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Thu Jul 21, 2005 7:50 pm

I have an 87 2.1. Here is my puzzle. I recently purchased 87 Westy and after changing the plugs,wires, fuel filter and fuel pressure regulator it still runs very rich. I got 105 miles from a full tank of gas. She starts right up, idles fine but after driving for a minute she starts to sputter, and then wont idle properly and at a stop she stalls. If I let is sit for a minute she starts right up again, will idle OK, but then the same thing happens. Any suggestions would be sincerely appreciated.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:35 am

You have to bear with me as I am only familiar with a L-tronic verison of FI with my bus. This thing is way too new for me.

In general though, the richeness that you are experiencing could be from a number of factors in my very limited experience.

You were smart to change out the usual wear items (plugs, wires, etc.). Those are the "usual suspects". Make sure the timing is spot on and that the distributor is telling the injectors to fire correctly and is indeed advancing and retarding correctly.

Next up would be vacuum leaks. You can have noneanywhere in the sytem or it will not operate correctly.

Also, you also need to have excellent electrical connections at the grounds, connections, and at the computer. Check all fuses also. Connection cleaner from Radio Shack is $5 well spent.

After that:

1) you need to check the fuel pressure within the system. Somewhere on the fuel rail is a test port and you can get a fuel pressure gauge (NAPA or the FLAPS) to measure that pressure in the system Excess pressure can also be a sign of a plugged fuel return (to the tank) line.

2) you might have injector issues and they could be clogged, have too much internal resistance or just have a poor spray pattern and are not vaporizing the fuel correctly. If you must send them away to have them cleaned, I go here www.cruzinperformance.com The last time was $12 each and took 2 weeks.

3) you may have a temp sensor that is bad or sending a reading that is out of range. If this thing has a "check engine light" a shop could read the code and narrow your search. Components need to be checked with your Bentely prior to repacing anything in my opinion. No need to waste perfectly good money on something that does not fix theproblem.

4) possible that what ever version of an air flow meter you have something in there (like the air flow "sweeper needle") that is stuck or has worn away the electrical sending mat in the AFM or something similar to that. In my verison of FI, the Bentley has a number of AFM and ECU connection you can test with the volt ohm meter. If you can find a place that is willing to play with it a bit and actually knows what they are doing it would be nice, but it is more likely thatt you are going to have to take a look in the AFM and play around with the sweeper needle to see what is stuck, scraped off, or needs adjustment.

Suggestion: Rule out all of the other stuff first. then remove the AFM "cap" and take a digital picture of what is in there and post it here. Maybe somebody here can give you a better idea of what is likely at fault.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:00 am

In addition to all that...

Use only VW standard spec ignition wires. Lack of resistance (suppression) in "high performance" wires can wonk out your computer.

The temp II sensor (in the thermostat housing near the water pump) is a known booger. They very frequently test "fine" but magically fix the problem when replaced. I suggest at least pulling it, cleaning the threads, sensor and electrical leads very carefully (including the plug to the harness) and reinstalling as a minimum, even it it tests "OK."

Another thing that may help is taking it to a qualified mechanic to have a final "tune-up." The reason is that very few people have access to a CO or Wide-band O2 meter for proper AFM setup.

Mike!