> range and I've rarely ever gotten 20 or better. Fuel pressure(dash
> gauge) is reading 29-36 psi just like it's spozed to depending on
> vacuum load. I'm using the "ethanol 10% gas", but how would that
> affect cold starting? It hasn't changed as I've been using it for 3
> or 4 years.
>
> 4. Vacuum leak- My dash VDO vacuum gauge shows no signs of a
> leak(warm idle of 14-15 in. hg.) and the hoses in the engine bay seem
> tight and in good condition.
>
> Any chance I need to check and rest valve clearances to .006 as per
> the Boston Bob article? Again, what's different cold vs. hot here?
>
> When I roll the starter, in the morning, the engine coughs and tries
> to start, and then it sounds like it's stumbling over itself. It
> will cough again and then if I slightly open the throttle, any
> momentum of finishing off the start procedure goes back to square
> one. If I was guessing, I would guess that it's fuel related, but
> whether it's being starved for start up fuel, or whether it's
> drowning in fuel at the start is a determination I've yet to be able
> to discern. If it does finally give the impression of it trying to
> run, any additional opening of the throttle seems to also kill the
> engine. If the throttle position sensor were going bad(Haltech
> item), would it give me trouble 100% of the time and not just during
> cold start?
>
> any ideas folks?
>
> TIA
>
> DM&FS
>
--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/
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