TheSamba.com :: View topic - Engine rebuild done

Fri Aug 01, 2008 6:25 pm

I fired the motor up today, it fired right off and sounded great. No rod knock (thank you god).

this saga started in this thread, thanks for all the input by the way.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...p;start=60

I was running out of time and had not put coolant in the engine yet (another story) but ran it for about 30 seconds and shut it off. I went to start it one more time to verify oil pressure and it wouldn't start. No spark from the coil wire. I asked about this prior to pulling the motor in this thread.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=262779

I'm going to do some diagnostics on the ignition system tomorrow but my gut tells me I have a bad coil. It will start fine and run but if you shut it off it has to sit a good while before it will start again.

There is also a wire I'm curious about (yes to lazy at the moment to just look it up), it is on the left side of the motor in the same harness section as the fuel injector plugs and the oxygen sensor plug and wire. It has a yellow box shaped connector.

Last question is syncro specific. There is a vacuum line that comes from the middle of the firewall where it is grouped with two other vacuum lines. It has a white plastic connector and for the life of me I can't find where it goes. The other two lines run down and towards the front of the van. I'm getting ready to get the book out but my previous searches didn't bear fruit. I know that is a vague description........

Can't wait to get some coolant in it and burn it in on the road tomorrow. First time driving it in a year.

thanks

Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:56 pm

Figured out the no spark problem today. It took a while but it ended up being a problem with the factory air flow meter service harness. The one vw sold to fix the intermittent misfire or "vanagon syndrome" problem. I ran through all the tests and everything kept coming back ok. I remembered that tencent mentioned the afm played a role in providing a load signal to the ecu to determine actual spark timing. Lo and behold I had some one turn the van over and I jiggled the afm harness and it fired right up. I removed the inline service harness and the van starts every time.

Got some coolant in the motor and ran but the oil pressure light would not go off. Verified oil pressure which checked out ok but the light still blinks on the dash. I believe it has something to do with the wiring. Will recheck wiring and the new switches I put in. Is there a relay involved with the oil light and buzzer? Is there something active in the instrument panel?