Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:59:31 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Was: dead cat kills van- What About Bad Gas
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hi,
I've had engines start and run nicely on gas that was two years old even
.......
so 'usually' gas that's 6 months old, is not 'the problem' by itself.
Could be a factor, but I wouldn't expect it to be 'the problem' .
any mice or squirrels make a home in the van over the winter ?
I see that *VERY COMMONLY * in vehicles left sitting.
Amazing the damage they can do.
I sometimes hot wire the fuel pump to make super sure it's running.
and in cases similar to yours, while I'm sorting through it I like a fuel
pressure gauge hooked up too,
all in the interests of making sure it's getting the fuel, and fuel
pressure it needs, or 'to make sure that's not it.'
A nice way to quickly test for a clogged cat or muffler, btw , is to remove
the Oxygen sensor, so back pressure, if there is any , is relieved.
You might have a muffler just packed solid with dog food or tree nuts.
Not joking either. I just removed about 3 pounds of dog food pellets from a
car part that was sitting in a van in the country for a number of years.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
one of the worst things you can do for any vehicle is let it sit. I
wouldn't ever let a vehicle sit more than say about 6 weeks, without running
it, and DRIVING it around some. And even that is rough on them, short
periods of operation, but it's less evil than just letting something sit.
and for SURE .......it would have been nice to put a fuel stabilizer in the
gasoline when it was parked for winter non-use.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter T. Owsianowski" <pnoceanwesty@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 7:22 PM
Subject: Re: Was: dead cat kills van- What About Bad Gas
> This Cat Story got me thinking!
>
> My brother's '85 with a 2.2 GoWesty in it won't start after sitting in his
> barn most of the winter. It started on the first crank, ran for 4
> seconds,
> then died.
>
> It has gas, spark, and is turning over well. Won't even pop one or two
> times. We put in new plugs turned it over, and nothing, then came out
> really wet. Checked the injectors and they are spraying well. Connected
> a
> known good ECU and cranked - nothing. Pumped some of the gas into a glass
> from two injectors and it had a really bad smell. We put the new plugs in
> front of the heater, then sprayed starter fluid in each cylinder, put the
> dried plugs back in, hooked up AFM and Viola! It started and ran
> wonderfully for about 8 seconds, then died and wouldn't start. Checked
> his
> gas tank level and it looked like 1/4 tank. He swears he had a 1/2 tank
> back in November when it started snowing here in northern Indiana.
>
> We plan on hooking up the fuel pump and draining out the gas in there and
> putting in as new as we can to see if it starts.
>
> He has a brand new Cat (last year) so it can't be that - If it is bad gas,
> can gas go bad in one winter?
> --
> Pete
> '79 Westy "Aardvark"
> '87 Westy "Joe's Van"
> WWW.Busesbythebeach.com
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