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Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:55 pm

Howdy - for the past few months i've been hacking away at rust and starting to weld in new metal on the 86 westy that i got this spring while driving it around a little (mostly to my friend's place that has the welding expertise!)

Periodically the van will stall out, go - typically when slowing, though once or twice it while climbing a hill at city speeds (~25mph-ish). At first it would immediately come back on with a turn or two of the key but soon it would take 10-20 minutes, or possibly a few hours. It would crank, but not start. Battery is good, voltage is where it should be when it's on. RPMs seem fine right up until it dies. Problem was that i couldn't force it to happen to try and determine the cause. UNTIL the other day when it just wouldn't start up.

So i was looking at things i've read here and elsewhere i was checking/cleaning grounds. After i cleaned the transmission ground, BAM, starts right up.

My question (sorry for the long form asking...) is: happy coincidence or could a bad connection at the transmission ground strap have been the culprit all along?

Thanks for any insight, i'm reading and learning but i've got a looong way to go!

Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:32 pm

welcome, what year van, what engine, miles etc
a picture wouldn't hurt ;)

Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:38 pm

norvella wrote: Howdy - for the past few months i've been hacking away at rust and starting to weld in new metal on the 86 westy that i got this spring while driving it around a little (mostly to my friend's place that has the welding expertise!)

Periodically the van will stall out, go - typically when slowing, though once or twice it while climbing a hill at city speeds (~25mph-ish). At first it would immediately come back on with a turn or two of the key but soon it would take 10-20 minutes, or possibly a few hours. It would crank, but not start. Battery is good, voltage is where it should be when it's on. RPMs seem fine right up until it dies. Problem was that i couldn't force it to happen to try and determine the cause. UNTIL the other day when it just wouldn't start up.

So i was looking at things i've read here and elsewhere i was checking/cleaning grounds. After i cleaned the transmission ground, BAM, starts right up.

My question (sorry for the long form asking...) is: happy coincidence or could a bad connection at the transmission ground strap have been the culprit all along?

Thanks for any insight, i'm reading and learning but i've got a looong way to go!

If it cranked fine before the transmission ground strap was cleaned up, then likely the clean up did not fix anything, as a fine cranking starter indicates that that ground strap is good, also if the starter is cranking fine, it indicates that at the starter at least, the voltage is sufficient to run the injection system

Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:10 pm

Ah, i meant to post all the info and then got lost in my rambling!

1986 Westy full camper, 2.1 stock engine
with ~250,000 miles

Any good thoughts on the best order for issues to check would be very welcome!

and @bluebus86 - thanks for the input - i figured it was luck.

Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:01 am

I had those same symptoms when my distributer when out.