Date:         Tue, 21 Dec 1999 07:16:43 -0800
Reply-To:     Art Beutler <abeutler@GETNET.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Art Beutler <abeutler@GETNET.COM>
Subject:      Won't Start after Heads Back On!
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Firstly, I wanted to thank all the kind folks who offered advice and
encouragement (and in once case literature!) with regards to my head
leak fixing project on my 1986 Weekender.  I am, I hope, most of the way
through it.

Did the job with the engine in the car and the car (still) on car ramps
with the rear end about a foot up in the air.  Mostly major
disassembly/reassembly with the left head being far more troublesome to
get at than the right.  Did manage to put one of the push rod tubes on
backwards; replaced it with one of the expanding kind.

Only problem is that it won't start!  If it has been left to sit for a
while, it tries to fire once and then settles down to cranking over and
doing nothing.  Cranking sounds maybe a bit fast with one spot in each
revolution (or pair of revolutions?) where it is noticably slower.

Have checked for spark, that exists although on some plugs maybe weaker
than it should be.  Had made the mistake of leaving the plugs in the
heads when the heads were cleaned.  Plugs looked pretty nasty but
cleaned them up and put them back in with no improvement.  Will replace
them next on the theory that solvent somehow messed them up.

There is at least some, if not excessive, fuel present.  With the engine
not starting, it appears that a fair amount of fuel is ending up in the
cylenders.

It would appear that those areas most messed with would be likely
candidates for malfunction.  As well as the spark plugs, I tend to
suspect the valve train and a mystery hose coming from the connection
between the air distribution manifold and the idle stabilization unit.
This hose, a long white skinny affair, does not seem to appear in the
Bentley's and I have no idea where, if anywhere, it is intended to be
hooked up to.

The valve train is suspect due to the disassembly involved and the
difficulty in getting the push rods back in correctly.  When initially
assembled (both times since I needed to change the push rod tube), I
found that when the engine was initially rotated by hand one or more
valves hung up such that the valve stayed open then slammed shut.  After
a rotation or so, this behavior stopped and the valves could be seen
opening and closing smoothly.  I suspect that this problem arose due to
the engine end of the pushrod not having found its way to the cam
initially.  Would a compression check indicate any valvetrain
malfunction?  Would a malfunction on one cylender cause the engine to
not start at all?  Is it possible that I have bent a pushrod along the
way?

                        Thanks

                        Art Beutler