TheSamba.com :: View topic - Rebuilt Air Cooled 2.0 No Idle No Manual Gear Engagement :(

Wed Oct 03, 2012 5:59 am

Ok so after eight long months of putting it together only to take it apart again, I finally completed my 2.0L air-cooled engine for my 83 Westy. It looks great, too bad it doesn’t run or engage in any gear. Before the rebuild it did idle well and everything worked just no real compression and tons of oils leaks.

I have spent the last three days in a daze searching every post I could find here on the samba to try and figure out why it will start, run, and then die.

I checked the air sensor circuits as per Bentley 24.15 and results were as followed:

#6 and #9 311 ohms
#6 and #8 202 ohms
#8 and #9 113 ohms
#6 and #7 47 ohms
#7 and #8 157 ohms
#6 and #27 1869 ohms at 84 degrees F
#13 and ground 1655 ohms at 84 degrees F

Seems like every thing checks out but then I started second guessing how I had the meter set up is this right?

I came across a post http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=513021&highlight=air+cooled+idle that suggested removing the AFM plug and trying to turn her over; she did and idled better than my 2.1 Carat. When I stepped on the accelerator she revved as well, and with out the fuel pump running. What? In the same thread someone suggested to make sure the 86b plug was getting power. So I came across this picture and wanted to make sure it was labeled correctly.

I did snag this picture from a post here and if I pi$$ed of the original poster of this pic please let me know and I will pull it down.

I have already purchased a new double relay and no dice. So my next step, I guess is to try and check continuity of the wiring as per Bentley 24.13. Or should I?

I did break open the AFM box and the only thing I saw was that the fuel pump contact was not disengaged by the bar attached to the wiper arm, and I felt that there was maybe too much tension from the spring as compared to my pervious 83 air-cooled I owned before this one.

What else can I check? What am I missing here?

Next the manual transmission.

I used the same fly wheel, only because I was having an issue with end play with my new fly wheel and having a hard time finding shims and the flimsy digital indicator and magnet arm setup I bought from Harbor Freight was giving readings all over the board. The pressure plate, throw out bearing and clutch are new.

Now during my search I realized that I didn’t remove the shifter rod and probably bent something when I dropped the engine. Bad newbie engine rebuild mistake, but what is done is done and I need to figure out what I need to do to fix it. Here are some dirty greasy grimy pictures of the shifter rod and guide pin. I did do a full bleed on brakes and clutch as per Bentley (forgot page)

Does it look bent? Should I try and find a new guide pin or attempted the shift linkage adjustment as per Bentley on 34.4 What else?

I know, a lot of questions but I would really appreciate any advice, guidance, or opinions at this point. I just want to take my family camping and avoid a nervous breakdown.

Thanks in advance

Wed Oct 03, 2012 7:15 am

I can't offer much advise on that shifter but I'd like to know what the fuel pressure is when you activate the pump. Also how sure are you that the TS2 is securely in place and the wire connections are all good?

Wed Oct 03, 2012 7:26 am

doesn't this belong in a vanagon forum - not that we don't want the gentleman but rather he would get better advice there.

Wed Oct 03, 2012 7:33 am

Likely, but apparently the Vanagon guys are not so skilled with L-jet or shun thier air cooled ancestors. :?

Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:09 am

The idle issue sounds like an Auxillary Air Regulator issue to me. Amongst other things, unplugging the AFM cuts the circuit to the AAR, and the filament does not heat up and close the aperture. In your case the bus ran well, as it should if the AAR is the issue. If the AAR is beginning to get sloppy, the aperture will have become smaller over thousands of cycles, and will close too quickly when you start your engine, thereby depriving it of much needed start up air until the TS2 can lean. The solution is to swap in another and test, or take out your old one, undo the nut, crank open the aperture, and tighten the nut back down. You want a good sized opening at ambient temperatures. This is a very common cold start issue as these AAR's get old and sloppy. In many cases that I have seen, the sloppiness has resulted from the nut backing off, probably from continual expansion and contraction of the metal housing. This L-jet issue should not be a hard fix, but it might need some troubleshooting. The AFC manual is a good resource in addition to the advice you get here.

Fri Oct 05, 2012 6:27 am

I did finally get it solved it was the temp 2 nut touching the engine tin. After I fixed this the ohms reading almost tripled.

I was able to pull the guide pin and it was bent pretty badly, but I was able to hammer it out pretty straight.

I was told by a member to remove the black tube. I have reinstalled the pin and I now can engage the gears, 3rd and 4th are a little off. I also noticed the shifting is a little sloppy without the black tube.

I'm right in the middle of doing the shift linkage adjusting and don't know where to find the "stop finger and rubber stop in housing". I believe they mean the rubber stop plate diagrammed on on page 34.3. Where is the stop finger?

Fri Oct 05, 2012 6:31 am

busdaddy wrote: Likely, but apparently the Vanagon guys are not so skilled with L-jet or shun thier air cooled ancestors. :? They actually told me to post here. I think they were just trying to help, but I hear ya.

Fri Oct 05, 2012 11:42 am

hippiepilot wrote: busdaddy wrote: Likely, but apparently the Vanagon guys are not so skilled with L-jet or shun thier air cooled ancestors. :? They actually told me to post here. I think they were just trying to help, but I hear ya.

Bus trans is not like what you have. I would ask the air cooled questions here then and the trans questions in the Vanagon forum. Maybe someone like BigBore here who rebuilt VW trans for a living may know the answer to your question. I would look for that part new or as close to new and install it before being sure it was anything else. Unless you can chuck that in a big lathe and spin it manually with a runout gauge on it then love tap it until it runs true I am not sure you can call it straight :) Even it you can chuck it in a lathe someone may not want a hammer whacking on something in their lathe or drill press.

Fri Oct 05, 2012 3:10 pm

Roger That!