1982 Vanagon ~ no spark

[jimborenovich]

howdy,
Im trying to get an aircooled late model vanagon to spark.I pulled the motor and rebuilt the top end and con. rod bearings It had dropped a valve and beat up the #2 cylinder.Anyway its back together and installed and all the wiring and fuel & vaccum hoses are hooked up.

I`ve worked on these vehicles for years(since 1963) and was a line mechanic at various shops in both Nor-cal and earlier I worked in a dealership in So-cal. so I`m fairly knowledgeable but this one has me stumped.It has a `Hall unit` with the pickup window which I suspected was the culprit but I spoke with a technician and he said to test it by applying a test wire from the center wire on the hall unit plug harness and with` key on ignition` to ground that wire and see if a spark pops from the coil.This test he said will confirm that the hall unit is ok.I did this test and yes, I got a healthy spark but when I hook everything back up and crank the engine I get no spark from the coil or the spark plugs.The ignition wiring,cap,rotor are all new and Ive checked all the grounds,double relay and `fairchild` unit hookups and they`ve all been cleaned and secured.I also disconnected and plugged the ignition stabilizer module plugs together that is done to initially set the timing
ok.NO REPLY'S.Can I ask one simple questio??.Does the brown ground wire from the fairchild unit wiring harness connect to the #1 coil primary or is it grounded to the BODY ??? Anyone with this vehicle should be able to see this.

Thank you for any feedback... :James Johnson

[jimborenovich]

still no spark

[Abscate]

James - the small wires at the Hall unit on the distributor are a weak spot with age - look those over carefully for breaks.
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.ssS!

[MarkWard]

Take a simple 12 volt testlight and ground it. With the distributor harness unplugged, probe one of the outer terminals of the plug and then the center. Coil should spark. Now probe the other outer and then the center. Coil should fire again. Repeat a few times. If this produces a spark each time, the problem is with the hall affect in the distributor. Not sure about direct grounding anything related to engine management. The 12 volt test light is a safer method.
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[jimborenovich]

I’ve changed the ‘hall unit’ twice. The Fairchild once.
When I pulled the motor I disconnected that ground wire and I’m not certain if I took off the wire from the coil or if it’s grounded to the body? The coil has a pulsed signal not the body ground. That’s why I’m concerned. I don’t want to damage the electronics it’s expensive.

[Wasted youth]

Did you get this resolved? I am trying to help a neighbor with what seems to be the same problem...

[jimborenovich]

i figured out the problem.As usual it was a simple overlook.
after a month or two of frustration and costly parts I found that the spark was interrupted by the connector pins in the harness that plugs into the hall unit on the distributor.I was constantly `stabbing` the pins to check continuity and measure current from the `fairchild unit`and was moving the pins away from the plug so there was no contact and NO SPARK.I simply took a heavy probe and re positioned the the pins. I plugged it in and the thing fires EVERY TIME.
So if all the components check out ok and the grounds are good I would definitely check that harness going from the fairchild to the distributor and make sure it has good continuity. Some good contact spray and di-electric grease would help also.Hope this solves your issues