77 Fuel Injected Bay - Engine cuts out as engine warm up...

[thechief68]

Greetings All

My first camping trip is coming up Jun 13 and I have had this intermittent issue with my 77 West crop up recently. Let me explain:

Setup:
1977 Westfalia
2.0L Fuel injected engine (original stock)
- fully rebuilt in 2019 with maybe 1000 miles on it
Automatic transmission (orginal stock)
Distributor setup on bench with new points/condensor/rotor/cap
Timing set to 7.5 BTDC
Valves adjusted to spec
Fuel injector were recently refurbished
LM2 AFR shows I am running lean (may needs some pointers on how to adjust)


Cold Startup:
Engine ususally starts without having to provide shot of ether
I suspect this is because the cold start injector is adding more fuel to the mix

Warm Start - sometimes requires shot of ether:
Typically happens in the Home Depot parking lot...
I suspect this is because I am running lean (but want to fix that)

Warm Engine - while driving, engine cuts out
Happened twice last summer (and then I stopped driving it)

1st time
- driving up hill returning home from work
- engine cut-out (no sputter or misfires... just engine cut-out)
- tried to start (without ether, with ether)... she was cranking just not igniting
- South African dude pulled me onto side street... gave me a ride home
- when I returned with tools 30 minutes later, tried to start (without ether) and she fired up and drove home

At that point,
- I pulled the distributor, setup/cleaned on the bench,
- re-adjusted values to 0.006 in
- re-installed distributor, reset timing 7.5 BTDC , dwell was around 42 degrees
- drove around the block and all seemed fine

2nd time - a couple of days after the tune up
- decided to take a trip to the ice cream store a mild summer day in Vancouver, BC (5 minutes from my house)
- got to the ice cream store
- started back up (no problem) and proceeded to take a ride Victoria Street (5 minutes from the ice cream store)
- engine cuts out at intersection (again no sputter or misfire, just cut)
- drop a couple of f-bombs, push it out of the intersection
- drop a couple mf-boms, sit pondering what could be the problem
- coil feels hot so try to cool it down (by the way I have a collection of 8 coils because when this has happened in the past, I would also put in a new coil)
- let things set for maybe 15 minutes, then try to start and tada she starts
- proceed to take side roads home
- and about every 3 stop sign, engine cuts out
- then I wait for 10-15... and tada engine starts
- repeated that process and 4-5 time but did make it home without a tow


So that's my long winded description of my problem... looking for some ideas as to ways to diagnose this intermittent thermal issue
- could it be fuel pump or fuel filter rated?
- could it be ECU related (I have an ECU from a 78 Automatic that I will swap in)
- could it be a vacumm leak? if so what the best way to test
- could it be ignition switch related?

Any words of wisdom from this community would be greatly appreciated!
_________________
1977 & 78 Westfalia
2.0L Automatic

[SGKent]

first do not use ether. You may damage the engine. Use some Berryman's B12 spray if you want something canned that works well.

You say it happened before and you swapped coils. I would guess you never fixed the original problem. You might want to consider the following

1) do a smoke test and fix all leaks
2) 3 things are needed for an engine to run. Air to fuel, spark and compression. Any one of the three could be at fault here including valves that need proper adjustment. The gap lessens as an engine warms up to it is possible in this instance for compression to be a part. Memorize these three things that are needed. You will need to figure which one or combination is missing when the engine does not run.
3)use an inductive timing light to see if you have spark when it dies.
4) Use a noid light to see if the injectors are flashing. You only need to test one because they all work together at the same time.
5) test for fuel pressure to make sure that is not missing. Listen for the fuel pump to run. If it isn't running there is no chance of fuel pressure. Make sure the filter for the pump is new and not clogged
6) Fix your original thread to say 1977 not 1997. If it is a 1997 engine then you may be in the wrong forum.
7) You can run a compression test if all else fails

Good luck.
_________________
Canned Water - the new California approved parts cleaner (except in a drought in which case rub it with sand).

George Carlin:
"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it."

Skills@EuroCarsPlus:
"never time to do it right but always time to do it twice"

1971 deluxe (sold)
1977 deluxe

[thechief68]

Thanks for the advice @SGKent...

I swapped out the ECU... feels like it's running better. Made it to the pool and back without incident.

Would like to rule out vacumm leaks... my search couldn't find any hits on "smoke test"... do you know of any how to's out there?
_________________
1977 & 78 Westfalia
2.0L Automatic

[dodger tom]

some light reading.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?searc...=titleonly
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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[Clatter]

My first go-to with all things FI related is check the grounds.

Especially check that TSII is grounding very well.
Chased that one forever....!

Same symptoms as yours;
Random no-run.
_________________
Bus Motor Build

I have excellent news for the world...
There is no such thing as patina.
It does not exist!