I don't need this right now, F.I. issues

[Randy in Maine]

[VW_Jimbo]

I am thinking you may have two issues going on at the same time. The clicking relay sounds like a broken connection at some point in the system. I saw first hand the bent wiper arm job Roby did and that may be the issue now. Maybe that has lead to some other area of concern. In my years, I have never seen anyone bend that wiper arm in that way. Scary stuff! Maybe one of those bends have broken and when cold it is okay, the contacts are closed. But when everything warms up, that point expands and loses contact. That would be my first item to check, after doind a really good visual inspection, followed by a fuel filter R and R.

Did you just recently fill the tank? I have seen bad gas cause similar issues. Might want to verify the quality of the fuel by draining some of it and inspecting it. Again, I have seen some stations dispense the equilvalent of muddy slime out of the tank, when it gets low and it causes your exact syptoms. Plugs the fuel filter immediately, causing very little fuel through, making for a very low idle, which means the AFM does not hold the fuel pump contacts closed, which makes for clicking at the relay!

Also, check out the AAV, auxillary air valve. It may be stuck open or partially open, causing a lean issue. But it does not account for the clicking.
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[scdevon]

Does this system use a 5 pin micro switch on the throttle body for the idle position?
You say the symptoms appear and disappear when tipping the throttle in and out of idle which made me think of that first. I had one of those 5 pin Bosch micro switches go intermittent once and it caused all kinds of weirdness because the control unit thinks the engine is idling even when the throttle plate is open.
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1970 Beetle 1600 DP

[KKiley]

Ok guys, I found the issue.The fuel pump wire, 88b I think, was barely connecting by just strands of the wire. When I attached the dual relay to the EC, so water would not run down the wires into the DR and ruin it.it stretched the wire and almost broke it.

Cleaned up the connection and also upped the idle just a titch and we are good to go. No more bucking and kicking back and the clicking is gone.

Thanks for everyone's input. I really did not want to unload this car after shipping it and still have a problem.

Kevin
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1978 Super Beetle convertible

Click to view image

[busdaddy]

Good to hear you beat it, nice work!

Good luck with the move.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
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[KKiley]

Well. that repair didn't last long. Drove it for a week and a half in CA, no problems.
Took it off the trailer here in Indiana and it starts cutting out again after 10 minutes, just like before.
Going to check the DR wiring again and make sure everything is tight. Next step is going to get the fuel pressure gauge from Orielly's and rig it up so I can see it while driving and confirm whether I have a fuel pressure issue or not.
Already miss having a garage, lol
Kevin
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1978 Super Beetle convertible

Click to view image

[Randy in Maine]

Before you spend any real money on this thing, try grounding out the TSII and see if that helps. It is free to do.

[KKiley]

Fricken DR fuel pump wire came loose again. Going to stop at Harbor Freight tomorrow and buy a solder kit and fix it right....
_________________
1978 Super Beetle convertible

Click to view image

[VW_Jimbo]

[KKiley]

This car may be parked a while before I can figure this out, The DR wire is fixed and not the issue. Here are the symptoms:

Runs for about 10 minutes and then starts cutting out under load. We could smell gas when it was running, so it appeared to be rich.

One strange thing that happened, when I opened the engine cover, the hose that connects to the AAR gets pinched by the lid and the engine died. I tried it several times and every time that hose gets pinched, it dies, It never did this before.

I will try to ground the Temp SensorII and see what that does. This AAR situation is new. Otherwise, I am out of ideas.

Thanks for some input.
Kevin
_________________
1978 Super Beetle convertible

Click to view image

[KKiley]

Well, today, I soldered all the connections I had spliced into on the DR when I had to wire around the issue Robby caused. His little handy work has cost me over $360 and countless hours recovering from bending the AFM arm.

I also pulled the AAR and got my heat gun out and found that it was stuck open. Some cleaner and adjustment on that nut and it is back to opening and closing correctly.

Of course, I cannot find my voltage meter after the move, so gonna have to buy one. I want to test that temp sensorII and see what kind of readings it is showing. Will also try grounding it out.

It did run much better today, but it still was missing out some after a while. Not near as bad as before, but the issue is still there. I have a new fuel filter coming in the morning and gonna put in the rest of the Heet in the gas. I still have in the back of my mind I got a bad batch of gas for this to come on so sudden.
Thanks
Kevin
_________________
1978 Super Beetle convertible

Click to view image

[KKiley]

This car is possessed. Never again will the words :This car is running great" be spoken again. Only "this car is running great RIGHT NOW" lol.

Beyond bizzare. I changed the fuel filter and tried to check some ohms and voltage with a new VOM meter that I bought from Oreilly's, and that thing turned out to be a POS. Completely unusable. The quality of tools these days are such junk. I would have been better with the free one from Harbor Freight, lol

While I was tinkering with the engine lid up, I removed the air filter cover and the car died. I thought that was strange. I out it back on, had it running, went to remove it again and it died. The wiring to the AFM is fine, I tried wiggling anything I could think of, no changes.

I left the air filter off and took it for a drive. Runs perfect. Went ahead and ran some duct tape around the air filter to hold it in place and drove it out to my sisters, about 15 miles, didn't miss a beat.

What in the world putting the actual cover back on would make it run terrible is beyond me. It must be putting pressure on something, but I can't find it...I am out of CA, so emissions are a thing of the past now, lol

I just want to be able to drive it, so mission accomplished..
Kevin
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1978 Super Beetle convertible

Click to view image

[busdaddy]

A broken wire in the harness or a breather leak somewhere are my first two suspects.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[Max Welton]

This is sounding like a car that need its electrics gone through.

Max
_________________
1967 Type-3 Fastback
Under the Knife https://shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=151582
Home Stretch https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=767836

[VW_Jimbo]

is the air filter snorkle plugged with some sort of obstruction? I know it is a stupid question, but......

Also, when yoy put the cover on, does the afm touch something it should not, like the batteryy post on the alternator? Or is it streching the ground wires on the alternator causing an open?

Something is changing right there.
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[KKiley]

I am fairly confident that it is a wire heating up and losing contact while running. I suspect it is somewhere in the AFM circuit, fuel pump and dual relay wiring, as that is the area that Robbie hosed up on my car. The wiring was perfect BR (before Robbie).

The engine lid rubs the air filter assembly when you open and close it. When it died before, I thought it was because it was pinching the vacuum line coming from the decel valve. Now I know it was from the lid hitting the cover and moving the AFM just enough for the wiring to be compromised some way.
Once I buy a new VOM I can do more testing.

Thanks
Kevin
_________________
1978 Super Beetle convertible

Click to view image

[KKiley]

well, the good news is that I drove the car for a cpl of hours today and not a single issue. It was worst when you shifted into second, kept waiting for it, never happened. Hard to get rid of that feeling of dread and having it return.

This is all related to letting Asiab3 touch my car. He shorted out my DR and I have hundreds of hours and $$$ trying to fix his mess. Here I am almost a year later and still need to fix it. I guess I get what I payed for, which was nothing. His favor was a major catastrophe for me.
I am pretty sure the compromised wires are to and from the AFM on the fuel pump side. One of them got hot and I think it is breaking down while running. I might run a new wire for that one to take it out of the equation.

At least I can drive the car for now.
Thanks
Kevin
_________________
1978 Super Beetle convertible

Click to view image

[Max Welton]

One thing that can help restore that confidence is to methodically go through the entire electrical system checking continuity and cleaning connections.

Max
_________________
1967 Type-3 Fastback
Under the Knife https://shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=151582
Home Stretch https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=767836