Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 15:33:50 -0500 (CDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Stephen White (aka Thoreau)" <spwhite@artsci.wustl.edu>
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Gas in my Oil???]
On Wed, 30 Apr 1997, David L. Chasteen wrote:
> When I was checking the oil on the vanagon today, I noticed a strong
> smell of gas. I smelled the clean cloth I was using to check the oil
> and found that the oil from the dip-stick smelled strongly of oil. I
> have been driving it pretty steadily the last two weeks since I changed
> the oil, but there was no decrease in the oil level. In fact, the level
> was ABOVE the full line.
>
> My basic (extremely basic) mechanical skills and knowledge of internal
> combustion engines tells me that if there is gas in the oil, there is
> only one way for it to get there: Past the piston seals in the jugs.
> And yet, I seem to be experiencing no loss of compression. Lately there
> has been times that the engine seems to be running extremely rich and
> the exhaust has a strong smell of gas and is quite smokey. It is an
> intermittent problem. I have checked all of the FI components and I do
> not see any problems there. Am I missing somthing? Is the engine shot?
> HELP!!
i had the same problem. My engine was reading 120 psi on all four
cylinders and barely ran, but when you got it away from idle it ran fine.
eventually it got so it would barely start, and then die immediately, the
plugs would be dark black.
when i drained my oil it was very thin and smelled strongly of gas, the
carbon had been cleaned off of a lot of the internal component from all
that gas washing over em.. (engine apart for valve work, nothing to do
withthe afm problem.)
the solution: The AFM butterfly was stuck in the wide open position. This
was causing the injection to feed the engine enough fuel for WOT at idle.
teh bushings were wearing out and the butterfly was scrapin gon the sides
of its housing. I stuck a piece of sandpaper betwen the butterfly and the
wall of the housing (gritty side toward the butterfly) and worked it back
and forth until enough had been worn away that it would move freely.
this is a prety temporary fix id guess. As the bushing/bearing continues
to wear it will sticck again. Best bet is to buy another one and keep the
sanded down one as a spare (if you indeed have the same problem i did..)
also, there is a procedure in the archive for checking to see if the
spring is worn.
this may not be your problem, but it sounds to me like has something to
do with fuel delivery.
peace,
steve
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