Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:12:29 -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: Now My Jetta conversion won't start --- :^( --- (longish)
In-Reply-To: <c4e7c5f90806170759j12d555d0p5ef34546e63f23da@mail.gmail.com>
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Neil,
did i miss it ? or do I not see where you actaully CHECKED that their is
spark
or that there is fuel pressure .
I have to say this about 400 times -
replacing tune up parts is NOT how to proceed for a no start.
it's how you INTRODUCE more problems !!
Sure, some parts you'll 'just try another one' - say air mass meter.
Remeber reading about a guy on here about 4 months ago - a week's worth
of 50 postings and replies, and in the end, he hadn't bolted his
distrubutor timing clamp down properly !
so *inspect, diagnose, check'....................and 'bypass and
subsitute' * !!
for example, just pour some fresh gas down the throat - if it gee VROOOM !
you know about 5 things are working right and that one isn't, and you
know EXACTLY what to work on !
I would never ever dream of touching the timing belt on a junkyard
running engine until AFTER it was running properly in the new home -
i.e. your van !
I've read of about 100 cases of Subaruvanagon people getting their
T-belts off in a pre-installation t-belt job.
it happens.
and ............the VERY FIRST RULE ???....................
CHECK THE BASICS , CHECK THE BASICS.
I would love to read you saying ...........
there is fat spark to each spark plug.
Ignitioin timing is in the ball park at least.
Timing marks on t-belt line up perfectly.
There is good compression.
Fuel is fresh, and fuel pressure is good.
if you can get codes via the CEL ( mal ) ...........definitely do that.
but DO NOT just run out and buy the part if it flags a component or
device !!
generally speaking, having codes stored in the ECU should not in itself,
cause a no-start.
The only exception I can imagine is if it had say something off that
could cause severe damgage if the engine did start - I don't know if it
is, but say if it was an interference engine, and the ECU sees the
t-belt off by a mile say ( though there isn't any cam position sensor
unless it's a distrubutor mounted on the end of the camshaft )
.........so the ECU might not even know that.
AND........seriously.........honest, german engineers only design things
to 'be right.' So i seriously doubt in a million years that they'd think
ahead enough to prevent the engine from being able to start if it was
going to hurt itself.
here's a perfect example of that very german mindset - about designing
things for only when they are right , or in the case , newish.
A waterboxer engine has a combination studs with nuts and bolts ,
holding the exhaust pipes to the heads.
8 fasteners in all.
Years later, after hundreds of heat/cool cycles, and god knows what all
rust and road salt - the nuts or easy to get off the studs - just heat
them red hod with a torch etc............
BUT.............the 'other four'.............the bolts that screw nearly
2 inches deep into the heads......
those are just hell to get out of the heads sometimes without breaking
them off in the head.
if you are lucky - the bolt head will break off, and after the exahust
pipes are out of the way, at least you have something you can still grab
with a vice grips or whatever.
granted,. it's more work to replace a exh. port gasket, or sneak a head
out between the exhaut pipes with studs instead of bolts into the
heads..........but it's not fun at all doing 'dental work' - drilling
and taping deep into a head to repair a broken off bolt.
Like a race car - it could/should be made EASY to work on. If I even get
to be King, all car engineers will be required to work on cars full time
for 10 years in the field, in the trenches of car shops around the
world, before they are allowed to design anything.,
the get so caught up in the 'modulus of elasticity' of a material, or
whatever, and completely miss it when it comes to just using or working
on what they designed.
if I had but 2 cents for all the dumb things I've seen designed on cars
- I'd be richer than B. Gates. ( i mean, WHY would you hide a trans
filler plug behind the shift linkage ?????? ! - just to piss of the
techs working on it ? )
And you can bet that all my conversion work is - super easy to work on,
all standard fastners, etc. The exhaust systems I build on TD vanagons,
and on Subaru conversions - they come right off in about 15 minutes with
about 15 bolts. and they don't crack or break or anything like that
either.
I never forget it the second I heard a friend make a comment about
racing motorcycles will used to built, withracing custom frames even -
he said he was going to built one with all nuts & bolts for fasteners.
Not as elegant, or light weight - but by golly, SO easy to deal with or
replace !
scott
www.turbovans.com
il N wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> This is regarding an OBD1 ABA Motronic 2.9 stock 2.0 Jetta engine I
> installed in my Westy.
>
> The ECU and wiring harness are from an automatic Jetta. Auto tranny
> TCM (trans. control module) NOT present. TB is from a *manual* tranny
> engine.
>
> I have a TB from an automatic Jetta. (2 throttle position sensors) and
> can swap it in.
>
> I have yet to hook up the OBD interface, but here's what's happening.
>
> It used to start, idle, but bog with throttle opened slowly to 1/3
> way. After a 30 sec. - few minute run, I would shut if off and try to
> restart. It would spin, "catch" a little, and sometimes start. Next
> day, it would start. Yesterday same thing, but eventually no firing,
> (catching) and no start.
>
> I replaced rotor, cap, plugs, timing belt (timing ok) well before
> yesterday. Got fresh gas half way through yesterdays trials, and
> replaced the fuel filter.
>
> Cleaned the TB, MAF, IAC, (and tried another IAC), double checked
> electrical connections. Can't find any vacuum leaks. Fuel is pumping.
> FP hotwired made no difference. Power gets to power supply relay, and
> to 12V side of the coil.
>
> I have not checked for spark yet, but checked one of the plugs. It was
> pretty black. The exhaust (to an uneducated nose) might be smelling
> rich. I can't test for power to the HOS2 sensor as engine needs to be
> running.
>
> I'll connect the OBD but will be relying on light flashes from the
> "Mal" light (aka the CEL). I don't have a VAG-COM unit.
>
> Any suggestions as to why it won't start?
>
> Does the ECU need to be cleared of error codes? i.e. would error codes
> cause a no start?
>
>
> Thanks much for any direction.
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson '81 JettaWesty "Jaco
> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
> http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>
>
>