> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cook, Thomas [SMTP:tcook@craworld.com]
> Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 2:22 PM
> To:   'vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com'
> Cc:   'vwdiesel@bright.net'; 'jag@cs.rochester.edu'
> Subject:      Diesel No Start?
>
> Hi-
>
> Maybe you guys can help me, my mechanic seems to be stumped.  I put a new
> 1.9 turbo diesel block (without the turbo) into my 1982 diesel westy and
> everything is great with one exception... it will not start up when the
> engine is warm.
>
> When the engine is cold it starts within a few seconds of turning the key
> but when it is cold I can (and have) crank until the battery is dead and
> it
> will not fire.
>
> We have already trouble shooted the following items:
> we have replaced and re-replaced and bypassed the entire fuel shutoff
> solenoid system and it is definetly not (although anything is possible I
> guess) the fuel shutoff solenoid.  I wired an additional switch to the
> solenoid so that once it was started the van would run with the key off
> and
> out of the ignition (kind of cool mod I think) and with this switch in the
> on position the engine would not fire once I shut it down.
>
> One of the mechanic's thoughts was that it was developing a vaccum in the
> fuel system that was syphoning the fuel from the filter back to the tank.
> He made sure that the tank was vented and it seemed to possibly work for a
> while but returned. He also noted that whenever it would not start if he
> opened the fuel filter it would only be about 50% full; thereby adding
> evidence to the fuel syphoning theory.  He also replaced various seals and
> valves in the fuel filter and the injection pump.
>
> Some additional notes- The fuel tank leaked when full when I bought the
> van.
> I had it replaced with a gas fuel tank and it continued to leak when full.
> I also have a non-functioning diesel burning heater under the van that I
> believe is supposed to be connected to the diesel tank to get its fuel.
> My
> mechanic thought he had sealed all of the lines between the tank and the
> heater but I am convinced that there are some open vent lines that are
> allowing fuel to leak out of the of the fuel tank when full.
>
> At one point the van had a wait time of about two hours between shut-off
> and
> restart.  If I waited 2 hours some magic would occur and it would restart.
> During trouble shooting the mechanic found that it would start immediately
> after shutting down but if he waited longer than 15 minutes then it would
> not start for the two hour window.  This was different than earlier though
> as I had it stall on me in a parking lot and it would not start until the
> tow truck arrived 2 hours later and when we tried to start it with a jump
> it
> fired right up.
>
> One other reason I do no think that it is the fuel shutoff solenoid.  We
> bypassed the fuel tank and filter with a portable fuel tank and it would
> start everytime no matter what temp the engine was or how long it had been
> sitting.
>
> I realize that this is a long post but I have already posted this about 6
> months ago and I got a lot of good ideas but we had already tried many of
> them so if you take the time to read this entire post I want you to know
> everything there is to know about this.
>
> This 'little' problem did not bother me so much during the winter when I
> was
> not hoping to use the van but now that it is summer I am a little bummed.
> And of course my wife has been telling me to get rid of it after the first
> engine died but I seem to be a glutton for punishment-
>
> Thanks for your suggestions-
> TJC
>
>
> Thomas J. Cook
> Information Technology Services
> Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, Inc.
> Tel: 716-297-6150
> Fax: 716-297-2265
> email: tcook@CRAWorld.com
> web: http://www.CRAWORLD.com
> web: http://www.CRA-IT.com
>