Abel's Restoration of a 1991 Vanagon Tintop - Pete.

[Abelabelabel]

The Adventure Continues.

After getting a new motor, and a new shifter, Red is still being fussy, culminating in a crank-but-no-start situation last Thursday.


Took the day off work to run errands, and drove the Van around a bit on a hot day. Parked on the street, and got back in vehicle in late afternoon and suddenly no start.

Cranks and rumbles.
No change on Tach.
Doesn't start.


Fuel
Have been paying close attention to my fuel for last few tanks as I've been getting a pretty craptastic mileage, even with a lean driving style on the Manual. Had hoped for results after inflating tires. So, I know there's gas in the tank.

After doing a few starts with buddy on ignition, we're pretty sure that the fuel is getting injected. Noticed a slight fuel smell after a few false starts.

Spark.
I don't have the tools or confidence to really look in to all of this yet.
I did inspect one spark plug which looked brand new. I didn't test the gap because I didn't want to unintentionally change it and then have to match all the plugs, since I only had tools to get to 3 of the 4 plugs. The one under the air filter looked like a biyotch.

I bought a spark tester, but am moving very slowly with my ability to identify components before I shove it in there and look. Spent about 5 hours in the heat with my IPAD and my Bentley, learning the hard way.

ECU ?
This could be a possibility. Has my Digifant turned in to a Digicant?

Hall Sender ?
Haven't gotten this far yet.



Ignition Coil ?

I Tested the wire connecting from ignition coil on both vans, so this seems good. I did notice that the Ignition coil on Red Van has a thicker "spout" that the Bosch wire has an overly snug fit on. I pushed, and pushed but am not sure that the wire is "clicked" in to place. Would a faulty connection from Ignition Coil - to - center of distributor cap cause a crank-no-start?

Corroded wire(s) somewhere?
(Sigh) looking at list of rigourous tests required, I guess it's time to order myself a multi-meter.


Deadlines. . . .

Street Sweeping is tomorrow. So I have this evening to identify the issue before I either get it towed to my local mechanic. . . again. Or I push it in to the driveway awaiting selected parts order.

Anyone local have any tools I can borrow to help with diagnosis in exchange for beers?


I feel good enough to have some sort of expectation when taking the Van in. I have a slight advantage having two vans of similar year, where I can trade some of the more rigorous troubleshooting for some just-in-time mixing and matching to rule things in-or-out.

Gotta love being a VW owner.
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1991 Vanagon GL / Carat Interior / Auto - White "Daily"
1990 Vanagon Carat / manual / Cherry Red "Bella Rouge"

[snowsyncro]

Well, assuming the new engine has good compression, and the starter is in decent shape, it can only be three things. Spark, fuel, timing.

Check the spark first; it is simplest. Get a spark plug; spare or one of the ones in the engine. Connect the plug wire, lay the plug on the engine where it can make a ground connection, crack engine, look for spark.

Check fuel next; smelling it is not enough. Check the spray pattern; Bentley describes this. You can check fuel pressure and volume too, but those will not prohibit a start.

Timing is last. We can deal with that later, when the time is right.

EDIT: And I would push it in the driveway too.

RonC

[Abelabelabel]

Got a multimeter just in time to kill my battery trying to start again. Hah! Neighbors were asleep already, and I was parallel parked pretty tight, so to bed I went.
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL / Carat Interior / Auto - White "Daily"
1990 Vanagon Carat / manual / Cherry Red "Bella Rouge"

[Abelabelabel]

Car got a new feature about 6 weeks ago - a buzzy right turn blinker.
I started by checking / replacing fuses, and eventually decided to investigate.

Okay, time to rewire.

Not pictured: 2 more days to figure out how to re-wire the new (two filament) front turn blinker bulb correctly.

Problem still isn't 100% solved. I believe I have a bridge, or a bad connection on my actual blinker switch. when partially engaged, it's okay, when 100% engaged, it doesn't function at all, or I have to cycle through my brights for the right blinker to blink right.

I stopped when I realized I have no idea how to remove the steering wheel yet.

Grounds are okay. Fuses + relays are okay. I switched relay out with the other van, and it worked fine in other van, and problem persisted in this one.

Oh well.
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1991 Vanagon GL / Carat Interior / Auto - White "Daily"
1990 Vanagon Carat / manual / Cherry Red "Bella Rouge"

[Abelabelabel]

I dig the look of painted stock wheels.

I got this a while ago, and put some decent Hancook tires on the Van.

I got the bare rims, and proceeded to clean, prime, and put 4 layers of paint on them. I'm really happy with the Rattle Can Restoration.

This was a while ago, but don't think I ever put photos up.

I've also decided to change the name of the van to Rusty Pete.
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1991 Vanagon GL / Carat Interior / Auto - White "Daily"
1990 Vanagon Carat / manual / Cherry Red "Bella Rouge"

[Abelabelabel]

Had Pete towed back from EuroPro.

Long story short:

Alternator mount busted and required a specialty tack welder to re-fabricate that whole part of the motor. Lots of hours of labor that I'm not going to go ahead with. $2,500 for repairs on existing high mileage motor on a tin-top base model van.

That's overkill for now. Van was towed back as is to my driveway.

Oh well.

Will continue to restore Red Van, and keep my eye out for a more worthy Vanagon/Eurovan that's worth continuing on with!
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL / Carat Interior / Auto - White "Daily"
1990 Vanagon Carat / manual / Cherry Red "Bella Rouge"