Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 13:43:51 -0700
Reply-To: Tom Young <young@SHERLOCK.SIMS.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tom Young <young@SHERLOCK.SIMS.BERKELEY.EDU>
Subject: Heip!! New engine won't start (longish)
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Hi all:
I can't get my newly rebuilt engine started and I need some help (and
comfort.)
I posted the other day that my self-rebuilt 2.0L Vanagon engine fired
right up on the first pull, and I had just run it through its 20 minute
break in. After some lunch I went out to check timing, idle rpms and
mixture. Again the car started right up, though it was having trouble
idling and would easily die. I tweaked the idle screw and checked that
the timing was near enough for government work, and then tried to drive
out of my driveway; the engine wouldnt pull me out of the driveway!!!
The engine was acting like it had a big air leak, and since I was hearing
a sucking sound I started searching for the problem. Over the course of
the day I started the engine up perhaps a dozen times, and it always
started on the first turn of the key, still idling erratically and with
no power. When I couldn't find any leak I began to worry that I had done
something fundamentally wrong with the engine and so I did a quick
compression test after running it a couple of minutes from cold; all
cylinders were over 100 lbs.
Finally I determined that a seam in the front of the air distribution box
(I'd taken it from a junkyard engine) was leaking air. Relieved, I
swapped over to the known-good air distribution box and throttle body off
my old engine (a real PITA with the engine in the car and all the tin in
place) and went to start up the engine, confident that I'd found my
problem. Again, the engine started up on the first turn of the key, but
didn't seem to be running any better and still wouldnt pull me out of the
driveway.
Shutting down the engine, I went to see if I'd done anything wrong in my
swap and found that, while I'd re-attached the fuel injectors on the left
side of the engine, I hadnt tightened them down. Grabbing the 10mm
wrench I tightened them down and went to start up the engine again. But
the engine wouldnt start then (late yesterday afternoon) and has refused
to start from then on, despite repeated attempts.
What I've checked so far:
Put a fuel pressure gauge on the rail and I'm getting good pressure.
Pulled the injector plug on #4 and tested with a test light -
regular flicker from lamp.
Pulled plug wire from #4 and saw good spark to ground.
Pulled plugs from #2 and #4, noted plugs were wet from gas.
Grounded plug from #4 and saw good spark across gap.
Did cold compression test on #4, got 100 lbs.
Yes, the plug wires are properly distributed.
Did rough static test of timing and it still seems to be OK.
So, I've got gas, I've got compression, I've got spark; why won't it start?
What am I missing here?
Specific questions:
Can anybody tell me if my internal gear/cam timing was just *slightly*
off (I checked it a dozen times but I'm grasping at straws) could I still
be getting the good compression figures I got?
I'm assuming I went from a too-lean mixture with the leaky air
distribution box to one thats right, or even too rich. Does that fact
suggest anything to anybody? If my spark timing was maybe not as close
as I thought, might the engine run lean but not rich?
TIA.
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Tom Young young@sherlock.SIMS.Berkeley.EDU
Lafayette, CA 94549 '81 Vanagon
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