[T3] 72 Square Fuel injected (not cranked in 25+ years)

Jim Adney jadney at vwtype3.org
Tue Nov 11 14:53:50 PST 2014


On 10 Nov 2014 at 11:27, Shane Hughes wrote:

> Folks, the 72 Square (manual trans.) I recently acquired has been idle for
> the last 25+ years. New to FI on VW´s, so not sure where to start to see
> where I am at with this engine. Injection system appears to be complete.
> Thinking to start by checking the wiring and sensors per the Idiot manual.
> Is this the best place to start? I know the fuel system will need a
> complete cleaning, as well as the pump. Any advice and help will be
> appreciated. I have owned quite a few Type 1´s over the years, so will
> tackle the engine mechanical issues separately.

Shane, welcome to our little Type 3 world. Yes, you'll find this to 
be quite different from the Beetles you've worked with before. Some 
of us like to think of Type 3s as VWs with the bugs worked out.  ;-)

You've gotten several good responses to your request already, so I'll 
just try not to repeat.

Once you get a battery in the car, turn the key ON. You should hear a 
relay click as the key goes ON and another click about 1 second 
later. If you hear both of these clicks, it means that much of the FI 
system is working properly. If you don't hear both clicks, you have 
troubleshooting to do before the FI will run.

Between the 2 clicks, you should hear the electric fuel pump, under 
the gas tank, run. You may need a second person to listen for this; 
the best place to listen is next to the RF tire. If you don't hear 
the pump run, then there's an electrical or fuel pump problem.

It's probably worth taking the gas tank sender out of the tank and 
looking down in there to see if it's real rusty inside the tank. If 
it is, you may need to clean things up before you start. You could 
also drain some gas out of the bottom of the tank, into a glass 
container, just to get an idea of how clean it looks, or if there is 
water that collects in the bottom.

Whatever you find in the gas tank, DO NOT let anyone talk you into 
coating the inside of the tank with a "sealer" of any kind. These 
sealers may work well in simple tanks, but in the FI tanks they plug 
up some small passages that will eventually lead you to search for an 
unmolested tank.

BTW, your '72 requires a special one year only procedure for doing 
the ignition timing. ONLY the big Bentley manual gets this right. 
Note that the '72 distributor has an advance/retard vacuum can which 
MUST have a functioning retard part to be able to tune this engine 
correctly. Unfortunately, the retard side of that can is often 
broken. I have replacements, but they are expensive.  

Good luck and keep us posted. We're here to help.

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