[T3] car died on way home

[Jim Adney]

On 15 Apr 2012 at 14:54, Bryon Garvin wrote:

> > Disconnect the points wire from the coil to prevent damage to the
> > points. With the brain disconnected and the key ON, use a jumper and
> > a small screwdriver to short wire #19 (in the brain connector) to
> > ground. You should hear the pump run.

> Jim, it occurred to me today that when I did this test, I forgot to
> disconnect the points wire.  So........... what's the bad news?  What kind
> of damage have I done?  Do I likely need new points?

Any time you spend a lot of time with the key on and the engine 
stopped, you take a chance on the points being open. This can burn 
them or overheat the coil. For short tests, less than ~3-5 minutes, 
there's no problem, but I like to pull that wire if I think the test 
might run longer.

If the engine happened to stop with the points open there's no chance 
of harm.

> Also, any damage I might have done, would that affect my problem?  The car
> DOES run when I use the priming button.

Then everything's probably fine. In worst case, you might need to 
replace the points a bit sooner, but I doubt if that's even gonna be 
necessary.

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