So many problems seem to come back to bad grounds.

Dip the darn vans in solder.

Mike

On 12/25/02 7:13 PM, "Gregory Smith" <budgetzagato@YAHOO.COM> wrote:

> 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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