1984 Vanagon Westfalia 1.9L Automatic, Cranks but doesn't start

[ilarsen]

Hi friends, I'm new to the samba and Vanagons in general and am having a great time learning all there is to know about my new purchase.

As said in the title I recently purchased a 1984 1.9L Automatic Vanagon Westfalia (89,000 ish miles) that was in pretty stelar interior condition (all original upholstery), rust free, some minor trim and carpet damage, and small cosmetic body dents. Only thing is the engine doesn't catch. I've been replacing some items in attempt to get her going and she sounds better with every part replaced but still isn't catching.

She sounds like she going to catch and starts to rumble a bit on the first crank then on every crank after she is pretty flat.

Also worth noting that the previous owner had shrunken the size if the main fuel lines going to/from the tank to the engine by sticking smaller hose in the original size. which to me seems to be a last ditch effort to restrict fuel flow instead of solving the main problem of a rich engine?

That makes me think that after replacing those lines and the old fuel pump (which didnt work) now the engine is rich and flooding.

before I replaced the new parts below, we were able to get it to catch by spaying some ether into the engine and it back fired a little bit. Now, no catch even with ether and Fuel pump turned off.

Here is my List of current replaced parts:

New Fuel Pump, Bosch
New Fuel Post Filter, (Removed the pre-filter and went with a post)
New Fuel Rails and Fuel Injectors, Go westy Fuel Injector Bundle
New Fuel Pressure Regulator
New Fuel Lines (large ones not the smaller kind)
Spark plugs check and cleaned, all fire.

----

On my list to check and possibly replace:
Temp II Sensor
MAF Sensor

Any help would be appreciated as there are no mechanics in Dallas that seem to work on Vanagons anymore.

Thanks!

[?Waldo?]

I don't think that it is a viable theory that the small fuel line size allowed it to run properly and larger fuel line now is causing it to be overly rich. Here's why. At idle very little fuel is used. At full load the amount of fuel used is vastly more. If the fuel line used was small enough to change the mixture of the engine at idle, then the engine would be unable to rev above idle.

Did the engine run properly when you purchased the vehicle?

Are the injectors spraying properly?

How's the compression?

Have you checked the timing?

[DanHoug]

here's a super easy thing to do before we walk you thru the basics of fuel, spark, compression.... remove the two plugs on the idle stabilizer on the driver's side of the engine compartment and plug them into each other. this bypasses the idle stabilizer. test. report back.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[airschooled]

Hi, and welcome.

You can test the entirety of you fuel injection electronics and wiring by using a "noid light." Bosch2 is the size we use. Plug it into any of the four injector plugs, and watch for a flickering when a helper cranks the key. If it glows/flickers, your injectors are firing and you can look elsewhere, like spark or fuel pressure.

https://www.mactools.com/products/et3055d-8

Can you post some engine and hose pictures? All this fuel line bs and talk of turning the fuel pump off makes me think there's more to this story than just a "no start."

Robbie
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[jlrftype7]

When you say all the spark plugs fire, is that with the plug wires attached and you cranking the engine over? Just wanted to clarify.
How old is the gas in the tank, fresh or months old from the previous owner?

You will need to verify fuel pump pressure, there is a chance you might have the pump wired backwards . Verify visually that the Negative terminal of the pump is connected to the ground wire that's in turn bolted to the body pretty close to the pump.
You can always jump Pins 30 and 87 at the Fuel Pump relay to see if the pump is working correctly.

You MAY have washed the cyl rings out a bit with fuel getting down into the engine and it not running, losing compression to some extent, so , getting them to seal again might be as easy as spraying some oil into the cyls with the plugs removed. Then manually turn the engine around a few times, or use the starter to crank the engine with the plugs out.
The NOID light as Robbie suggested is a great tool to have.
Temp sensor 2 can be checked with a multi-meter/ Volt meter on Ohm Scale to see what reading you get through the Sensor.
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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto

[Sodo]

Theres this brilliant thread....

dead van diagnostic tools, wiring bypass
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'90 Westy EJ25, NEW oil rings (!) 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[ilarsen]

[ilarsen]

[?Waldo?]

That plastic hose appears to be the stock lines that all Vanagons came with from the factory. It's actually less of an issue than rubber fuel hose which degrades fairly quickly and needs to be replaced routinely. The plastic lines seem to last forever without degrading. Definitely nothing to do with your starting/running issue.

It would help if you answered all of the questions I asked in my prior post.