Date:         Sun, 26 Aug 2012 02:48:12 +0000
Reply-To:     Skip <skiplaubach@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Skip <skiplaubach@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Poor Hot Start Discovery - midway through solution
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

I posted this on thesamba.com without any response.  It seems like this family is more "problem-solving" focused, which is far more interesting.  I may have my hypothesis all wrong here, and will do more investigative fun tomorrow.  Thanks for any wisdom that may be offered on this one.  Skip


Another "start phenomena" that I'm working through is the "hot start" issue, turns over and doesn't ignite. I've concluded that, when hot, the engine gets too much fuel, therefore is "flooded" and just turns over and over.

Midway through the solution I discovered that if I depressed the clutch, keep it in second or first, depress the accelerator, after turning over a lot, it would start. Didn't always work. BTW, just tried the "release the EB" trick and that seemed to work (one data point). Why?

Then last night, I drove 6 miles into town, bought some ice cream, etc., went to start the Westy, and it just turned over and over, no start. Then, drawing from a dusty memory of a Samba post, I opened the engine cover and removed the fuel inj. connectors (three of four, #1 is not easily reachable under the air intake). Then, the engine started immediately and, of course, died soon after. Too much fuel theory confirmed?

I reconnected the (fuel injector) connectors and the engine started immediately.

So, my conclusion is that the Temp II sensor is telling the ECU that the engine is cold (even when it's hot), therefore too much fuel is being dumped on the pistons. It's a new Temp II sensor, so I'll put in the old one and see if there's a difference (you know what they (we) say about new parts...)

However, I s'pose it's possible that the Temp II sensor is fine and that my ECU is not signaling correctly. Or...maybe it's not the ECU, but maybe it's the connector to the ECU? So, it's time to dig deep with the volt/ammeter.

What say you?
_________________
Skip
1984 Westy 1.9 case WBXR Manual (now with 2200cc GoWesty kit)
Since 26 July 2011