

| Subject: | She's Home! (Was: '87 Vanagon turns and turns but won't start) |
| From: | Don Preston Jr. |
| Date: | Sat, 15 Sep 2012 21:04:30 -0700 |
Hi all, Just wanted to give a shout out to the list and say thank you for the help previously, and to let you know that Betsy has made it home! After a busy summer, the current owners and I were finally able to sync up a couple of weeks ago and went through the entire fuel system, finding that plenty of fuel was getting to the cylinders. We ran out of time, so in between, I did some research and tought perhaps the fuel pressure regulator might be out, so picked up and new one and we tried it today, but no go. We were able to get the engine to start up with all injectors unplugged, until they ran out of fuel of course. So back to square one. We had previously checked the entire ignition system, so were perplexed. Digging through the Bentley I was looking for a way to test the injectors, but there's no test. We decided to track the electronics from the injectors back to the ECU, and after running all tests in the Bentley, things looked perfect. Voltage and resistance to each injector were fine. The only thing we could think of was perhaps a bad ECU. Thankfully NorthWesty down in Renton was open today and they stayed around for a bit after closing time to let me race down and pick up a known good ECU out of a bus that had had a conversion done. Plugged it in and voila, she lives again!! So glad because it that didn't work I was completely out of ideas. So now Betsy is back home. My son is at his Mom's and has no idea He and I have missed her since the day we sold her back in '04 and I know he's going to flip out when he gets home tomorrow to find her parked out front. I'm still amazed by the seemingly random events which brought me into contact with her current owner, who also happens to be some pretty amazing people (and now friends). Really looking forward to being back in the family, rolling up my sleeves and giving the old girl some much-needed TLC this winter and on the road this spring. Yay! Don Preston Seattle, WA '87 Wolfsburg ASI, "Betsy" -----Original Message----- From: Don Preston Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 9:02 PM To: Chris S. Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: '87 Vanagon turns and turns but won't start Good point, I didn't pull the injectors. I remember in the past placing them into spray paint caps and turning over the motor to see if they spray. Thanks for the help, I'll give this a try next time I'm over there. -Don -----Original Message----- From: Chris S. Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 8:58 PM To: Don Preston Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: '87 Vanagon turns and turns but won't start I would start with removing injectors from their ports and cranking the engine while someone else observes their function. Don't blow yourself up or shoot any gas in your eyes, though. Chris. Wysłane z iPhone'a Dnia May 12, 2012 o godz. 22:44 Don Preston <dj@FOKUST.COM> napisał(a): > Hello everyone, been a long time... > > So, I’m back, kinda. :-) Some of you may remember me and my ‘87 Vanagon > ASI > “Betsy” from a few years back. I actually sold her as I was moving out of > country back in ‘04. Well, long story short, I’ve recently come in contact > with her again and trying to get her back on the road. It’s been a few > years > since I last worked on any van, and the Bentley is missing, so I’m hoping > you good folks might have some advice. > > Current owner tells me that the engine “just died” a few weeks back. When > trying to start it up the engine turns and turns but won’t fire. We were > unable to check compression because the gauge I have won’t read high > enough. > We spent a couple hours today troubleshooting everything we could think > of, > cleaning wire connections, checking plugs, etc. > >> All fuses checked and good. >> AFM connections good. >> Removed and cleaned (replacing two corroded ones) all coil connections. >> Spark at distributor cap to center and all four cylinder ports >> #1 & #3 spark plugs dry, #2 & #4 wet >> Hall sensor plug removed, cleaned and good. > > Any idea on what to try next? > > Thank you!! > > Don Preston > Ballard, WA
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