Van dies when driving

[jfroldan]

Hey guys,
I have been reading quite a few threads on here about this, but I haven't found the same problem.

Not long after leaving the house, I was driving in 2nd gear and the accelerator stopping responding, RPM went down to zero on the dash but the engine was not dead. I tried to downshift into first to kind of see if it would respond again, but no change. It just coasted to a stop, even if I was trying to accelerate. As soon as I stepped on the clutch, then it died.

I tried to restart it, it turned, but no start. I waited a few minutes, tried again, and was able to get it to run by holding the pedal a little to get the idle higher. We got back on the road, and this this happened again one more time.

We were able to leave, and it did it again 25 minutes later on the freeway. Same thing again... and then we were able to get back home no problem.

Could it be simply a ground? crank position sensor?

87 syncro westy, 2.1L
thanks

[WestyBob]

Well it could be several things but you should check the temp II sensor on the lower front of the engine (facing the front seats). Will require crawling underneath and having a look at a single (usually) green wire to a spade. Look and see if it's corroded. Also, replacing the sensor -- it's not an expensive part.

Based on your descrip. , this is the first place I'd check.

Several other things could be the coil, distributor Hall sender, AFM, brain, ignition switch, etc.

If you're not a gearhead, esp. in winter, maybe find a good mechanic to check these out.

[Dave Wood]

Check the wiring to your fuel pump. I had a problem with a fuel pump wire directly behind the air cleaner that caused intermittent stalling issues
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Dave
87 Vanagon GL

[pdm777]

I think the key is tach needle drops to zero, I believe that narrows it down to an electrical problem, not a fuel pump or sensor malfunction.

[Jake de Villiers]

[WestyBob]

[hdenter]

It could be the ignition switch/wiring, as well.

Hans
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'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender

[Jake de Villiers]

JFR, start the van and go around wiggling the likely suspects while it idles. The three places mentioned above are the best candidates.
_________________
'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7.5 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com

[jfroldan]

Thanks for all your comments. I didn't use the van much last week, but when I did, all was normal. I checked a few things last week though, opened the bay and checked connections, wiggled the cables and a few other things while the engine was running. Everything was running as it should.

But not today...
Left on a day trip, stopped for gas, got stuck in traffic, and then maybe 30 minutes later it died, while crossing a narrow bridge on Hwy 1 near Big Sur... Luckily a friend pulled me off the bridge onto a pull out.
The van restarted twice, for about a minute each time, and died again. Then no luck. No restart.

Had it towed back...
But it's Friday night, so nobody will be able to look at it until Monday.
We are driving south heading north of LA, so I'll try to find a place to get it looked at.

[morymob]

Hall sensor sig from dizzy triggers start of spark, inj firing, fpump etc, no sig, tac drops,no start/run.

[jfroldan]

Hi,
short update!
I picked up the van today. Ignition switch was the likely culprit.
It was so hot it was a fire hazard almost...

Runs fine now!
Thanks to JC in Bakersfield, CA for opening the door of his shop on a Sat pm for me.

[jfroldan]

Ok, back to square 1 or almost...

I am having the same problem. It drove fine for 3 weeks, then it just started to do the same thing.

I am driving, then RPM drops to 0, no accelerator response. I coast to a stop, no restart.

And last night, I pulled the plug going to the black box that has the two relays over the coil. When the key is turned on, it makes a clicking sound. When I replug that connector, I can hear the pump and then I can usually start the van. If I don't disconnect this connector, I can't start the van, even if I hear the pump, it's like there is no fuel getting to the engine. It just turns and turns, but no start.

Since then, I had to do this trick twice today to get the van running again. The van works normally the rest of the time.

Do I simply need to change the relays in that control box?

[lolalola62]

Did you ever resolve this problem? I had the same problem for the first time the other night. Same symptoms; tach dropped to zero, engine still running, when stopping at stop sign van dies. I was able to immediately restart and go home. All seemed normal afterwards. My battery light came on as I was coasting off the freeway. Great van/bus karma; I was at my offramp. I thought it sort of burped a bit as I went over an overpass right before this happened, but it was late at night and I was tired so I might have imagined that.

The only oddity in recent weeks is that about a month ago I went out early to start the van and it would not start. I had not had this problem before. I sat there a minute or so and restarted but pressed the accelerator as I did and it immediately started. No other issues occurred until this incident.

Let me know if you resolved - thanks.
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1987 Syncro, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 1972 Standard Beetle

[Howesight]

Hi guys:

The tach needle bouncing, together with the engine coughing, etc, is a useful tell-tale. There are really only three reasons this set of symptoms occurs:

1. Easiest Fix: Ignition switch is intermittent and needs replacement;
2. Slightly harder fix: The wiring to the Hall sender is compromised. Check closely and repair as needed.
3. Most likely: cracked printed circuit board in the ECU.

The ECU Story:

1. The point at which the wiring harness attaches to the ECU is actually a stub end of the printed circuit board (PCB) itself.

2. The harness exerts a bending force on this stub of the ECU PCB. Over time, this causes the copper traces in the PCB to crack. Temperature and vibration add to the problem as well as the continued pull of the harness.

3. Eventually, the cracks in the copper traces cause the ECU to be unable to do its job and this causes both the weird running, along with the "hiccups" "on-off-on-off" symptoms and the tach needle bouncing. The ECU is actually re-booting each time. Depending on which particular copper trace(s) is/are compromised, the ECU has "limp home" modes for some perceived faults.

4. When you shut off the ignition and re-start, the "limp home" mode is cancelled.

5. As a temporary fix, you can remove the ECU and re-mount it in the same location, albeit turned 180 degrees from the orientation in which it was previously located so that the pull of the harness now pulls in the opposite direction. This tends to close the gap in the breaks in the copper traces. This will do while you order up a rebuilt or known-good ECU. The rebuilt ones, as far as I can tell, mainly address these circuit traces, although there are a few more tricks the rebuilders do for reliability.
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'86 Syncro Westy SVX