TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:46 pm

ranchero wrote: ...Had three OBD codes - 328 constantly, 507 and 1507 a few times during the trip. There also seems to be a high load fuel starvation issue.

p0328 relates to the knock sensor: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-298963-p-3.html

This might mimic a fuel starvation issue if a false knock sensor reading is retarding your spark and thus killing your power.

p0507 relates to the idle speed control system. It might indicate that your idle speed is dropping too low at times.

p1507 relates to the air intake system: http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl796g.htm

Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:04 am

ranchero wrote: Day 2 progress report...
Started working on the van about 12:30pm.
Finished about 6.

Step 1: Coffee

Step 2: Success!

Step 3: Beer.

.

I have been following this thread and would like to say congratulations and thanks for all the photo's. However I would like to point out that this is the best three step program for anyone doing anything. The results are always positive and it always seems to work. Just imagine if the rest of the world could follow this three step program most of our problems would have already been solved. THANKS!

Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:12 am

ranchero wrote: OK, I can't tell from the Subie manual for the SOHC EJ25. On my 98 DOHC outback, the sensor is just behind and under the #4 intake runner on the block.

This is a 2001 (SOHC) EJ25. In the photo below Is the knock sensor location in the block at the lower left of the photo at the bend in the rubber coolant line? The hole is threaded. I had wondered before about what that hole was for, but assumed it was related to mounting of some bracket.

not that it matters much now but...

isnt duct tape a bad idea for that? as it leaves a gooey residue? wouldnt a painters tape or gaffers tape have been better>

Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:17 am

possibly, a quick wipe with a rag and acetone/thinner will remove it.

Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:22 pm

Progress report.

Well, not much new progress. I've been driving it and loving it. Still have all the same code issues. Will be rebuilding/cleaning the throttle body and IAC valve after I go to the Subie dealer in Boulder this weekend. Still have the loss of power on heavy load that feels like fuel starvation. Going to change fuel filter this week. Will start looking for a spare pump too.

Have an electrical gremlin as well - related to brake circuit. Two symptoms
1. Turn signals work fine on their own, but when brakes are pressed, the turn signals stop. This occurs all the time

2. Sometimes the engine wants to run on if I have the brake pressed. I turn off the key with brake on - can even take it out and engine keeps going. Can stop the engine by doing two things. Leave the trans in gear and then let out clutch. Then it stalls out. Or - and this is the weird one - I can shift out of gear and into neutral and it shuts off. Strange indeed. This is intermittent. I just replaced the ignition switch - no change

Have gradually begun to trust it. 4500 mile trip coming up in about three weeks.
Still need to lengthen skid plate and clearance for thermostat adapter.
Figure out why fuel gage stopped working
address codes.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:22 am

ranchero wrote: Have an electrical gremlin as well - related to brake circuit. Two symptoms
1. Turn signals work fine on their own, but when brakes are pressed, the turn signals stop. This occurs all the time

2. Sometimes the engine wants to run on if I have the brake pressed. I turn off the key with brake on - can even take it out and engine keeps going. Can stop the engine by doing two things. Leave the trans in gear and then let out clutch. Then it stalls out. Or - and this is the weird one - I can shift out of gear and into neutral and it shuts off. Strange indeed. This is intermittent. I just replaced the ignition switch - no change

Have gradually begun to trust it. 4500 mile trip coming up in about three weeks.
Still need to lengthen skid plate and clearance for thermostat adapter.
Figure out why fuel gage stopped working
address codes.
Pretty bizarre symptoms... I was working on my harness last night and then going over the Subaru and Bentley-Vanagon wiring diagrams. I can't see any crossover between the engine conversion and the brake lights/turn signals (I'm assuming it all worked prior to the conversion) that might cause the engine to run when the brake lights are powered. I'm thinking it may be a ground wire problem... if the brake light/tail light grounds got lifted during the conversion the current may be taking some bizarre path back to ground. I looked at the wiring diagrams and wasn't seeing any place that would happen, but it never hurts to verify that everything is grounded properly anyway. I think the tail lights ground on the body below where the VW ignition coil lived.

Even with the gremlins I'm envious of your progress. I seem to only get about 2 hours 3 or 4 nights a week to work on mine and I opted to use sweat equity rather than cash for the harness mod and engine prep. As you stated in your original post: there's that economic trade-off between taking advantage of specialized labor while enjoying your leisure time vs. cheaping out (or something like that!). Actually I'm enjoying what time I get to work on the van, I just wish I could blow off work, go to town on it for a couple of weeks, and see some real progress.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:34 pm

I've got an EJ22 in my westy- I think you're wiring is off on the connection to the igntion relay- you're pulling hot 100% of the time. Congrats!

Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:40 pm

Well, despite still having some gremlins, I ventured west a few days ago. I'm about 1500 miles in to a 3500-4000 mile trip.

Since you were all so helpful in getting to this stage, I thought I would shar e a few fruits of that labor. Thought it was time for some van porn. Sorry wasn't able to resize to post to Samba

http://picasaweb.google.com/twowheeldrive/Summer2008RoadTrip

Still having the cut out problem full throttle on extended grades. Have swapped out fuel pumps, fuel filters. no luck.

Have had a problem with it dying at idle when warm. It doesn't always die, but it hunts around for the right idle speed. Usually settles in at 637-650 rpm. Cleaned IAC valve today and that seemed to help a bit. Think I have a vacuum leak in the PCV stack. I'll pick one of those up in Eugene tomorrow.

Have seen about 7-8 Vanagons. Thought I would see more. Pulled into the KOA in Arcata/Eureka tonight to find a family in Vanagon. Turns out they live just about 60 miles down the road from me in Crestone, CO.

My mileage has varied. My worst tank was 15mpg going 65-70mph across stretches of NV. Basin and Range. Lots of extended climbs.

Most tanks have been right at 19MPG. Keep in mind this is fully loaded, including extra water, propane and three bikes on the back. I try to keep it around 60-65 most of the time and this seems to work well. Have to try to avoid flooring it on the hills. Love the power! Don't know that I ever hit 19 with the waterboxer.

Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:22 am

ranchero wrote: Well, despite still having some gremlins, I ventured west a few days ago. I'm about 1500 miles in to a 3500-4000 mile trip.

Since you were all so helpful in getting to this stage, I thought I would shar e a few fruits of that labor. Thought it was time for some van porn. Sorry wasn't able to resize to post to Samba

http://picasaweb.google.com/twowheeldrive/Summer2008RoadTrip

Still having the cut out problem full throttle on extended grades. Have swapped out fuel pumps, fuel filters. no luck.

Have had a problem with it dying at idle when warm. It doesn't always die, but it hunts around for the right idle speed. Usually settles in at 637-650 rpm. Cleaned IAC valve today and that seemed to help a bit. Think I have a vacuum leak in the PCV stack. I'll pick one of those up in Eugene tomorrow.

Have seen about 7-8 Vanagons. Thought I would see more. Pulled into the KOA in Arcata/Eureka tonight to find a family in Vanagon. Turns out they live just about 60 miles down the road from me in Crestone, CO.

My mileage has varied. My worst tank was 15mpg going 65-70mph across stretches of NV. Basin and Range. Lots of extended climbs.

Most tanks have been right at 19MPG. Keep in mind this is fully loaded, including extra water, propane and three bikes on the back. I try to keep it around 60-65 most of the time and this seems to work well. Have to try to avoid flooring it on the hills. Love the power! Don't know that I ever hit 19 with the waterboxer.

Very nice trip. Hope you get those nagging issues resolved. It should definitely not be hunting around and stalling at idle. Are you sure the VSS is working correctly? I don't remember what you've said in the past.

- Chester

Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:40 am

Chester - not sure that the VSS is working correctly when it is running, but up on jack stands the magnets trigger the LED on the sensor. I have the Smallcar version. I might try the enginewiring.com one that others have mentioned.
Which one did you use?

Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:37 am

ranchero wrote: Chester - not sure that the VSS is working correctly when it is running, but up on jack stands the magnets trigger the LED on the sensor. I have the Smallcar version. I might try the enginewiring.com one that others have mentioned.
Which one did you use?

Dude,

I used the enginewiring.com VSS simulator. It's cheap at around $ 40.00, the size of your thumb, and has three wires that can be connected next to the ECU (assuming you didn't super-wrap everything). Very easy installation. Your symptoms really sound like a malfunctioning/non-functioning VSS to me. I hope that's what it is.

- Chester

Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:58 am

ranchero wrote: Chester - not sure that the VSS is working correctly when it is running, but up on jack stands the magnets trigger the LED on the sensor. I have the Smallcar version. I might try the enginewiring.com one that others have mentioned.
Which one did you use?

I had 4 brand new faulty Small Car VSS lately... and 2 more gave me trouble. But when they are fine, they last a long time.

Mine is the old style (round). I know use the new one from Small Car, but again, those are sometime deffective. So you should swap this one anyway. Those can be tested.

It's always good anyway to have one as a spare.

Also, is it hooked properly? Some people use the start signal instead of the ignition +.

Nice pictures by the way!!!

Cheers, Ben

Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:06 am

Congrats on getting on the road... it sounds like it's generally a huge success. You're following some of the same route we travelled in the Wolfsburg last summer: from SLC to Delta, camped at Great Basin Nat'l Park (least visited park in the NPS system... Lehman Caves is worth a visit), took Highway 50 through NV. Got a hotel room in Eureka, then camped at Tahoe, continued on to the coast and north on Highway 101(?). I should retrace that trip with the Subie engine when I get it done... it would be interesting to feel the difference.

Any opinions on or experiences with using the Jetta VSS that mounts on the speedometer? I was debating which direction to go when someone posted on the SubaruVanagon group that they had some of these for sale so I bought that and a tach.

Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:36 am

Before I forget......... I think a mechanical VSS is best; telling the ECU that you are always travelling at some "made-up" speed with a simulator kinda bugs me but a lot of people say, "it works great."

I actually had a funky situation the first few minutes from starting the engine cold with the simulator. It would turn on, idle down slowly to 700 rpm or so, everything seemed normal. When I drove it, giving it throttle, and let up on the throttle, the idle would stay around 1,200 rpms. Give it more gas, normal.... then come to a stop and it will still idle high; UNTIL the engine coolant temperature reached around 135 degrees. Then everything is totally normal. Normal 700 rpm idle after letting up on the throttle. Strange and I am the only one reporting this funky scenario. Others using the VSS simulator form enginewiring.com report NO issues.

I didn't notice this at first because I was so used to the routine with the WBX engine of turning on the engine and letting it idle for the first five minutes because it would stall, etc. When I did the Subaru conversion, I kept this habit in place, and within those five minutes the coolant temperature would rise enough to not let me notice the funky situation with the simulator. One cold morning, I was late for work and simply turned on the engine in the van and drove it within a few seconds. That's when I first noticed the issue.

- Chester

I don't know.. .your call.

- Chester

Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:02 pm

Hey Dude,
Sweet job... I'm getting ready to do the same swap really soon. How much this whole gig end up costing in parts.... Also, do you think could hook a brotha up with a parts lists so I can begin my hunt when I return from vacation here in Alaska... Seen about about 30 or Vanagon/Westies up here.. Wish I had mine up herre.... next year though
Cheers :wink:

Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:21 am

You could start here:
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/8Gl7SPx4STl8Ev0gHrjkD...20list.doc
http://www.smallcar.com/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=112

The first link is from the Yahoo SubaruVanagon group, which is probably your best resource for a conversion: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/subaruvanagon/

Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:37 am

Excellent thread.
Love your van. Very intrigueing. Must drive one.

Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:54 pm

Hobbled in Tofino, BC.
OK, over 2600 miles into the trip with no real problems until today. Finished fish tacos for lunch at Sobo (yum) got in the van started fine, but stubled trying to climb a minor hill in first gear. seems like timing is really retarded. Let off gas, idles fine. Apply gas sounds like crap wants to die. Seems like a plugged cat or muffler. Inspect and find blown out gasket between cat and mufler. Pull off high zoot Smallcar stainless exhaust and see why....one of the internal baffles in muffler is completely loose (as in shaking around) and is blocking exit of exhaust gases. Pulled muffler and runs fine except for the sound of course.

Did I mention that I'm in Tofino, B.C., the farthest point away from my home on this entire trip? If I want to get a surfboard repaired I have multiple options, but no source of parts in town at all. So I'm hoping Brian and Mao at Smallcar will overnight a replacement muffler tomorrow so I can get grandma to her plane in Vancouver without too much drama and we can finish our trip in relative peace.

There is a neat pic of us driving off the ferry in Sydney right next to another Vanagon. There are tons of Vanagons up here and some really cool right hand driveMitsubishi 4x4 Turbodiesel vans as well.

So far most tanks 19mpg. Best tank 22mpg, Worst 16.

Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:08 pm

Yank the loose part out. Bend it, cut it or do whatever to get it out. Seal up with some kind of seal from the car parts store or gas station. Done, I would hope.

Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:14 pm

Sorry to hear of your troubles but I'm glad you were able to put your finger on it so quickly. You're pretty close to Small Car... could you get stateside without the muffler and have them meet you to put it on? Or if you can get to Tacoma they could install it in their shop. I bought their muffler too... I hope this isn't typical.