Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2016 21:46:00 -0500
Reply-To: Skip Laubach <skiplaubach@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Skip Laubach <skiplaubach@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Bad fuel?
In-Reply-To: <0gunlwpmafjf8o5f6myh4dvp.1470014305972@email.android.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Had a few hours this evening to give it a go. Still no start.
1. Spoke with the gas station owner today. Very nice guy. Said they filled the 2500 gal tank on July 7 and he filled his weed wackier with this gas this Sunday and it ran fine through a full tank. Not bad gas.
2. I isolated the fuel tank by clamping both lines and pulled known good gas out of a 1 gal container and back into a separate 1 gal container at the fuel return line. No start. Further proof not bad gas, and also confirmation that fuel is reaching injectors. Filter and fuel pump confirmed good.
3. Hooked up a remote starter and, separately, jumped the ignition switch. Cranked, no start on both fronts.
4. To make sure the engine is not flooded (good trick if you have a "hot engine/no start") I disconnected the two driver's side fuel injector wire connectors and cranked. Still no start.
5. Suspect no spark, got gas, got air.
6. Tomorrow I'll run through Bentley's ECU tests with a voltmeter.
7. Got bad coil running through my brain right now. I have a spare. Maybe the Hall Sender. Both are less than 5,000 miles new.
If you're still reading, any ideas? Oh, Lauren, confirmed not diesel; no offense taken, certainly worth mentioning. I have a 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI, so I'm well versed on, among other things, diesel fuel.
Thanks for your ideas.
Skip
'84 Digijet, now 2.2
Sent from my iPad
> On Jul 31, 2016, at 8:18 PM, Stan Shapiro <mail@STANSHAPIRO.COM> wrote:
>
> The old -- crank but wont start-- isnt always that simple. About 3 weeks ago I drove 6 miles down a nasty dirt road to the trail head at the end to go hiking. Finished the trail. Got back to my Westie-- cranks-- but won't start. Eventually it started and ran rough, stalled out, it did that a few more times and eventually it started up good enough to run. But continued to have difficulty starting, almost to the point of not starting. I thought for sure that it would have been dirt from the gas tank that had jiggled free from the horrendous dirt road, and plugged the filter. Changed the fuel filter in the campground. Didn't make any difference. Turned out to be a bad coil.
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Eric Caron <ecaron1@COMCAST.NET>
> Date: 7/31/16 17:22 (GMT-08:00)
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Bad fuel?
>
> Hi Skip,
>
> I’m probably the weakest authority but don’t think it is the gas. I suspect you have a different issue. It may be a clogged fuel filter. Is the fuel pump running?
>
> Again I’m no authority but when this happened to me years ago the fuel pump had died. thats when I learned how to change a fuel pump on the side of the road.
>
> I hope others give you better advice and please let us know what happens.
>
> Eric Caron
> 85 GL Auto Westfalia
>
>
>> On Jul 31, 2016, at 7:56 PM, Skip Laubach <skiplaubach@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>> Most likely. I filled up with ethanol-free gas (a rarity in Illinois). I drove 1/2 mile and the engine turned off. No start, just cranking over and over. Getting AAA towed in about 25 minutes. I suspect bad gas as it looked like a pump that does not get used much... and the van died after a very short while.
>>
>> '84 Westy.
>>
>> Question. OK to drain the tank, add 5 gals of normal gas, maybe some Sea-Foam or MMO? Any other measures that I should take?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Skip
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>
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