That part of the distributor is notorious for intermittent connection - it's
delicate.

I

 

Sure , if you are asking does this fit the symptom of poor idle - the answer
is yes.

But that's not a diagnosis and 50 other things could also cause the same
symptom.

 

Scott 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Felder [mailto:jim.felder@gmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 1:25 PM
To: Scott Daniel - Shazam
Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
Subject: Re: Heads back on, runs OK and dies

 

I just went out and popped the distributor cap off. I discovered that the
hall effect sensor (if that's what the plastic thing at the rear is) is
cracked loose at its base. Put the distributor back together and started the
car and wiggled the set of wires going to the sensor with a pair of
insulated pliers. The idle improved, but only somewhat. 

 

Is this a plausible reason for the poor running? I checked it because I was
going over every connection disconnected and reconnected for this project.

 

Jim

On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 3:02 PM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:

It's a manual transmission. I'm sure the plugs are fine, and it runs fine
for a short time, and when it starts dropping idle I only have five or maybe
ten seconds before it shuts off.

 

Jim

 

On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 2:52 PM, Scott Daniel - Shazam
<scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

Jim,
You have to say manual or automatic transmission if you are going to talk
about how the throttle cable feels.

There's no way to mix up the injector wires. The ECU fires them as one big
injector, all 4 at once.  They are not sequential, or even timed. The only
thing the ECU does is keep them open so many milliseconds depending on fuel
requirements.

Just pull one plug wire at a time to look for obviously not firing
cylinders.
I'll go over my method on adjusting hydraulic valve lifters if you want.
Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Jim Felder
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 12:39 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Heads back on, runs OK and dies

Got the right head on this morning, hooked everything up and it started
right up, at least from the sounds of the initial idle.
It is powerless, though, and it feels as though the throttle is connected to
the accelerator by a long, soft rubber band, meaning that there is a strong
lag behind pressing the accelerator and the rev of the engine.

The engine may (or may not) idle nicely for a while, and then the rpms fall
and the engine quits.

I know the spark plugs are going to the right place. Could I have the
injectors swapped? Could the new, unprimed lifters be doing it? My
experience with setting valves on cars tells me that it couldn't be this far
out by making a mistake in the valve timing, or could I be wrong about that?

Thanks,

Jim

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