Date:         Thu, 19 Jan 95 9:15:17 MST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         todds@sonny.chotel.com
Subject:      My day yesterday

Well, on the way to work yesterday morning, I let off of the 
gas on the freeway and got a backfire -- no big deal. When I 
got off of the freeway, the darn thing didn't want to idle.
At lunch I got out the VOM and did the quick and dirty timing
thing, and found the timing way advanced. Put it back the way
it was supposed to be and figured the points slipped (has 
happened before). I limped home and put the dwell/tach on it
and whaddaya know, 50 degrees right on.  Darnit! I pulled the
plugs and ran a compression check, cause by now I'm thinking
eaten valve, rod about to let go, &c &c. All ok there--whew--
I don't think I could handle the razzing from my wife if the 
engine had to come out again less than a month since the last
time!  Anyway, I remembered that when I had checked the timing
statically at work, it seemed to be in the neighmborhood of
25-30 degrees of advance. Could it be coincidence?  As luck
would have it, my dad had come across an old neon timing light
and had given it to me the last time he was in town.  I made
a tent with the deck lid and a blanket, put a paint mark on the
pulley, revved it up and the paint mark didn't budge.  I trundled
down to the local VW performance shop and laid down $55 for 
a shiny new 009, put it in, works fine, lasts long time! I
tore apart my old 009 and found the weights flopping around in
the bottom -- the spring was still there, but I could barely
move the shaft with a screwdriver with the base in the vise.

Hmmmmmmm.
-- 
Todd R. Schroeder          |This is not the luggage ticket (baggage    
todds@sunnet.chotel.com    |check) described in Article 4 of the Warsaw
	'71 Campmobile	   |Convention as amended by the Hague Protocol
			   |of 1955.