[T3] Endless Problems...
Bobsnotch at aol.com
Bobsnotch at aol.com
Sat Dec 4 20:11:43 PST 2010
In a message dated 12/4/2010 5:51:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
j_jonik at yahoo.com writes:
It SEEMS to not like being accelerated. Again...it idles just fine, very
regular. Is THAT a clue to some suspect part(s) or adjustments?
I Will change solenoid with one in my collection. Is there any way a
sticky or otherwise bad solenoid can cause a car to stall...or do that
fluttering thing? I thought solenoid was about starting only. Yes? No? Do you
even need one if you can pop start the car by rolling all the time?
IF the recently replaced No. 3 injector isn't as good as it seemed as per
spray test (uninstalling, turning engine by hand, checking spray), could
THAT, just one bad injector, cause the fluttering symptom and stalling?
Wouldn't I just be running on three cylinders?
Did Volt Regulator test, across battery, last week. (Engine running,
warmed up.) Looking for 14.0 or 14.5 or so volts. The three VRs I tried
uniformly all got just 10.30 v reading or so, once up to 11.00 volts.
I THINK I set the VOM right....in the "V" range, the one with symbol of
three lines with a longer one on top (NOT the one with the ~ symbol. (That
setting did nothing anyway.) I set VOM in the 20 v range, as the other
higher and lower settings got readings that looked nothing like 14.00 or even
10.30 v.)
So, I have about six or so VRs left to check. Battery is only about a
month old. Is this on the right track to MAYBE solving the performance
problems? IF ALL My spare voltage regulators get that uniform lower reading
would be weird and unlikely, no?
OR...can some other component cause that low reading?
Again...main symptom is that fluttering, as IF gas isn't nicely flowing,
which then suddenly clears up with nice rev of power and acceleration again.
Fuel pump? Either of the relays? (Filter is relatively new.) One or
both of temp sensors? Pressure sensor?
Have you checked the fuel pressure while driving down the road? I'm only
asking, because part of your problem sounds like fuel pressure, and the other
part sounds like low voltage.
Check all of your voltage regulators, and make a pile out of ALL of those
that read below 13.9 volts, and a second pile of those that read above 13.9
volts. Then use only those above 13.9 volts for your testing. Check the
voltage at the battery terminals at medium RPMS. Those below 13.9 are only
good for carbed engines for another couple of years before they die. Jim and I
had this very discussion at the 2010 Type 3 Invasion, and I had to learn
the hard way for myself when my 7 year old used VR died in the garage
after a 900+ mile trip that day. It quit with no warning, other than the dash
light being on after I shut the car off.
The next thing you want to do, is run a hose from the fuel pressure tap on
the 3-4 side of the engine to a fuel pressure gauge (inside the car so you
can see it while driving), and watch the pressure from start until it dies.
A simple gauge can be made for less than 20 bucks using a water pressure
gauge from Lowe's or Home Depot. Get one with a max of 60 PSI, as that puts
the reading you want in the center, where it's the most accurate. you might
need a couple of fittings to adapt it to the hose, so get them while
you're there for some 5/16ths hose. Pressure SHOULD stay rock solid at 28 to 32
PSI. It should NOT change at all. Anything below 28 PSI is too low (and
will run rich), and anything above 32 PSI is too high (will run lean, or
possibly rich depending on the tune up of the engine). If the pressure drops at
any time more than 2 psi (while running), then you have an issue. Make a
note of anything that was going on (that you did, like take off from a stop
sign or something) at the time the pressure dropped. This can be a sign that
the pump is getting weak, or an injector is bleeding off, or something
else is going on that's fuel pressure related.
In my case, it turned out that low voltage was causing my problem. Jim
suggested I install a volt meter to read battery voltage, and record the
reading from start to finish on my 8 mile loop. It turned out that after 4 miles
my "old used" voltage regulator couldn't supply the required voltage for
the system to run properly (it would drop off to below 13.6 volts and the
car would stumble and generally run like crap). A new VR fixed it, as now the
voltage doesn't drop below 14.1 volts which IS a system requirement. I
however ran the fuel pressure test prior (like I described above) just to rule
out a possible fuel supply problem, and found none. But BOTH tests were
needed.
I hope this helps.
Bob 65 Notch S with sunroof and IRS (Krusty)
71 Notch (Krunchy)
64 T-34 Ghia (Wolfie)
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