Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 13:26:57 -0600
Reply-To: JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: '88 GL intermittent ignition miss (second update)
In-Reply-To: <20131124112202.ba2d9648c4914d5f56715942772a6035.e475de474b.wbe@email02.secureserver.net>
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Gregory,
My 88GL was doing the same thing. Driving along, it would just go stone
cold dead. Nothing. As it would slow down from being "dead" it would
suddenly start again. Finally, it died completely. I have not repaired
it yet - but everything I have checked indicates its the hall sensor. I
have another distributor on another engine and I'm going to test that
when I can get to it. Then I will know for sure and for certain. Going
to be a bit, though. Going through some after knee surgery issues.
Prol'ly be after Thanksgiving or so before I can get back to it.
John
On 11/24/2013 12:22 PM, Gregory Smith wrote:
> Well shoot. I still can't find the fault.
>
> I've checked the wiring, fusebox, ran all the tests. It hasn't faulted
> except on the road, and can be so bad as to not restart sometimes. Do
> hall senders do this? Intermittent?
>
> When it happens, it's definitely ignition failure, and it can cause that
> "backfire" noise through the exhaust when the ignition comes back
> online. The tach shows the ignition cutting out. I have a test light
> on the (15) terminal of the coil to see if it loses power when it
> faults, but of course it hasn't done it since I hooked up the test light.
>
> The coil tests good, the wiring checks out, ignition switch good (new).
> The testing suggests it's either a faulting hall sender or ECU. Anyone
> have similar symptoms and how did you resolve it?
>
> Gregory Smith
> '88 Vanagon GL
> '77 Lancia Scorpion
> Olympia, WA
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: '88 GL intermittent ignition miss (update)
> From: mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net <mailto:mdrillock@cox.net>>
> Date: Thu, November 21, 2013 12:15 pm
> To: Gregory Smith <gfs@GREGORYFSMITH.COM
> <mailto:gfs@GREGORYFSMITH.COM>>, Vanagon mailing list
> <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com <mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>>
>
> It is good to have a working throttle switch but I doubt it will fully
> solve your symptoms. It primarily is needed to tell the ECU and idle
> control unit that you foot is off the gas. Unless the switch is
> sticking
> closed it won't come into play just cruising down the road under power.
> To test that it isn't sticking and thus causing a problem while
> cruising
> you can unplug the connector to it and see if the cruising problem
> clears up.
>
> Mark
>
> Gregory Smith wrote:
> > A further update to my problem. Turns out the bad distributor harness
> > wiring, while truly frightening, was not the cause of this problem I was
> > having. Driving it the following day revealed the problem was still
> > there, and getting worse.
> >
> > I downloaded the Digifant troubleshooting pages following a link on
> > VanCafe, discovering later they're also in my Bentley. Ran through the
> > tests, checks and adjustments to find my Throttle Position Switch not
> > closing when the throttle closed. First checked via human ear, then
> > with VOM. Adjusted and retested to ensure switch closure with throttle.
> > Not clear if something wore out of adjustment or what there, I have not
> > touched it previously in a few years of ownership.
> >
> > Next day (yesterday) driving revealed no symptoms. I'm not 100% sure of
> > this fix yet, but compared to the night before (had to pull over twice
> > because of the problem) it's 100% better at least. Will report back
> > later today.
>
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