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Sun Aug 17, 2003 2:41 am

I have a 78 fuel injection vert that has died on me three random times in the last few weeks. Once, after only 4 miles of driving on a hot day. Once, after 5-6 miles on a warm night. And, once after almost 40 miles of driving on a cooler night. (so, maybe heat related?) When it stalls out, I can start it right back up. But, then it bogs and quits. After 15-20 minutes of starting-quitting-waiting, etc. it will finally stay running (except once, on the warm night, when it died again a couple miles down the road).

When it runs, it runs very well, so I don't think the ignition system is at fault. Each time I've had plenty of gas, the vacuum hoses are all in place, and the battery and electricals have been fine (headlights, stereo, etc. working). According to Haynes, the culprit could be something in the fuel delivery system or a bad electrical relay.

The third time it happened, I reached behind the back seat and jiggled the double relay. That actually seemed to work. The car stayed running and I made it home. I checked the relays and the female sides were a little dirty, so I scraped them with an exacto knife until I could see some shiney metal. I don't know yet whether that made any difference.

Has anyone had this problem before? Any thoughts on what could be causing it?

I'm not much of a mechanic, but it dawned on me that, if it's a bad relay, it could be the one that connects the fuel pump. Does anyone know which one that is?

Thanks for any help you can think of!

John

Mon Aug 18, 2003 12:06 pm

the one you were tinkering with , the double relay is the fuel pump relay.

it could be a sign it is on the way out... when the start going bad if it ( the relay) gets hot it could cause the trouble you are having... if it does it again touch it and see if it feels overly warm ( not if it is the heat of the day and the whle car is hot).

if you park it in a garage or the shade, feel it when the car has not been driven that day ( see what i feels like cold) and then later after driving it.

IMO anyone who has a FI VW should just cough up the 50 bucks or whatever they cost now and have a spare one in the vehicle, it could save you alot (including your /others lives) one day when things go south...

also you could learn how to hotwire past the pump to test and see if it is bad next time it quits, thus proving that it is the relay. or maybe determining it is the pump heating up and quiting...

And like everything else, it could be some other component causing the trouble.... like the coil, the condenser or the head temp switch.... and so on

Mon Aug 18, 2003 11:12 pm

Thanks keifernet.

I wonder where you can new double-relays of that sort?

Mon Aug 25, 2003 1:44 pm

Before you do that, check one real simple thing: check if the battery connections are tight. Mine were loose, which is how I found out that when they are loose, everything in the car gets enough juice EXCEPT for the electric fuel pump. Cost me a $75 tow to find that out. If the connections are loose, the car will run until the battery gets jiggled, at which point the pump stops running and the car stalls.