Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:14:19 -0700
Reply-To: Aaron Robinson <a.robinson.lists@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Aaron Robinson <a.robinson.lists@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Quick troubleshooting question
In-Reply-To: <4C2B4219.4090006@pottsfamily.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I didn't change anything and the van starts and idles just fine, revs in
neutral just fine, but as soon as I start driving off, too much throttle
feels like I turned off the key. Makes it tough with all of our little hills
around here. You can only go so slow in 1st.
The issue may be related to one that we had while coming back from moab. The
1500 miles there were completely uneventful. Coming back, the van was
running terribly on our way over soldier pass. Pulling over to check things
out revealed black soot coming from the tailpipe, telling me that we had a
rich issue. I tried to figure that out, but with the family in the van ,
night coming and limited abilities, I got it into a shop that found a broken
ground wire on ECU pin 19. After that, the van ran for the next several
hundred miles or so but did have some slight hesitation/bucking at times
that we had never noticed before. After getting home, it was driven for just
a bit and then (with no changes to anything) suddenly started with the
current no power after 1/4 throttle.
So, I drove it into my garage, pulled it out a few times to see if it had
cured itself (just kidding) and now need to deal with it.
So, my plan is to:
1. Unplug O2 sensor and try. Not sure that it will do anything as I thought
that the O2 sensor was not in the mix until after XX seconds, but I'll try
anyways since it's such a quick test. Perhaps the rich running killed it
(it's new).
2. Change fuel filter and pump. Don't have pressure monitoring tools, but
will make sure the FP and filter are OK. I may stick blow some air back
through the tank outlet to make sure it's not a clogged outlet.
3. Start testing grounds. Has someone ever written up a guide to testing
readings at the ECU connector? I can't remember if the bentley has a page on
it or it it's scattered through all of the pages.
4. cry a little and start doing random things until the symptom changes.
5. Park it for another 2 months and repeat steps 1 - 4.
On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 6:09 AM, Greg Potts <greg@pottsfamily.ca> wrote:
> Hi Aaron,
>
> Did this behaviour start spontaneously or after something was changed?
>
> Digifant FI is known to be sensitive to bad grounds. It also uses an idle
> stabilizer circuit so the performance at idle is not really related to
> performance at throttle.
>
> Here's what we know: Steady idle indicates that plugs and wires, cap and
> rotor are good. injectors are good.
>
> What's left: Fuel pump, filter, OXS, coolant temp sensor, coil, AFM, ECU,
> FI harness or grounds.
>
> My first shot would be to look at fuel pressure, then the Oxygen Sensor as
> Ben mentioned, and the harness grounds.
>
> Happy Trails,
>
> Greg Potts
> Toronto, Ontario Canada
> 197x Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
> 1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
> www.pottsfamily.ca
>
> BUSES OF THE CORN - AUGUST 13-15th, 2010
> www.busesofthecorn.ca
>
>
>
> On 6/29/2010 3:46 PM, Aaron wrote:
>
>> I am about to dive into troubleshooting a problem with my '87 westy. It =
>> seems that after giving it more than 1/4 throttle while under load in =
>> any gear, I lose all power. If I let off the gas pedal, it comes back to =
>> life. However, I can rev it freely when it's in neutral, so it seems to =
>> be associated with load. It also does this whether warm or cold. I'm not =
>> sure where to start, but I figured I would start with the buzzing fuel =
>> pump and go from there. It seems if it were a fueling issue, it would be =
>> more of a sputter, not a sudden cut-out like it is.=20
>>
>> It seems like there are so many routes one could take. What would you =
>> do?
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Aaron
>> '87 Westy
>>
>>
>
> --
>
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