Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:09:46 -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: End of saga? -- Back home with '84 with rebuilt head
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throttle switch making contact at idle.
my what I see ..
about 70 % of vanagons have that feature not working..
at least half of the ones I see.
and people who do 'tune ups' .....
I sure don't get the impression that they know to check for that very
important input.
many vans have their timing too advanced too , a little is ok, but
significantly too advanced timing is not right.
also ..here's one for you ..
I swear ........I mean .REALLY .......
I can't possibly be the only vanagon tech in North American that knows why
there is a felt pad under the rotor on the distributor in a 1.9 Digijet
vanagon engine ..
but ..
of the many dozens, even hundreds of vanagons I see full time..
I have yet to see one of those felt pads oiled ..
even on multi-thousand dollar rebuilt engine installations.
it's there to lube the centrifugal advance mechanism.
a few drops of fine oil.
it is a service item .
like once a year say. don't overdo it ..just a few drops.
and ..'tune up' wise ..
Bosch tune up parts barely wear ..
it's not usually anything to do with cap, rotor, plugs, wires ..( poor
running )
they can of course get old and even fail...
but 95 % of the time ..........they're pretty good and working nicely.
Non-Bosch parts I usually just replace.
Spark plugs can be NGK or whatever ..just so they are gapped right ..
and here's another nit-pick.
I swear I must be the only tech in North American that knows that spark
plugs are not installed in any engine with bone dry threads. Some
anti -seize is right.
it's in the workmanship ..
it's not in the parts.
Most vanagon weirdness can be fixed with fine tuning, adjustments, cleaning
etc..
that's not to say parts don't get tired ..they do ..
but 'putting in the parts' is only incidental to ACTUALLY fine tuning and
sorting out a vanagon engine to run right.
I've had some take a while to get fully sorted out for sure.
one part I have seen be very intermittent for starting is the Idle
Stabilizer .
Fortunately they are available new from Van Cafe ..
and I prefer to have that part in the circuit ..
it will run with it bypassed.
don't forget to check for vacuum leaks.
I have seen up to 10 on one engine from throttle body to plenum, to intake
runners...
even the screws that hold the fuel pressure regulator on.
oddly ..one 84 Westy I take care of ..
I found quite a lot of water in the gas ..water and junk, and the fuel tank
is only 5 months old.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Lauterbach" <jhlauterbach@BELLSOUTH.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2011 9:10 PM
Subject: End of saga? -- Back home with '84 with rebuilt head
> Van is back in it home garage.
>
> VW Service by Ron in Daytona Beach finished repairs on Wednesday and I
> picked up van yesterday and drove it back to Macon last night. Sometime
> on trip back, the O2-sensor stopped working and I had problems keeping
> the van from stalling when I was at a traffic light. Also, black soot
> had come back on end of tailpipe and exhaust at idle had gasoline smell.
>
> This morning, I disconnected wire O2-sensor and idle smoothed out.
> O2-sensor (Bosch) was less than two months old.
>
> Idle is still not as smooth as it should be and engine has different
> sound than it did before.
>
> I plan on checking the timing and engine vacuum over this weekend.
>
> Anything else I should check?
>
> John