I agree. From my POV, he did not start a negative thread. And.....

The dash is not that difficult to remove. I've pulled a grand total of
2 (Yah. Now I'm an expert LOL --- ;^)

Once one gets the procedure in their heads/hands, it's pretty easy.

And as for misguided focus..... I know that one. Almost anyone can get
misguided and choose the wrong route for troubleshooting.

Although I'm NOT a mechanic, the one really useful thing I remember
learning re: trouble shooting a non running engine, was to ALWAYS
start with the ignition. Spark, etc.

That and RTFM. Well actually that took me many years to learn!

;^)

Cheers,

Neil.

--
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco"
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil

Engine swap beginings: http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/

On Dec 30, 2007 12:20 AM, Scott Daniel - Shazam
<scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> Hey man, YOU did not start any riff.  Somebody got tweaked on their own, but
> you didn't 'do anything.'   And never be defensive no matter what. Ye did
> naught bad.
>       i.e. don't give it another thought.
> I've worked on stuff for WEEKS practically, only to find it was something
> simple in the end.  You never know. Sure you mis-cued slightly in the
> diagnostic path, but that's how you learn !
>
>   You 'didn't 'screw up' and don't say it again, or I'll feed you bogus
> diagnostic info !!
>
> The dash on a vanagon isn't bad at all really. I just did one. Lots of parts
> and screws, but nothing insane.  Replacing a pedal cluster with the dash in
> is way worse.
>   Anyway, you're doin' great and don't sweat a thang ya'all !!
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
> oh PS - I finally got this 98 Subaru Imprezza 2.2 engine starting and
> running really right,  in this beautiful light mist green metallic 82 Diesel
> Westy . Talk about stuff taking a while to find or fix - it took like 30
> hours messin' with the engine and the whole system, more even, feels like 50
> hours, had to check or tweak every last part of the whole system almost.
> But does it ever run nice !
>       I took Larry of Monterey Ca out in it today ..........
> that thing just RIPS !   I think it runs like 10 % better than a 'regular 90
> to 94 OBD-I Subaru  2.2 engine , the common one.   And something about the
> gearing and the power curve.( has a DK with possibly higher than normal 4th
> , has 27 X 8.50 R14 LT rear tires too, pretty big ) .........it goes 80 as
> effortlessly as it goes 60. It's real hot rod, and it's a  gas to accelerate
> with.  I bet it'll do 60 in 3rd, it's that peppy and likes to rip so much.
> In 4th it goes almost 80 at about 3/4 throttle as nice as could be.
>   And I just remembered I heard about this 2005 Imprezza RS engine and parts
> for sale cheap .....hmmmm......think I better check on that.   I'll bet that
> engine runs pretty sweet.
> It's all fun,
> VVRRRROOOOMMMM !!
> scott, turbovans
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Vdub Guy
> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 9:28 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: In My Defense
>
> Ok, I started a bit of a rift here today, for that I apologize. However, had
> I not pulled the distributor 2 weeks prior to pulling the fuel injectors for
> cleaning, this whole thing would not have happened. Yes, a couple of folks
> had mentioned checking for spark. I did develop tunnel vision here, and kept
> focusing on the fuel injectors, then the possibility the fuel pump may have
> been bad, then the possibility that I had fried not one, but 2 ecu's. This
> morning, after it seemed I had exhausted all other ideas, I did finally
> check for spark-there was none, which led me to pop the distributor cap off
> and I found I could turn the rotor 360, and I let out a combination of 4
> letter words you wouldn't believe. I'm not new to working on cars, been
> doing it for 35 years. This is the 3rd non running VW I have purchased and
> put back on the road. The last one was a '74 Westfalia that I purchased for
> $1,000.00. It had been sitting for 4 years. It had the nightmarish dual
> carbs that I rebuilt. I
>  completely re-did this Westy from bumper to bumper all by myself including
> paint for around $1,200.00 for a total investment of $2,200.00. I sold it
> back in June for $6,100.00, it looked that good. My current Vanagon I bought
> just over a year ago with a seized motor. I replaced the 1.9 with the
> current 2.1 following Jim Thompsons write up. Yes, I had to email Jim a few
> times with questions, and he was very helpful. I am by no means a
> professional mechanic, this is just my hobby. The only time in 35 years I've
> taken a car to a repair shop is for air conditioning-I won't mess with it.
> The worst job I've ever done on any of my vehicles was replace the heater
> core on a Chevy van-I hear the Vanagon heater core is a bear, trust me, it
> can't be as bad as a Chevy Van-whole dash had to come out, dropping the
> steering column, etc. The actual heater core replacement only took about 40
> minutes, but a full day to get to it and another full day to put everything
> back. Anyway, I did screw up big
>  time this week, and I sincerely thank those who offered help and support.
> Jeff
>