Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 13:35:46 -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: Mystery engine cutouts
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uh oh ..
'swapped in a spare ecu' ..
unless you were actually having a real problem
it is Far Safer to not mess with it on a trip !!!!
in aviation ..it is flat illegal to troubleshoot in anyway during flight.
same is true for 25 year old vans on hot summer trips..
if it's working right , or mostly right ..
leave the sucker along until you get home.
perfect example..I was doing the same thing ..
swapping parts on an 84 Westy to try to fix minor glitches or stumbles or
whatever.
so I swapped in another ignitor ....engine would not start.
but the old one back in , still dead.
After I got towed home after a couple hours trouble shooting, I found where
the one white wire from the ignitor plug that tells the ecu the engine is
turning ..since it sees that from the igntion ..
that wire got pushed back out of the plug, under the rubber cover. cost a
few hours of waiting and the tow was free..
but ..don't mess around unless you are where you don't mind if you just
'touch it' ..
and suddenly you have a new problem.
the wires ..the wires, plugs and harnesses are getting very very old.
do you have a tach ?
I suspect not, but if you do it's a great diagnostic thing because when it
looses power..
if it's igntion, the tach will drop to zero while the engine is still
turning , even though there's no power and it's not actually running.....
that tells you it's igntion.
if it looses power, but tach still reads while it's say at 2,000 rpm ..
then you know the ign is most likely working.
I had 3 case of intermittant igntion lately ..
one 84 Westy ...tired distributor, ignitor, coil, igntion switch ..
each time it seemed fixed, but they it would do it again finally.
that one turned out to be the Igntion Wiring Harness..
a good used one of those fix it.
another one ..AAZ 1.9 TD in an 87 Syncro Doka..
always was dodgey starting ....like might fire off just as you let of
'start' back to 'on'.
years of that ..
like it wasn't drawing fuel into the IP right ..always took a lot of
cranking.
that was the Igntion Switch,
starts instantly every time with a good used one.
another one ..my current 85 Westy GL I'm fine tuning and sorting out
throughout to sell..
would cut out.
tach shows that it's no igntion when it cuts out.
tried an ignitor, no difference.
have a different distributor on it currently ...seems to be fixed, carrying
all the parts and tools with me as I test drive around.
On this one ..
my mind is drawn to fuel system , since it's under load when hot .
but it can be many things of course.
wd-40 on the throttle couldn't have hurt.
and ..
the touchy delecate part to me lately ..
is the 25 year old wiring harnesses ..
on a 1.9 both Igntion wiring harness, and main fuel injection harness..
and 1.9 distributors ..
they seem a little dodgey to me lately a lot.
scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 10:54 AM
Subject: Mystery engine cutouts
> Hi all, I'm back -- miss me?
>
> Okay, so on my trip of nearly 2,000 miles of travel from here to
> Flathead Lake, MT. and back, something very strange happened yesterday.
>
> I filled up with gas in Pendleton, Ore., and turned south on highway
> 395. There are four or five summits to climb between Pendleton and John
> Day, Ore., my night's destination.
>
> It was a hot day. I was climbing the first steep summit in 2nd gear
> (auto tranny) at about 3800 rpm - this is my usual steep climb routine.
> Suddenly the engine cut out. After about four seconds, it came back to
> life. It did that two more times before reaching the summit. It did that
> going up each summit thereafter.
>
> The timing between cutouts was anywhere between 30 seconds and 60
> seconds. The cutouts only lasted three to five seconds, but that's
> plenty long when climbing up a steep grade.
>
> There may have been cutouts on the flats, but I didn't feel them.
>
> In all cases, I was in 1st or 2nd (depending on grade) with engine
> between 3,000 and 3900 rpm.
>
> Every time it cut out, my O2 monitor display shot over to the left,
> showing the exhaust mixture was completely lean. Like the fuel had been
> cut off.
>
> I was a nervous wreck by the time I reached camp, worrying about the two
> more climbs between me and home I had to drive today.
>
> I didn't sleep well. But today, it did not cut out once, the climbs were
> of the same difficulty.
>
> Here's what was different:
>
> 1. Before starting out this morning, I swapped in a spare ECU.
> 2. The day was 20 to 30 degrees (F) cooler than yesterday. Yesterday I
> was seeing 95F in the cabin.
> 3. I had a new tank of gas.
> 4. I sprayed WD-40 on the various springs and pivots and hawsers and
> pulleys on the throttle mechanism -- the throttle didn't feel to the
> hand like it was moving smoothly after several hours of dusty dirt road
> grime on it.
> 5. I checked the skinny little vacuum lines (1.9L) feeding the timing
> advance stuff on the dizzy and they looked fine.
>
> Too many things changed to be sure what the problem was and what fixed
> it. I didn't want to spend the day tinkering, just wanted to get home.
>
> So . . . any guesses about this?
>
> --
> Rocky J Squirrel
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
> Bend, OR
> KG6RCR
