Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:56:00 -0400
Reply-To: Scott Chapman <scott_list@MISCHKO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Chapman <scott_list@MISCHKO.COM>
Subject: Re: Engine replaced but still the same symptoms???--Someone stick
me in the eye with a dirty spark plug
In-Reply-To: <s2t989ea5a21004081420w60a3ce67q52e9c84a29924bfb@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
My 85 Westy is surging at idle also. Please let me know what you find.
TJ Hemrick wrote:
> I finally finished up my engine swap (took a long time as I only have one
> day off a week). After a couple twists of the key, she came to life and oh,
> what a relief. Unfortunately, that quickly turned to misery. The EXACT
> same symptoms that plagued me on the previous motor were still present! It
> has a constant surge in the idle. I replaced the entire motor with ALL the
> components from the donor (ECU included-although I did try both). I already
> swapped the fuel filter (previously) so that leaves; the coil and associated
> wiring, the harness (which I do have the donor one and it's uncut), and the
> fuel pump. The AFM has the capacitor upgrade and it has a new idle control
> valve. I emptied the gas tank and I only had about a gallon left in the
> tank and it had a bunch of flakes in it. Looked like paint chips is the
> best description I can give. Desperate to actually fix something and the
> need to stop the the dreaded overflow while filling up at the gas station
> problem, I dropped the gas tank since I already have the parts on hand.
> True to form, most of the lines around the tank are junk after 23 years one
> of the crossover plugs was out of the tank, that's why it was leaking on
> fill up. What a job. I truly hope the bean counter at VW who saved
> .00000002 DM by instructing the engineering dept to keep the hoses as short
> as possible has severely arthritic hands in his old age by now. That should
> compensate me for the tortuous job at hand. No pun intended. It's a
> horrible task to take care of. As if I wasn't already in a mood bad enough
> to sell my syncro and the wolfies out of sheer disgust with the idle problem
> and the oil pressure. Seriously, I'm thinking to myself, "Why am I under
> this POS van on my only day off when I could be at the beach with my kids?"
> I'm really doubting the whole Vanagon "experience". It's hasn't been
> expensive, just grueling.
> To throw salt in the wound, I've got the oil low pressure light on. Oil
> level checked good even after a new Mahle filter and a few quarts of Mobil
> 1. Oil pressure gauge reads good but I don't have new sensors in stock so
> how do I turn that damn buzzer off? I practically ripped the instrument pod
> off the dash getting the cover off. I blipped the throttle and the second
> the buzzer came on I shut it down and after a few minutes, checked the oil
> level. It was still good.
> I left it up on ramps a few days just to step back from it all. I've been
> hitting the list archives and the net searching for "gas tank removal" for
> tips and insight. If anyone has any, I'd be welcome to hearing it. I just
> bought some extra fuel line, clamps, and stocked up on oil. BTW,
> Discount/Advance Auto has a nice sale on Castrol GTX (all grades). I think
> it was $11 for a gallon jug. It's always been a pretty good dino oil so at
> $3 a quart it could be a good deal. Just FYI.
>
> Later,
>
> TJ
>
>
>
|