Alice Sez:

> Our '81 vanagon has been quite cranky to start in the mornings this days.
> It's not that cold outside (45ish), so I don't think that it's just a
> temperature problem.  What happens is that when I turn the key the starter
> goes just fine, but there dosen't seem to be much gas getting to the
> engine.  For the first few times turning the key there is no sound of the
> gas hitting the spark-plugs/engine, and after the third or fourth try you
> hear the gas coming in in little spurts until it finally catches.  This
> happens pattern happens if you pump the gas pedal and it also happens if
> you don't.
> 
> Is this a problem anyone else has had before?   Does it sound like a
> problem with the fuel injection or the gas lines to anyone?  Or is it an
> engine problem?  The previous owner of the car removed the cooling flaps on
> the engine, could it have anything to do with the engine being super cold?

Alice,
You must have some pretty noisy gas where you live. I never can hear 
gas hitting my engine here in Aridzona.  

The first thing you should check out is the cold start injector and 
the thermo-time switch. The Bently manual covers this. With fuel 
injection, pumping the accelerator pedal doesn't do anything. The 
missing cooling flaps shouldn't have anything to do with cold start 
problems.

Other things to check would be the head temperature sensor and the 
injector spray pattern.

Rich.
Richard Lamoreaux   Tucson, AZ
lumpy@rtd.com       (602)296-1226

'78 Chicken Coop
'87 Weekender