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Sun Jan 12, 2003 5:21 pm

i have some electrical problems - engine misses at highway speeds, and a little at idle, occasionally it starts allout of whack - full rich won't hardly idle - shut it off and wait ant it is back to normal( someone said coolant temp sensor maybe), other than that occasionally you get shocked by the door on the way out.
i have replaced:
air flow meter
plugs, wires
battery
alternator
fuel filter, pump
rusty fuel tank, hoses
but it still won't run right!!!
i had the charging system checked and it was only charging at 12 volts and should be 14 or more, and it said it had a "diode pattern error"????
what does it all mean?
I'm pulling out what hair i have left!
help guys!, please!!!

Mon Jan 13, 2003 12:58 am

Check and make sure all your ground connections are good. Especially the battery to the body and frame to tranny. Sounds like a bad ground somewhere. Also check all your vacume lines for leaks. If you don't have a Bently, get one they are invaluable. It'll tell you how to check your hole FI system.

Good Luck

Mon Jan 13, 2003 4:18 pm

Hey gtrieb,

I have an '84 Vanagon, it had the same problems... I replaced the water jacket sensor (screws into the side of the water jacket pipe) about a $20.00 dollar item and all the problems went away. You might also want to replace your O2 sensor, and clean up your ground wire contacts, and / or replace the ground wire from the body to the engine block. FYI - the water jacket sensor I described is for the 1.9 liter motors -- I'm not sure with a 2.1 liter motor where it is hidden.

Good luck! DB

Mon Jan 13, 2003 4:26 pm

One last thing, your charging system issue, you might need to replace your voltage regulator on your alternator (bolts onto the side) - the brushes might be worn out. When this happend in my bus, the idiot light was on in the dash board - eventually my battery went dead confirming that the alternator was not charging the battery enough. Once again a $20.00 repair and all was well. It is a little tricky to replace the regulator with the alternator in place, but I think it took me about a half hour.

DB

Mon Jan 13, 2003 5:13 pm

Hey db is this water jacket sensor the same as a coolant temp sensor? - i do have a 2.1 in a 91 vanagon - the sensor is in the back of the thermostat coupler (black thing with several hoses sticking out in the forward left corner of the eng. compartment) with wires facing the driver. is this it or is there another? also there is nothing that bolts to my alternator that i know of - is it regulated internally?
thanks
g

Wed Jan 15, 2003 4:35 pm

Gtrieb,

Yes, I believe the water jacket sensor and coolant temperature sensor are the same thing. On the 1.9's it is a very simple small brass part with a sensor rod to read coolant temparture and a electrical connector off the back. You might want to check in a Bently manual, where it is hidden on the later Vanagons. As mentioned earlier, it was amazing how this dopey sensor screwed up the performance of the van. A VW mechanic gave me the hint to replace this part and it has run great for 4 years. Don't forget to replace the O2 / oxygen sensor -- Vanagons are very fussy and read very low amperage to feed info back to the computer, So a fouled O2 can cause similiar grief. Regarding the voltage regulator, it is a small black plastic box that screws into the alternator. There are two styles "button" and a box style. Once again refer to a Bently book, you will need to get the part number off of the regulator because you need to match it to the alternator. FYI - any parts store can show you where the regulator is, it is pretty common approach on most new cars of any brand. If you still have trouble, I could probably e-mail some images.

Regards, DB

Mon Mar 04, 2024 4:39 pm

Did you ever get this sorted out?

Mon Mar 04, 2024 8:22 pm

The thread is over 20 years old.

Mon Mar 04, 2024 8:49 pm

busboyjake was here just a few days ago and may be available with the solution.