Cripes...

Any kind souls in San Francisco(I'm in Potrero Hill) willing to spend an
hour or so with me this weekend and let me borrow their ECU for a test?
  I will drown you in Anchor Steam or the alcohol of your choice as thanks.

-MB

Kenneth Wilford wrote:
> Mark, it sounds to me like your ECU is dead.  They put the coil
> driver's in the ECU (makes the ECU hotter) then they moved the ECU from
> the engine compartment (plenty of airflow) to under the rear seat (no
> air flow).  On top of that they did a poor job with some of the solder
> joints which makes them prone to fail.  You can easily test this
> hypothesis by swapping in a known good ECU from a 86-91 Digifant
> Vanagon.  It should fire right up.  If you need a rebuilt unit I have
> these available for $200 (I will need your old ECU as a core).  Hope
> this helps.
>
> Thanks,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> http://www.vanagain.com
> Phone: 856-327-4936
> Fax: 856-327-2242
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mark Belanger <belanger@FLUID.COM>
> Date: Friday, February 28, 2003 0:11 am
> Subject: Re: Uncle... '91 won't catch
>
>
>>So thanks to a number of people, but especially Ward Smith, I've
>>managedto track down the problem to electrical.  Nothing is coming
>>off the
>>coil, despite having proper voltage.  I actually had a spare coil
>>handyand swapped it in with no change.  Oh, yeah, this is fun...
>>
>>Following Bentley, I tested the Hall Sender(28.43) and got ~11V,
>>so that
>>looked good.  However, on the function check, I didn't get any flicker
>>from my light meter.  Uh, Bingo?  Since I was at the second to
>>last page
>>in the chapter and since the most complex ignition system I've
>>worked on
>>prior to this was in a '76 Bronco(battery, coil, distributor, wires,
>>plugs and voltage regulator: now that's what I call an ignition
>>system!), I decided to do the final ignition switching function
>>test(28.44) and it returned 4.66V, which seems normal.
>>
>>So, can I take Bentley as definitive: dead Hall sender?  If not, I
>>assume the Hall control and Hall generator is next, but is it the same
>>process to test as in the Digijet section of Bentley
>>
>>
>>Thanks much,
>>-MB
>>
>>Mark Belanger wrote:
>>
>>>Greetings all,
>>>
>>>After scouring Gerry and trying to digest about a million
>>
>>messages with
>>
>>>the topic of "won't start," pouring through Haynes and Bentley,
>>
>>I'm at a
>>
>>>loss.
>>>
>>>Here's the scenario:
>>>I have a '91 Automatic, originally from Florida that I picked up
>>
>>about 6
>>
>>>months ago in California.  She's always purred(apart from a
>>
>>month of
>>
>>>cold stalls, but that went away).  About a week ago, I was
>>
>>driving back
>>
>>>from work had gone about 5 blocks when she just died at a light and
>>>wouldn't start.  Plenty of juice and the starter cranked, but she
>>>wouldn't catch.  It was raining early that day, so I chalked it
>>
>>up to
>>
>>>some electrical problem, but after a week in a dry garage, she's
>>
>>still> dead.
>>
>>>Here are the things checked and/or replaced:
>>>- Fuel: half a tank
>>>- Battery: removed and fully charged
>>>- Battery contacts cleaned and greased
>>>- New cap, rotors, wires
>>>- New plugs - old ones looked very clean
>>>- Checked coil resistance per Bentley
>>>- Checked voltage coming off Hall wiring connector per Bentley
>>>- Checked air flow meter resistance per Haynes
>>>- Checked fuel relay on ignition - clicks
>>>- Checked fuel pump on ignition - pressurizes
>>>- Checked and cleaned two ground bolts near coil
>>>- Checked every visible connector within the engine - no corrosion
>>>
>>>Odd things:
>>>- rotor and inside of cap *heavily* scored at contact points.
>>> - Figured it hadn't been replaced in a while.
>>>- Power steering pressure sensor disconnected.
>>> - However, it was covered in grease, so it had been
>>
>>disconnected for a
>>
>>>   long time.
>>>- Wiring harness at tee near left rear lights, split with some cuts.
>>> - Suggested the previous owner had some electrical problems
>>
>>that were
>>
>>>   troubleshot.
>>>
>>>So none of this points to a clear culprit to me.  The only remaining
>>>tests on the ignition system listed in Bentley that I haven't done
>>>involve the ECU, which I'm not comfortable screwing with yet.  Also,
>>>having never owned a fuel injected car before(god bless the
>>
>>carburetor),> I've resisted anything beyond superficial fuel
>>system tests.
>>
>>>Is anyone aware of a thorough checklist of how to troubleshoot
>>
>>such a
>>
>>>problem.  I'd really like to be able to track this down myself,
>>
>>but am
>>
>>>at a loss to what to do next.
>>>
>>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>MB
>>

--
_______________________________________________________________________
Mark Belanger - belanger@fluid.com