1983 1.9L will not start after sitting a week in the cold

[colecaswell]

Our van was sitting for about a week while we waited for a new starter to arrive. We are in Northern Wisconsin and right after the part was ordered the temperatures dropped to below zero - maxing out at (-25 one morning). Needing warmer conditions to install the new starter we towed and pushed the van into a heated garage to do the repair. Letting the van warm up for almost 24 hrs I easily installed the new starter, cleaned up my tools and went to test start the van. It started right away - ran for a quick few seconds and died before i could add a little gas and try to keep it running. It has not started again.

here is where i am at:
turns over great - new starter is working very well.
tested spark - pulled a plug and watched it spark as ignition was turned.
replaced all spark plugs with back up set as the installed ones where showing age.
replaced fuel filter.
pulled fuel line at gas tank and had steady flow of gas.
tested fuel injectors on the left side - spray pattern etc was normal.
inspected fuel pressure at bleeder port on top of engine - gas wanted to come out (visual inspection only - no actual pressure gauge used)
Inspected Air filer - clean and normal.

Van turns over great - but it will not fire - i am baffled as to what is wrong.
Looking forward ideas or suggestions!
Thanks and Happy New Year!

[WestfaliaMike]

Did you double check plug wires
Orientation after doing the pugs? Possible cracked distributor cap? Rotor?
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1981 Vanagon Westfalia
1983 Vanagon Passanger (Parts Vehicle)
2016 Passat TSI

[dhaavers]

Dump a can of HEET in the tank, try again & report back...

<crosses fingers>

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[DanHoug]

when baffled, go to the basics....

- do you hear the fuel pump run for a second when you turn the key on?

- do you have spark at each plug? leave the plugs in place but pull the plug wire and attach it to another spare plug, type matters not, and lay it against the block.

- do you have fuel coming out of the injectors? this test involves loosening the single bolt (don't snap it off!!!) holding both injectors down, grounding the coil wire so there is no spark, and lifting the injectors up while cranking the engine to see if there's a gas spray. plan on new small end injector seals but you'll be okay just stuffing the injectors back in until they arrive.

-dan

[colecaswell]

Hi,

Thank you for the ideas! Was hopping the van would start fresh this morning - but its doing the same thing - turning over great - no fire.

Checked plug wires - they are in the correct order.

Inspected distributor cap - looks fine.

Tested spark at each wire with old spark plugs - left current plug in place - inserted a different plug and grounded to engine - sparked as it should on all wires.

Tested fuel injectors - as described - ground ignition coil to prevent spark - remove fuel injectors and turn the ignition - watch for spray in a cone shape pattern. did the drivers side yesterday - did the passenger side this morning - all looks as it should.

Fuel pump does go for a minute when key is turned - sorta loud but as it should - I have a spare fuel pump but feel as if this can not be the issue or the engine would start and then die out - also i would not see fuel pressure at the regulator or in the fuel line.

Also watched the tail pipe and inspected for air flow as the engine was being turned over - test showed that air was moving - does not seem like there is any blockage in the exhaust.

Still unsure what is going on - or what it needs to get us back up and moving.

Thanks again for he ideas!

[Wildthings]

Try removing the plug from the AFM and cranking the engine, maybe giving it 1/2 to full throttle and see if it will fire and run for a short bit. If it fires hook the plug on the AFM back up and see if it will now run, it doesn't hurt to give it some throttle.

If you dump any HEET into the tank as suggested use the RED bottle which is isopropyl alcohol and will hold any water in suspension verse just keeping it from freezing while allowing it to build up in the bottom of the tank.

[heidi85ho]

Have a close look at the clamps on the S boot and/or the S boot itself...from afm to throttle body
Make sure there is not a leak
This happened to me once. Van cranked great but would not start
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85 westy-1.9-standard trans, FAS GenV 2.0

[colecaswell]

So i added a gas treatment as suggested (the red one which is isopropyl) also added 2 gallons of fresh gas.

Tried starting with AFM wire unplugged and no luck tried again with the throttle at 1/2 way still nothing.

I will go inspect AFM boot for rips right now.

Is there anyway the old starter or anything on that side of things could have messed up the timing?

Should I be thinking about draining the fuel lines?

Thanks!!!

[Wildthings]

Put a 1000 Watt shop lamp under the rig for now to get the engine warmed up a bit. Hopefully it will start up in a couple of hours.

You could also give it a judicious squirt of ether and see if it will fire.

[colecaswell]

[Abscate]

Even into air horn will work.

For starter work, the most logical mixup would be forgetting to reconnect the AFM connection on the starter so that the fuel pump isn’t triggered.

Snap a pic of your starter wiring so we can see that.
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.ssS!

[colecaswell]

Still no real progress -

heated up the engine as best i could with a light - garage is 52 degrees.

pulled all four plugs and let it sit for a few hours while warm.

check AFM boot for cracks - nothing.

put it back together and tried to start it - no fire.

put very little ether in while starting - nothing.

pulled spark plug and check spark - looked good.

wiring for starter seems self explanatory - main post has two connections - battery and alternator - then third connection from ignition switch etc is in the engine compartment via attached harness - all connections are new.

GW starter.

[DanHoug]

good checks you've done.

you've confirmed spark, and fuel squirting from injectors. lacking compression, which is unlikely, you aren't lighting the fuel being squirted into the engine. so either the plugs are fouled (very likely) or the timing has slipped (unlikely).

at this point i'd burn off your the electrodes of the plugs with a propane torch or preferably try a new set.

-dan

[Ahwahnee]

You've got fuel & spark yet no fire even with ether -- the possibilities of what could be wrong are limited.

[colecaswell]

thank you all for the ideas - I will get new plugs tomorrow first thing and try from there.

just removed the old plugs to let things air out.

double checked the spark plug wires and they are correct to the diagram - I appreciate the encouragement to re-look - wishing that was the problem and fix.

here is a link to a short go at starting:

Link

[colecaswell]

I just installed the new plugs and gave it a go - no improvement. Tried again with a short blast of ether - still nothing.

Does that leave me with a potential timing or computer issues?

Should I explore fuel delivery more - drain the system - or test electrical for the fuel injectors.

I keep going back to the the two main things gas / spark - neither has failed a test - yet it will not fire.

upon first start today it truly almost caught - but did not actually go in the end.

I appreciate the tips and ideas - seems we have a few more days in a warm garage - then maybe move to a shop if I can not make it run - seems moving it back into the cold will only make it worse.

Cheers,
Cole

[Wildthings]

Not sure what is wrong, but maybe try a new cap and rotor. Look carefully at the rotor to see if the resister is burnt up and at the cap to see if the center electrode looks good. For it not to at least back fire on ether says to me you must have a spark problem even if you are getting spark when you check.

Do check your timing statically. Maybe the dog gear on the dizzy shaft wasn't mated with the slot in the drive when the engine was last timed, and now has decided to slip and align with the slot throwing the timing way off.

[colecaswell]

Today I got it to start for a few seconds - twice.

Here is what i did:
undid the ground wire to fuel pump after reading a Samba thread on engine flooding. It took a few turns but the engine caught and ran for a few seconds and then died off. I re-attached the ground wire at the fuel pump and tried to start the van again - no luck - flooded again right away. I then undid the fuel pump ground again and tried to start it up - same result - it fired up - and ran for a few seconds then died - due getting no fuel i would guess.

I then pressurized the fuel line by priming the fuel pump a few times - removed fuel injectors and waited to see if there was any leaking - no dripping etc...

Thinking (hoping) its the Temp 2 sensor - local auto parts store has one so ill grab it and give a try!

[E1]

It could be anything of course, but I'm a firm believer that sudden issues originate with whatever was done right before the issue.

Unhelpful, I know, just a general rule of mine that's helped a few times.
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[shagginwagon83]

My 1983.5 had problems starting. It would huff and puff and sometimes would turn over. Other times it worked great!

The problem turned out to be the Idle Control Unit. Tried bypassing the unit and it fired right up! Haven't had any issues in over 8 months.

It wouldn't hurt to try!
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan