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81 air cooled idles fine, dies under load
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taylora
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:12 pm    Post subject: 81 air cooled idles fine, dies under load Reply with quote

I have an 81 air cooled. It was running fine and then it started dying under load. It will start right up and idle OK. When I rev it up in park it will run really rich and bog down through most of the acceleration. If I slowly bring up the gas it runs better. As soon as I try to drive it, it just bogs way down and wants to die. Air flow and gas flow have been tested and check out. New points, condenser, plugs, wires, cap, air temp. sensor, etc....all the "easy stuff". I am wondering if the ignition might be grounding or arching out under load (any way of testing besides carbon tracks?) or if the afm is bad. I am getting inconsistent ohm readings and the carbon track does look worn but heard that can happen and I am not ready to fork over the $200 just to check it. I am running out of options here!

Thanks!
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M_atthewanderson
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That sounds like the AFM. I've had the same situation on mine twice. First time i bought a used one, worked for a while but went out again. I've had my current one for around 7 years now. There is a test you can do to check it with your multimeter.

P24.9 in the Bentley manual,

I got this off of ratwell.com

http://www.ratwell.com/mirror/potts/index.html
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1980 2.0 Sunroof Vanagon
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taylora
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did run the test to check for resistance between the pins. The numbers fluctuated more than it should. The numbers went kind of haywire. I tried cleaning/ adjusting it without luck! I don't know what else it could be!
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daroota
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or, check the intake boot for cracks and tears. It's quick, it's easy, and it got me good out of the blue one day!
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1982 Westy-Air Cooled, Fuel Injected, 4 Speed Manual
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taylora
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the responses! It turns out it was the AFM sensor. I started her up with the sensor cover off. I noticed that if I gently pushed the potentiometer out of the "dead spot", it idled much better. So, I moved the enrichment setting so that that the potentiometer was out of the dead spot while idling. It runs and drives now and provided a temporary solution until I can get a new one! I took her (Butter) on her first shake down cruise. Did 250 miles! Go Butter!
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daroota
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 12, 2015 11:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You may be able to repair your AFM.

I repaired mine. Disassembled it cleaned out any debris, used a pink eraser across the circuit and swiping arm tip. Unscrewing the connector and making sure you have better contact on the points.

Many how too's.

At least until you can get another, or a spare.
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