[T3] More weirdness....

[Jim Adney]

On 13 Nov 2010 at 11:18, J. Jonik wrote:

> 71 TIII  FI  

> Car's been more than half decent for a while.  But,  three days ago,
> after a short errand, it took about ten minutes of cranking to get it
> to re-start.  Didn't stall, just wouldn't start.  AND...the same
> symptoms of  earlier problems arose.  Some gas drips out of muffler,
> and, when it started, white smoke cloud.  

It's probably important to verify that it's actually gas that's 
dripping out of the muffler. It's much more likely that it's water, a 
natural byproduct of combustion, with a heavy dose of gas smell. The 
test is simple, but maybe hard to do in the spur of the moment: Just 
see if the stuff mixes with water or not.

> Then, on longer trip on highway, it tried to stall, but kicked back
> in and was ok after.

This all sounds like its old behavior: way too much gas. Have I had a 
chance to check/adjust your FI trigger points?

>  Then, Last night, turned car off while double parked unloading
> stuff....after about a seven mile trip at highway speed with no
> symptoms.   But, this time, car wouldn't even crank. Dead as a
> doornail...with a four day old brand new battery.  Lucky, there was a
> parking spot that opened where I pushed the car.  Tried it two hours
> later and it started fine.  Tried the next morning...started fine. 

I've had problems like this, especially with AT cars, where it 
appears that the heat soak after shutdown caused the resistance of 
the starter solenoid to increase in resistance enough to prevent 
enough current from flowing thru it to cause the solenoid to pull in. 
In this case, the idiot lights on the dash might dim slightly, but 
there would be no sound at all from the starter. Is that what you 
saw?

i've managed to speed up the recovery time by opening the engine 
cover to allow convection to cool things in there faster. This is not 
a common problem, however.

OTOH, if this is an AT car, try wiggling the shift lever slightly as 
you turn the key to START. Problems with the AT neutral safety switch 
are common.

> Question: What Might have caused the no start-No crank effect?   Where
> to even start looking now that it's working? Does this have anything
> to to with the car being warmed up, and then starting fine when it
> cools off?   Maybe starter connections need freshening up?   Other? 

If the starter usually works just fine, your connections must be 
okay. Make sure your battery clamps are ALL the way down on the 
battery posts. DON'T hammer them down! Spread the clamps with a pair 
of screwdrivers until they will slip all the way down, then 
retighten. Don't overtighten. Don't put any excess stress on the 
battery posts themselves.


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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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