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Tue Jun 29, 2021 5:02 pm

Had another productive work session today. I got the rest of the new fuel lines in the engine bay and new hard lines installed, repaired the worst of the remaining rust spots, fixed the speedometer cable that a previous owner had patched together after removing the mileage/emissions box, installed GoWesty's HD mirror kit, and cleaned up some electrical connections and grounds around the engine.

Next up is CV joint repacking and new boots, then brakes, then tune-up and oil change, and then and then and then.... :lol:

Tue Jun 29, 2021 7:00 pm

Oetikers for pros, hose clampers are wankers.

Fri Jul 02, 2021 10:12 am

Yesterday I got the cockpit mostly cleaned up and back together and ran the engine a bit to check for leaks and only found a very small coolant leak which seems to have been a cheap stripped hose clamp. Replaced with a heavy duty one and tightened a few others near the firewall and no more leaks. Today's tasks are a full tune up and engine and transaxle oil change.

Fri Jul 02, 2021 12:34 pm

So, we had a tree service come to cut down some beetle kill spruce in the backyard and I needed to move the van out of the driveway for them and I had a staff meeting at work (only about a mile from the house) so I just drove the van!

There were a few minor hiccups, but overall it ran better than I expected. Definitely more get-up-and-go than my buddy's westy. It didn't seem to like more than about 2/3 throttle however, and would act like a couple of cylinders weren't firing, but below that ran pretty well. Maybe a tune up would help? I also assume one or both of the switches at the throttle arm are out of adjustment and will look into that. I also noticed some gear whine coming from the trans when under load regardless of which gear I was in. When coasting, the whine was gone. Sounds like I need to add a ring and pinion job for the winter to do list. Probably do a whole rebuild while I'm at it. :roll:

Sun Jul 04, 2021 8:39 pm

So after the engine had been cranking and idling so well over the last few days, I decided to drive to the gas station for a fresh tank of gas and go for a little cruise since its such a nice day here. Everything was going great until I got about a mile up the road and came to a stop to yield at a roundabout and the engine died and refused to start. I had put a little less than 5 gallons of gas back in the tank the other day after the reseal, so I was fairly sure it wasn't out of gas. Long story somewhat shorter, a really nice couple with a tow strap stopped and gave me a pull back home where I discovered the center post/spinner contact thing on the inside of the distributor cap was completely burned up! I can't believe it was running as well as it was. Anyway, buoyed with the assurance that I had found the cause, I drove to the (second) nearest FLAPS to grab a new cap. Sadly, I still have a no-start situation (and yes, I triple checked the firing order). I checked that the fuel pump is getting power but that's as far as I've gotten with my diagnostics until tomorrow. My plan of attack is to check for spark at the plug, then, if that is good, unbolt the injectors to see if they're squirting correctly. While I'm back there, I'll probably check the compression, too, btw. Is there anything else you guys recommend? Is it possible I just flooded it from trying to crank it so much without any spark?

Mon Jul 05, 2021 9:25 am

Please change your username. Just. Do. It.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 11:04 am

Username changed , thanks everttb! 8)

Mon Jul 05, 2021 11:10 am

I'm going to actually check for fuel at the injectors later today, but now that I have it back in the driveway where its nice and quiet, I'm 99% sure I'm not hearing the fuel pump turn on for the half a second or so when I turn the key to ON. The relay in the back clicks on and off, but nothing from the pump whereas is previously made an audible noise. I checked the voltage at the pump last night and read just under 12v for a moment when turning the key to ON and then continuous ~10v with the starter engaged (remember, this is after many minutes of futile cranking on the side of the road). A friend is going to loan me a known working pump to test and to use until I can source a new one if that turns out to be problem.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 1:49 pm

Update: Fuel pump is definitely dead. I pulled the plug in the tee at the engine and attached a length of fuel line and ran it to a small bucket then hotwired the pump but no fuel came out at all. The pump sorta clicked but made no other sound or any vibration or anything :roll:

Now to see if I can find a pump here in town.

I did check and there is a good spark at the plug, btw.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 2:00 pm

TomInAlaska wrote: Update: Fuel pump is definitely dead. I pulled the plug in the tee at the engine and attached a length of fuel line and ran it to a small bucket then hotwired the pump but no fuel came out at all. The pump sorta clicked but made no other sound or any vibration or anything :roll:

Now to see if I can find a pump here in town.

I did check and there is a good spark at the plug, btw.

Get two. Some critical hard to find items are worth having spares in hand.

Dave

Mon Jul 05, 2021 2:07 pm

^^ yes. I carry one brand new, and one known good used on my trips.

On several trips to AK, I went a bit too far... spare engine and spare transmission too.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:49 pm

While I couldn't find any new pumps in town, a friend had a couple of working used ones he let me borrow until the new one I ordered comes in. After I got the loaner swapped on (cutting and crimping ring connectors which leads me to believe the old pump was quite old), I tried the key and had the familiar buzzing from the pump, but, when I tried to crank it, still no start. Remembering I had swapped on a new cap, I quadruple checked the wiring arrangement. According to the book, all looked correct. But then I remembered how I had once installed the 009 distributor in my beetle incorrectly when I built that engine and had to plug the wires in according to wherever the rotor pointed at TDC #1, I turned the engine by hand until the timing mark was at the case midline and popped the cap. AHA! the rotor was pointed to what should be #4 according to the book. I re-arranged the wires but still had a no start. Well, since the timing mark could either be at TDC on the compression or exhaust stroke, I re-re-arranged the wires as if #1 was where #2 should be. Crossing all my fingers and toes, I tried the key again and happily, the engine sprang to life and settled into what is definitely a smoother idle than before.

/I get by with a little help from my friends.../ :D

TL,DR: It lives! The fuel pump died.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 8:11 pm

It would've been cool if your new name was TomUnAlaska. I spent lots of my young adulthood on that island.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 8:42 pm

Zeitgeist 13 wrote: It would've been cool if your new name was TomUnAlaska. I spent lots of my young adulthood on that island.

Unalaska/Dutch Harbor is one of my favorite places! I got to go out there twice back when I was working as a Land Surveyor. The first trip we had a half a day to play tourist and drove all over the place ending up at the top of Mount Ballyhoo and explored the abandoned WW2 fortifications. The second time we were just passing through on our way to Akutan to survey the new road to the back of the harbor. I've got some great pics of me and my buddy running levels on the face of shear cliffs over the ocean! So much fun! That was also back when they were still flying the Grumman Goose which was an amazing experience to fly in! That was also the trip I drank a beer a couple of seats down the bar from Sig Hansen of Deadliest Catch fame at the Grand Aleutian. BTW, the weather moved on when we were trying to get out of Akutan so we ended up hitching a ride on a huge trawler back to Dutch. I spent the four or five hour (felt like years) trip puking my guts out laying on the floor of the galley! What a time! Oh man, I've got so many storied about working out in Bush Alaska...

Mon Jul 05, 2021 9:53 pm

I worked as a deckhand for around six years out of Dutch Harbor on large factory trawlers back in the late '80s and early '90s. We used to drag up the lost crab pots from the crabbing fleet, and often had to tie them on to the railing two abreast during the winter times. If ever I was going to be killed or maimed during that time, it was in the winter when we were getting crab pots in the nets. Crabbers are weirdos. We gave them wide berth when at the bar in Unalaska.

Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:01 am

I ticked a couple of small items off of the punch list this morning before work including checking as many pins at the ECU as I can and fixing the loose wiring tab on the full throttle enrichment switch: I tried to solder it, but stopped when the plastic switch housing started melting so I used a small phillips screwdriver to gently wedge the flare on the central post a little tighter to the tab and sorta turned it at an angle to force them into contact. Not the best fix, but it works as least as well as the idle switch according to my multimeter. Checking the rest of the pins at the ECU for resistance found most things within spec or close enough. The only items that seem to be out are the injectors which read (in order) 20.2, 19.8, 19.8, and 19.9 ohms. From what I gather in other threads, this sounds like its close enough to not worry about especially seeing as the van seems to run fine (when the fuel pump isn't broken :roll: ).

Sat Jul 10, 2021 3:03 pm

Got my new GKN/Lobro CVs installed this morning and was going to drive to a friend's house to help him drop the fuel tank on his westy, but after a quick shake down run through the neighborhood, my coolant leak is back

I know I should just bite the bullet and replace all the rubber hoses and pipes, but if I just try to replace this one hose, will all the coolant drain out anyway and therefore I should do the lot while I'm at it?

Sat Jul 10, 2021 4:24 pm

nope you won't lose all of the coolant.
but you will need to burb the air from the system when you add more.
this is a 'procedure' that each and every vanagon (H2O) driver NEEDS to know and understand.
there are several methods.
some follow the Bentley
some do the libby bong
some do the pressure pot

I prefer the pressure pot method. (garden sprayer).

go westy sells a small pump kit. which is the simplest method with just a valve stem shoved onto the pressure cap nipple (pressure bottle FULL) and a bicycle pump to entice some pressure into the cold system and force air out the high spot at the radiator bleeder.
I use a similar idea for when on the road.

Sat Jul 10, 2021 9:31 pm

I thought I'd try to repair the hose to make due until a new one can be ordered by cutting off the torn piece and clamping what's left of the flared end on the nipple on the head. Unfortunately, it looks like someone else has already done that!

By the time I cut the bad section off, there was no more flared hose and there's no way I was gonna get a 5/8" hose on a 1" nipple. So, I sealed the ends up as best I could with gorilla tape and hose pliers and cool my heels until a new hose comes.

In the mean time and since I had the air filter box off, I went ahead and finished the tune-up with aa set of NGK 1263 and NAPA's finest plug wires.

I also ran a cold compression test whiile I in there (to the nearest 5psi):
#1 120
#2 125
#3 125
#4 125

I really think once I get the wrinkles ironed out and undo the last couple decades of neglect, this will be a pretty good van.

Tue Jul 13, 2021 4:55 am

gates 18965
1" to 5/8" hose to use off of cylinder head.