[T3] Started after seven years, now what?

Jacob Adam Schroeder jacob.schroeder at gmail.com
Mon Aug 27 14:20:00 PDT 2012


Hi Jim,

I will try taking those measurements this afternoon and report back on my
findings.  In the meantime, my year is 1972 and yes, FI.  It used to run
fine 7 years ago, so I think it will be a matter of finding what has
decided to bite the dust in the intervening 7 years of sitting in a
garage/barn.  Or, finding something that was causing only minor problems
before and that has now gotten worse.

Jacob

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 12:58 PM, Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:

> On 27 Aug 2012 at 7:30, Jacob Adam Schroeder wrote:
>
> > The car still starts up (first crank, usually), but it is a challenge to
> > keep it idling. It sounds like it is running on all 4, with the
> occasional
> > miss and the engine eventually slows down until it dies.  I can give it
> > some gas, which works to warm it up.  If I give it just a little gas, it
> > usually stalls out and dies.  If I floor it and keep the gas at
> > mid-throttle, it revs nicely and idles just fine at that high RPM (no
> > misses).
> >
> > After warming it up, I've had it idle for a minute or so, whereby I shut
> it
> > down myself.  I have got this to only occur once or twice.
>
> Remind us of the year, please.
>
> I'm assuming FI.
>
> A few things to check:
>
> 1) Connect a voltmeter between ground and the red wire that comes out
> of the "firewall" and plugs into the fuel pump relay. It should have
> no voltage on it when the engine is stopped, and should have 12-14 V
> any time the engine is running. If you see that voltage drift down,
> below 12 V, while the engine is running, you may have found your
> problem.
>
> 2) Get a pressure gauge good for 30 or 50 psi. Connect it to the fuel
> pressure test port on the engine, and watch it while the engine is
> running. It should show a constant 28-30 psi any time the engine is
> running.
>
> 3) With the engine running, gently push on the injector connectors,
> up or down. Can you make the engine run better by doing this?
>
> 4) Pump some gas out of the test port, into a glass container, and
> let it settle. Is there water in there?
>
> 5) If nothing else seems to help, consider sending the distributor to
> me to be rebuilt. This may not help, but there are several things in
> there that can go wrong, so knowing this part is good removes one
> more variable from the problem. This costs $50, plus shipping and any
> major parts, if necessary (usually not needed.)
>
> --
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************
>
> _______________________________________________
> VWType3.Org mailing list - type3 at vwtype3.org
> http://lists.vwtype3.org/listinfo.cgi/type3-vwtype3.org
> Contact gregm at vwtype3.org if you need help with the list.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.vwtype3.org/private.cgi/type3-vwtype3.org/attachments/20120827/adfce465/attachment.htm>



More information about the type3-vwtype3.org mailing list