[T3] Cylinder Performance

[Mike Fisher]

So, you have wonderful JimA rebuilt spark plug wires and you're NOT
using them!  ;-(

On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 11:10 AM, Adriel Rowley
<adriel_rowley at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------
>> From: jadney at vwtype3.org
>> To: type3 at vwtype3.org
>> Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 06:34:10 -0500
>> Subject: Re: [T3] Cylinder Performance
>>
>> On 17 Jun 2011 at 18:00, Adriel Rowley wrote:
>>
>> > Pulled number three and was fouled: black as coal.  Wire wheeled it,
>> > and reinstalled.
>>
>> Cleaning a spark plug with a wire brush will leave metal tracks on
>> the insulator which will often allow the spark to go to ground along
>> the surface of the insulator rather than jumping the gap. You might
>> want to replace that plug now, or swap it with a different cylinder
>> to see if the problem moves.
>>
> Good to know about the brush, but I used a wheel, which if I understand
> correctly, is fine to do.  Why could I not clean it?
>
> I use a wire wheel as it cleans the spark plug, rather than having it
> take up landfill space. ;)  Is there a better way to clean them?
>
>> > Checked four, and was clean as it was when I put it in less than 25
>> > miles ago (unknown hours though).  Therefor, figured number three must
>> > be getting too much fuel,
>>
>> Black plugs usually mean that the cylinder is not firing at all. This
>> would be due to lack of spark, lack of fuel, or lack of compression.
>> Check the resistance of all 4 SP wires.
>>
> It was not firing prior to cleaning.  I thought fouling was do to over
> richness of the mixture, thus why I changed the fuel injector.  So, we
> now know we have fuel.  Will check compression, but my meter cannot
> measure wire resistance for some reason.  I do have the wonderful spark
> plug wires you rebuild for me, but so nice I put them in a safe place...
>
>> > checked number three injector beside four.  Got a bit of a stream
>> > rather than number four's fog.  So, swapped to another injector but
>> > did not test, ASSuming it was fine.  However, with engine running,
>> > still is not quite right.  Pulled the number three spark plug wire
>> > from the distributor cap, I get about half the response as I do from
>> > the others.  I do notice the spark is brighter than before, but hard
>> > to be sure in bright light.  I am now thinking after all the sitting
>> > with gasoline the injector did in its life, might need cleaning.  So
>> > sending out a set to be tested and cleaned, since I have heard this
>> > strong recommendation many times but thought all was fine.  Lesson
>> > learned: prevent rather than fix.
>>
>> In 40 years, I don't think I've ever had to replace an injector due
>> to a bad spray pattern, only due to leaking gas externally. If you're
>> having spray pattern problems, it makes me think that you've either
>> got dirt getting in there or water that's causing rust. Make sure
>> your overflow hose is good, or repaired, and change your fuel filter.
>>
> Overflow is good, however water could have been in the tank.  Here in
> the land of Socialism and wacko tree huggers, they put corn in the fuel.
> I get a great magazine called "Skinned Knuckles", and one of the
> articles was discussing how the ethanol absorbs water, then gets
> saturated to the point where the fuel then has water in it.  This can
> happen as the fuel cap sealing ring is dried out and also in a moist
> climate being by the coast.  The fuel was over a year old, but no
> longer drain fuel as there is no way to dispose of it other than adding
> it to the drained oil to be recycled.  The time I did that, they
> wondered why the oil smelled so bad but I just laughed and left; could
> have been an issue. I did have an improvement in performance when I put
> fresh fuel in.  I did take Bob's advice and put in fuel dryer/cleaner,
> but have not driven it since, though thinking I will today (been paying
> bills long distance).
>
> Sunday I will be at Oma's house for Father's day, so will round up all
> the fuel injectors and send them off to be cleaned to be sure all rust
> is removed.  Plus, then can be sure flow rates are within proper range
> of each other, especially the rebuilt units (you had mentioned prior
> they may be an issue so going to just get flow rate measured).
>
> What should I do in the future to prevent the fuel getting moister in
> it?  The last time I looked in the tank a couple years ago, there was
> some rust.  Will this be an issue in the future?
>
>> Your injectors should all be BOSCH with yellow bodies and part number
>> ending in 007.
>>
> They are 007, as I checked when I get them.  If they are not, I would have
> tossed them (no one wanted the L-Jetronic injectors).  Might have some
> early black bodies, I.I.R.C..
>
>> > My question is how much of an affect does variations in spray (already
>> > know what streaming does) have on cylinder performance, i.e.
>> > variations of fine atomization.
>>
>> I've never seen the spray pattern be very important. Since the spray
>> just goes onto the intake valve, the combustion chamber never sees
>> that pattern. My guess is that the pattern might have more to do with
>> cold starts in cold weather but becomes irrelevant once the intake
>> valve warms up.
>>
> I thought the chamber at one point does see the pattern: thank you for
> clarifying this.  Cold starts is the same answer I got on theSamba.  It is
> the time where I am doing my observations.  Was a bit nervous to drive it
> out of perfect tune.
>
>> > Also, what about spark plug gap?  I am using the disk gapper, so
>> > thinking I could be in the range of 28 to 30 thousandths, and do not
>> > know if this is something to be aware of.
>>
>> Try reducing the gap a bit, to more like .024". Sometimes the larger
>> gaps make it more likely that the spark will "leak" out somewhere
>> else before it gets to the plug.
>>
> For some reason, I thought the gap was 0.028...  Will close it down.
>
>
>
> Thank you so very much!
> Adriel
>
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