

| Subject: | Digifant problems - uneven running |
| From: | Steve Johnson |
| Date: | Mon, 10 Oct 94 9:55:53 PDT |
So Edward Wilson says: > From root Mon Oct 10 09:41:28 1994 > Date: Mon, 10 Oct 94 11:38:51 CDT > Message-Id: <9410101639.AA02274@northstar.Stanford.EDU> > Errors-To: gsker@lenti.med.umn.edu > Reply-To: vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu > Originator: vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu > Sender: vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu > Precedence: bulk > From: Edward Wilson <ed@sun-valley.stanford.edu> > To: Multiple recipients of list <vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu> > Subject: Digifant problems - uneven running > X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas > > > Hi, > I'm having some problems with my girlfriend's '92 Golf (Digifant II > Fuel injection), that seem to be almost the same as my Dad is having > with his '90 Vanagon. > > Problem: The car was running fine, we had been on the freeway for ~45 > minutes, then suddenly it started to stumble (as if the fuel were being > cut off), we turned around and made it home - it seemed to run better > the faster we went (3500 rpm+), but would still stumble every few > seconds. The car is barely driveable at lower rpm. With the car > stopped, and out of gear, if I hold my foot on the gas at a fixed > point, the rpms will vary chaotically from idle to 2500. > > It had done the exact same thing 2 weeks ago, just as we arrived at > Lake Tahoe (~6000 feet elevation), so I changed the fuel filter (didn't > seem too dirty), and the problem gradually went away after about 5 > miles of driving. I thought it was solved, until now. > > My dad's problem: My parents just finished driving from Pennsylvania > to Washington State, and they had some trouble going through Wyoming at > 4000 foot elevation. They went through the same drill as I did: > problem happened, change fuel filter, problem goes away, several > hundred miles down the road (still in Wyoming - it's pretty big), the > problem shows up again. Fortunately, they found someone who knew about > VWs, and he asked my Dad if they had "a resistor". My dad said he > didn't think so, so they explained what it is: > > VW part number 025 906 302 A - costs $95 (in Wyoming). > This is a wiring harness with a male connector on one end, and female > on the other that attaches to the air flow sensor (in-line with the > existing circuit). The mechanic said that almost all the Vanagons in > the area had this (due to high altitude?). My Dad drove the bus until > the problem showed up, pulled over, slapped this in, and it went away, > so he's convinced it works. Does anyone out there have this > "resistor", or have any clues? I don't have it yet, but I can tell you that it is NOT covered under warrantee :( (Bad P.R. IMO). Altitude has nothing to do with the cause of this problem. VW explains in their Tech. Bulletin 92-01 that the cause is that "some air-flow meters experience a vibration resonance of the metering potentiometer wiper during extended constant driving. This resonance causes the air-flow meter to supply an inter- mittent signal to the Digifant ECU. The ECU will then default to a "no-load" condition and reduce the injection time." It doesn't say how the harness (part No. 025 906 302) fixes this problem, but apparently it does in most vanagons. I don't know if this applies to the Golf either. Steven sjohnson@pcocd2.intel.com
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