Date:         Thu, 23 Nov 1995 12:41:00 -0500 (EST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         sstones <sstones@io.org>
Subject:      Re:Wouldn't start... mea culpa!

On Wed, 22 Nov 1995, Steve Hoge wrote:

> Jay mentioned:
> 
> > I thought this story might be worth sharing, so maybe a jumpstart can
> > fix your problem before you start mucking about with adding and
> > replacing
> > solenoids...
> 
> What the heck *is* the final word on jump starting AFC busses?  The
> manuals always say "don't EVER jumpstart" (I imagine positive or
> negative spikes from the donor-car might fry your ECU) but on the other
> hand, I've always gotten away with it. (Those VW automatics *do* have at
> least one drawback...).


Yes,
I'm sure that somewhere, someone has jumpstarted their FI vehicle from
a 1962 oldsmobile with a mousenest in the alternator that was giving
off voltage spikes of 20+ volts, and they warmed up their ecu a little
bit much.  But if you think about what a great capacitance a dead battery
has, you shouldn't be worried.  One idea would be to take the jump from 
another FI vehicle, that way if it's running, it probably isn't doing
anything damaging electrically. Or if you're really paranoid, take a jump
from their battery without their engine running.


Cheers

<sstones@io.org>
SStones             Toronto,  Ontario.

My Mother always said life was like a box of turkeys...
Happy Thanksgiving Americans.