But what about the glowing exhaust pipe?  Unrelated?  Coincidence?

Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Marshall" <vanagon@volkswagen.org>
To: "Brent Christensen" <brent@VANAGON.COM>; <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 9:07 PM
Subject: RE: Help for a guy in Belgium

> Change the fuel filter - more than likely he sucked up some sludge on the
> bottom of the tank and the pump can't get enough fuel to build the correct
> pressure.  BTDT
>
>
> David Marshall
>
> Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning
> 4356 Quesnel Hixon Road
> Quesnel BC Canada  V2J 6Z3
> mailto:info@fastforward.ca http://www.fastforward.ca
> Phone: (250) 992 7775 FAX: (250) 992 1160
>
> . Vanagon Accessories and Engine Conversions
> . Transporter, Unimog and Iltis Sales
> . European Lighting for most Audi and Volkswagen models
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
> Of Brent Christensen
> Sent: January 17, 2001 8:59 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Help for a guy in Belgium
>
>
> This one has me stumped - can anyone help this person out?  I was thinking
> blocked cat until the last part...
>
> Please rely to him at Rettigj@650mi.shape.army.mil but copy me, as I am
> interested in what people have to say.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Brent Christensen
> '89 GL Syncro Westy
> Santa Barbara, CA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rettig, Jeff WO1" <Rettigj@650mi.shape.army.mil>
>
> > Help -
> >
> > I live in Belgium with a second-hand, American spec, 1984 vanagon 1.9 L
> that
> > wants me to send it to the crusher.  I'd prefer to repair its problem,
> > unfortunately, even the Belgian mechanics are scratching their chins
> trying
> > to identify why it won't run.  Here's the history:  On an almost empty
> tank,
> > the engine began to sputter, then made a nice big white cloud of smoke.
I
> > pulled over, stopped the engine, and looked to see if I cracked a block
or
> > lost a head gasket.  Not being that smart, all I could do was look for
> > coolant leakage on the ground or under the heads (none), check for
coolant
> > in the oil (none), and inspect the level in the radiator reservoir
(good).
> > I decided   sludge from the bottom of the gas tank must have gone
through
> > the engine causing both the sputter and the Indian smoke signal.  I
> > restarted the engine, and continued on my way in search of gasoline.
The
> > engine sputtered about two miles to the gas station, but never came
close
> to
> > providing normal power.  After refilling the tank, I drove three miles
> home
> > with the sputtering engine, which at least acted like it wanted to quit
> > sputtering (it gave more power the further I went).  At home, I turned
off
> > the engine and went to the back to see if I could figure out the
problem.
> > Immediately I noticed two things - I'm no mechanic, and the joint
between
> > the catalytic converter and the muffler was glowing bright red.  I
thought
> > maybe a blockage of the converter could have caused all of my problems,
so
> I
> > let the van cool down in order to start it again to move it into the
> garage
> > where I could replace the catalytic converter with an open bypass pipe.
> > Unfortunately, when I tried to restart the engine after about an hour,
it
> > wouldn't even cough.  I dropped the catalytic, and tried again, but no
> luck
> > -- all I noticed was a LOT of gasoline dripping out a hole in another
> > section of the exhaust (which I also later replaced, since I was bored
and
> > could not drive anywhere).  I then pulled out the spark plugs, dried
them
> > off, and let the cylinders dry out.  A neighbor checked the plugs when I
> > turned over the engine, and saw all four spark.  Placing them back in
the
> > engine made no difference - I could not start it.  So I had it towed to
> the
> > garage, hoping the Belgian automotive geniuses could figure it out.
That
> > was over one week ago, and they still have no #%*!@ idea what went
wrong,
> or
> > what to do.
> >
> > So, after all of that, does any of this sound familiar, or do you
> otherwise
> > have a theory about what is wrong with my Vanagon and how I can fix it?
I
> > have fuel and spark going to the cylinders, but it won't start.  Could
it
> be
> > a problem with air (is the air-flow meter bad)?  Is there a problem with
> the
> > ECM?  Thanks for at least reading this far, and thanks even more for
> > whatever advice you can give me.
> >
> > Jeff in the land where they hate American model anything.
> >
>