[T3] Mystery Miss

[Daniel Nohejl]

Dave, 

You mention the ignition switch which is interesting because about 40% of the time when I turn the key to start the motor the fuel pump will run continuously but the starter does nothing. The idiot lights dim though as I turn the key. Also, today, I had a unique experience…..I turned the key and something in the starter whirred and clicked and clacked but the starter didn’t engage. Related or coincidental?

Daniel




> On May 7, 2016, at 8:25 PM, Dave Hall <dave at hallvw.clara.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> Be careful with the test light wires - the ignition stays live (and unfused)
> whenever the ignition is on.  It's a remote possibility that the miss is due
> to an intermittent ignition switch or connection, but it is possible.  
> 
> I'm not confident you would notice a momentary dimming of the test light on
> a normal bulb between 15 and ground. I wonder if a test light, or maybe an
> LED, wired between terminal 15 and another live connection - say the
> interior light fuse - would remain off until the ignition went off.  That
> way you would see a brief flash, rather than try to spot a momentary
> dimming.  Obviously you would need to disconnect when not running the car.
> 
> If not already done, I think you should check the spark plugs for signs of
> one being sootier than the others.  It might narrow down which cylinder is
> misfiring.
> 
> Dave
> UK VW Type 3&4 Club
> ===================
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: type3-vwtype3.org [mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org]
> On Behalf Of Daniel Nohejl
> Sent: 07 May 2016 22:44
> To: type3 at vwtype3.org
> Subject: Re: [T3] Mystery Miss
> 
> 
>> On 7 May 2016 at 13:54, Phil Hof wrote:
>> 
>>> One electrical FI gremlin I once had, and is easy to miss (no pun
>>> intended) was inside those clear connectors (T1 and T2) that you push 
>>> a female tab connector into and slide onto the male spade.  One 
>>> example is wire 19 (pump signal) on the engine bay; another is the 
>>> head temp sensor connector.  On more than one occasion, I´ve seen 
>>> them pushed into the plastic housing, but instead of being slid OVER 
>>> the male tab, they were slid NEXT TO the tab.  It looked fine on the 
>>> outside if the plastic was yellowed or cloudy, and it would make 
>>> contact, but as temperature and vibration did their thing, it could 
>>> lose contact.
>> 
>> Yeah, I've seen that, too. In fact, the first time I saw this it was 
>> done by a dealer mechanic, so it's not just a novice thing. It's easy 
>> to do wrong if you're in a hurry, but also easy to do right if you're 
>> willing to take the extra time to do the job well.
> 
> I could see that being an issue but we no longer have any of those T1 or T2
> connectors. When communicating with Joe about the harness, there was some
> confusion about the “gender” of the FI harness ends vs the main harness
> ends. We wound up getting a harness with the opposite gender of what we
> needed at wire 19 and at the ECU power wires. While we don’t have those
> plastic connectors, we have all potentially exposed metal covered with
> electrical tape and far away from anything they could contact. 
> 
> I like William’s idea about fashioning a test light for the + side of the
> coil. I’m going to get on that tomorrow!
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