I'd like to second Mark's post and extend a big = THANKS to Darrell for making this tool.  Just imagine the = nightmare.  Stranded in the middle of the Mexican desert.  = The next tow truck 200 miles away.  The next garage that know = anything about Vanagons ??? miles away.  Luckily, between Mark and = I we had everything we needed to locate and fix the problem.  =

Darrell, please let me know how I can get a Digitool = myself and what it takes to hook it up to the ECU.

Many thanks and Happy Holidays to all on the = list!

Peter Buettner

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Drillock [mailto:drillock@EARTHLINK.NET= ]
Sent: Friday, December 24, 1999 6:25 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Digitool saves the day

Hi Darrell. Thank you for sending me the Digitool. It = really paid for
itself last month in Baja. We were traveling with = our friends Peter and
his wife and daughter when Peter's Vanagon Syncro up = and died in the
middle of nowhere 500 miles south of the border. The = road was narrow and
there was no shoulder so he was stuck blocking half = the road. His engine
had just stopped and would not restart. We hooked up = my Digitool and it
was immediately obvious that it was an electrical = problem as the
Digitool showed NO POWER to the ECU. We got out the = Bentley, voltmeter,
and hat pin and soon discovered a bad wire to the = ECU control relay in
the engine compartment. We replaced a short section = of wire to the relay
box and the engine started right up. We were stopped = less than an hour
thanks in large part to your invention.

Mark Drillock

Darrell Boehler wrote:
>
> Hi Woody,
>     Thanks for your = purchase and here is some information about your new
> digitool. I post it to all because the digitool = displays nothing that is not
> available to someone with a meter and a hat pin = to stick in the desired wire
> one needs to observe.
>
>     The temp1 sensor lives = inside the afm and measures the air temp.
>     Temp2 measures the = coolant temperature and lives in the thermostat
> housing.
>     o2 sensor lives in the = exhaust before the catalytic converter.
>     The afm wiper voltage = is developed inside the afm by the wiper /
> resistor.
>
> PWR led indicates the ecu has battery = power.
> STR led indicates the starter solenoid is being = told to energize.
> FP  led indicates the fuel pump relay is = being energized by the ecu.
> TS  led indicates the throttle valve / = butterfly is at idle or full
> throttle.
> Coil led indicates the coil is being pulsed by = the distributor and ignition
> module digijet and by the distributor ecu on = vanagon digifant.
> Fi   led indicates the ecu is pulsing = the injector.
> ......
> You mention the digitool indicates voltage and = not resistance of various
> sensors as the bentley suggests. Resistance is = an ok thing and that is the
> easiest  way to check the various sensors = with out a digitool.  However with
> the digitool the voltage readings are displayed = with the flip of a switch.
> The ecu makes decisions based on the voltage it = receives from the sensors.
> The digitool is displaying live data going to = and from the ecu allowing you
> to notice anomalies dynamically as they happen, = much better imho. Rant mode
> off.
>      Merry Christmas = vanagons and their people also.
> Darrell Boehler
> Makanda Illinois