Date:         Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:03:37 -0800
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: Rich running incident puzzle
Comments: To: Matt Sutton <msutts@earthlink.net>
In-Reply-To:  <C3DDACBD.38CF%msutts@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I'm with Ken on the low voltage.

If the engine was cool, the ECU would have adjusted the mixture to suit, not
made it too rich.



On Feb 17, 2008 6:19 AM, Matt Sutton <msutts@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hello folks,
>
> Last Monday, after driving on the highway for a 1/2 hr in cold weather, I
> had a sudden loss of power accompanied by the unmistakable smell of a rich
> running engine. I'd had the front and rear heater blowers going, and for
> lack of anything else to try I turned them off. The engine's power
> returned
> almost immediately.
>
> Things have been fine since, but I haven't  had the occasion to run the
> heat
> full blast either. I've been wondering what happened and came up with a
> couple ideas:
>
> #1: I'd overcooled the engine somehow, throwing off the air/fuel mixture.
>
> #2: Since everything (wiring, blower motors, etc) is old, running the
> blowers caused a voltage drop across the whole electrical system. With all
> the FI sensors giving info to the ECU by resistance to a specific voltage,
> perhaps the voltage drop creates misinformation. Or even effects the ECU's
> functioning.
>
> No crisis, but anything that helps with understanding how these things
> work
> is good for me.
>
> Best,
>
> Matt Sutton
> 88 GL 4sp
> Brooklyn NY
>



--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
Crescent Beach, BC
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/