Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 16:17:19 -0800
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: 1.9 Running issues when wet out
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Have you inspected and cleaned ALL fuel injection connectors and grounds,
including ecu ?
are you sure you AFM is plugged in ?
try it with 02 sensor disconnected.
wiggle wires, esp. at distributor while it's idling properly.
if you don't know that the idle switch is making contact at idle ( and
signal is getting to ecu )
*all bets are off* ...
same for timing not being too advanced.
how do you know the spark plugs are firing properly cold ?
if you don't test for that ..
you know ?
sounds like you are on the right track thinking it could be electrical
weakness..
go direction to pursue.
try to think of ways to check for missing or blocked electrons. Don't think
'part' so much ..think what can I find that is missing ?
for example....you can buy a little inductive light thing ...very
inexpensively, that flashes when held next to a spark plug wire.
you just run it down the whole length of each plug wire while running
...sometimes that reveals something.
and ...people to get all into 'it's electrical or fuel injection' when the
fuel filter is near clogged, the fuel tank may be full of junk, fuel pump is
weak etc..
so don't automatically dismiss that unless you have seen consistent fuel
pressure with a gauge for a while and you know the fuel filter is good.
need to know fuel press regulator is working right too..
oh ..and that injector spray pattern is good. Each and every adjustment,
spec, and sensor and device needs to be checked until you find 'it' or
usually 'them' ..typically it's 4 half not right things, and one really not
right thing, or more.
test the fuel itself . Many techs overlook that. Water in fuel can look
real weird in terms of poor running .
and in winter that's more likely.
and you really should have a known good distributor, AFM, ECU, fuel pump,
etc for swap-testing.
Especially ...inspect, clean, treat, wiggle . Half the vans I fix I find
timing too advanced., idle switch not making contact, 02 sensor iffy .. I
also only use bosch cap and rotor ...they last indefinitely.
Doubt it's the coil..but a typical 85 vanagon has 25 year old original coil
on it.
Doubt it's clogged cat or muff..always need to consider that. You have to
check every spec. for everything to do with running of the engine.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Lincoln" <magikvw@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 3:10 PM
Subject: 1.9 Running issues when wet out
> OK, I've been dealing with this for some time now. When it rains (snow
> doesn't seem to bother it) a medium to hard rain I can get about 15-20
> minutes down the road before rough running and eventually the engine just
> dies out.
>
> Cap, rotor, plug wires are all new. New Temp Sensor too (because previous
> diagnostics had proven it was a bit wonky).
>
> Everything in my gut tells me this is an electrical issue but I don't know
> for sure and even if I did I don't know where to start.
>
> When this happens if I let the bus sit for a day I can get it running
> again
> - but it takes a lot of messing with it - it will not idle at first, then
> it
> will run rough and stall - each attempt getting longer and longer until
> eventually I am able to keep it running and it recovers and runs fine. One
> other thing during the rough running period (when the problem starts and
> after it has sat and I am trying to get it going again) is that if I give
> it
> any gas at all it will stall immediately - eventually of course it is
> fine.
>
> I suspect by the way it acts after it has sat that it eventually gets
> better
> becuase whatever is wet is drying off more and more. Then again I don't
> really know anything.
>
> Any advice at all pointing me in ANY direction at this point is welcome.
>
> --
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff
> '85 GL (Gertie)
> '90 Carat (Grover - the noble parts donor)
> '86 (We call this one Scrap)
> '78 Bus (Melissa) Patty's Bus
