Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 11:37:06 -0700
Reply-To: Gregory Smith <gfs@GREGORYFSMITH.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Gregory Smith <gfs@GREGORYFSMITH.COM>
Subject: Re: '88 GL ignition miss, stalling
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<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div>Follow-up...</div><div><br></div><div>Removed the ECU last night and opened it up. Inspection revealed a bad solder joint at the larger WIMA capacitor. I resoldered this joint and reflowed many others. Reinstalled late and test drove, no symptoms. No symptoms this morning either. Wish I had found this 3-4 months ago! Hopefully it's licked.</div><div><br></div><div>Image of the bad joint:<br></div><div><a target="_blank" href="http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g243/budgetzagato/IMG_20140210_191237226_zps8529fc01.jpg">http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g243/budgetzagato/IMG_20140210_191237226_zps8529fc01.jpg</a> <br></div><div><br></div><div>Gregory Smith</div><div>'88 Vanagon GL</div><div>'77 Lancia Scorpion<br>Olympia, WA</div><div><br> <div id="wmQuoteWrapper"> -------- Original Message --------<br> Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 14:12:53 -0700<br> From: Gregory Smith <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:gfs@GREGORYFSMITH.COM">gfs@GREGORYFSMITH.COM</a>><br> Subject: '88 GL ignition miss, stalling<br> <br> <html><body><span style=3D"font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10=<br> pt;"><div>Hi fellow listers,</div><div><br></div><div>I've been struggling =<br> to fix an intermittent ignition miss on my '88 GL.&nbsp; It started several=<br> months ago, came on gradually.&nbsp; At first I could feel it, then I noti=<br> ced the tach dropping out when it happened.&nbsp; Eventually it would stall=<br> and restart, sometimes causing a backfire.</div><div><br></div><div>Initia=<br> lly I suspected the ignition, so I did a full tune-up parts replacement.&nb=<br> sp; Plugs, cap, rotor, wires.&nbsp; Thought it was fixed but it came back i=<br> n a day or two.&nbsp; I ran the Bentley tests.&nbsp; Eventually I decided t=<br> hat the hall effect sensor was bad, it had a loose socket anyway.&nbsp; I r=<br> eplaced that with one from another distributor and while I was at it replac=<br> ed the business end of the wire harness as well as the ground wire at that =<br> end, they were all corroded and had bad insulation.&nbsp; Also replaced the=<br> ignition switch electrical part.<br></div><div><br></div><div>This seemed =<br> to fix it for exactly 2 months.&nbsp; Then it started again.&nbsp; I ordere=<br> d a new hall sensor and replaced it this past weekend.&nbsp; Ran the Bentle=<br> y tests again, everything checks out.&nbsp; The problem was gone for 1 day,=<br> came back this morning.<br></div><div><br></div><div>I'm left with the ECU=<br> , like possibly cracked solder joints or something like that, or possibly t=<br> he power wire to the ECU from the alternator.&nbsp; I read about this on th=<br> e Samba, someone found this wire frayed inside the insulation, under the AF=<br> M.&nbsp; I'll check on this today.</div><div><br></div><div>Another thing t=<br> hat sometimes occurs that may be related, but is not synchronized with this=<br> problem is sometimes while driving the seatbelt warning light will come on=<br> e and go back out (I think it's on a timer).<br></div><div><br></div><div>I=<br> deas welcome, and thanks.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Gregory Smith</div><=<br> div>Olympia WA, USA<br></div><div>'88 Vanagon GL</div><div><br></div></span=<br> ></body></html></div><div></div> </div></span></body></html>
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