Date:         Sat, 15 Sep 2012 21:04:30 -0700
Reply-To:     "Don Preston Jr." <dj@FOKUST.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Don Preston Jr." <dj@FOKUST.COM>
Subject:      She's Home! (Was: '87 Vanagon turns and turns but won't start)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

Hi all,

Just wanted to give a shout out to the list and say thank you for the help 
previously, and to let you know that Betsy has made it home!

After a busy summer, the current owners and I were finally able to sync up a couple of weeks ago 
and went through the entire fuel system, finding that plenty of fuel was 

getting to the cylinders. We ran out of time, so in between, I did some 
research and tought perhaps the fuel pressure regulator might be out, so 

picked up and new one and we tried it today, but no go. We were able to get 
the engine to start up with all injectors unplugged, until they ran out of 
fuel of course. So back to square one.

We had previously checked the entire ignition system, so were perplexed. 

Digging through the Bentley I was looking for a way to test the injectors, 
but there's no test. We decided to track the electronics from the injectors 
back to the ECU, and after running all tests in the Bentley, things looked 
perfect. Voltage and resistance to each injector were fine. The only thing 
we could think of was perhaps a bad ECU.

Thankfully NorthWesty down in Renton was open today and they stayed around 
for a bit after closing time to let me race down and pick up a known good 
ECU out of a bus that had had a conversion done. Plugged it in and voila, 
she lives again!! So glad because it that didn't work I was completely out 
of ideas.

So now Betsy is back home. My son is at his Mom's and has no idea He and I 
have missed her since the day we sold her back in '04 and I know he's going 
to flip out when he gets home tomorrow to find her parked out front. I'm 

still amazed by the seemingly random events which brought me into contact 
with her current owner, who also happens to be some pretty amazing people 
(and now friends). Really looking forward to being back in the family, 
rolling up my sleeves and giving the old girl some much-needed TLC this 
winter and on the road this spring. Yay!

Don Preston
Seattle, WA
'87 Wolfsburg ASI, "Betsy"

-----Original Message----- 
From: Don Preston
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 9:02 PM
To: Chris S.
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: '87 Vanagon turns and turns but won't start

Good point, I didn't pull the injectors. I remember in the past placing them
into spray paint caps and turning over the motor to see if they spray.

Thanks for the help, I'll give this a try next time I'm over there.

-Don

-----Original Message----- 
From: Chris S.
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 8:58 PM
To: Don Preston
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: '87 Vanagon turns and turns but won't start

I would start with removing injectors from their ports and cranking the
engine while someone else observes their function. Don't blow yourself up or
shoot any gas in your eyes, though.

Chris.

Wysłane z iPhone'a

Dnia May 12, 2012 o godz. 22:44 Don Preston <dj@FOKUST.COM> napisał(a):

> Hello everyone, been a long time...
>
> So, I’m back, kinda. :-) Some of you may remember me and my ‘87 Vanagon 
> ASI
> “Betsy” from a few years back. I actually sold her as I was moving out of
> country back in ‘04. Well, long story short, I’ve recently come in contact
> with her again and trying to get her back on the road. It’s been a few 
> years
> since I last worked on any van, and the Bentley is missing, so I’m hoping
> you good folks might have some advice.
>
> Current owner tells me that the engine “just died” a few weeks back. When
> trying to start it up the engine turns and turns but won’t fire. We were
> unable to check compression because the gauge I have won’t read high 
> enough.
> We spent a couple hours today troubleshooting everything we could think 
> of,
> cleaning wire connections, checking plugs, etc.
>
>> All fuses checked and good.
>> AFM connections good.
>> Removed and cleaned (replacing two corroded ones) all coil connections.
>> Spark at distributor cap to center and all four cylinder ports
>> #1 & #3 spark plugs dry, #2 & #4 wet
>> Hall sensor plug removed, cleaned and good.
>
> Any idea on what to try next?
>
> Thank you!!
>
> Don Preston
> Ballard, WA