Hi everyone,

I found lots of messages in the archives about rich
running and lots of different solutions, when there
was one.  I finally solved my rich running problem, so
I thought it would help to post my solution.

My '84 started running rich during a thanksgiving
trip.  Mileage went from 20-25 mpg to 17, then 12,
then 7.  I borrowed my friend's Bently manual and
checked every component you can.  I changed the O2
sensor, fiddled with the AFM, tested fuel pressure,
tested even swapped the temp sensor.  I even swapped
the ECU just in case.  Nothing helped.

I tried in vain for a month to fix the problem, only
to find the solution was the F.I harness ground wire
ring terminals!  They were old and corroded, so I
cleaned the terminals. Upon closer inspection I could
see they had been getting so hot as to blister the
insulation closest to the ring terminals.  A VOM
tester showed 6-8 ohms resistance between the wire and
the ring terminal.  I cut the rings off, soldered on
new ones and used a little heat shrink tubing to lend
support at the joint.  Now showing 0-.002 ohms
resistance.  Bolted up to the head and Presto! Very
annoying, diabolical problem gone.

I think the ground resistance was tricking the ECU
into running the "cold start injecton map" as I call
it, since this Digijet doesn't have a cold-start
injector per se.

An oil change (always good after dumping so much fuel)
and we're up and running again.  Just thought someone
might find this helpful after reading the scores of
"rich running" posts in the archives.

Ciao,
Gregory Smith
'84 Vanagon

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