[T3] Mystery Miss

[Jim Adney]

On 15 May 2016 at 19:12, Daniel Nohejl wrote:

> We finally got around to getting some better pictures of the ECU power
> wires I mentioned earlier in the week.....the ones which cause the
> engine to miss when jiggled and to cut out when touched together.
> Today, after removing the electrical tape we were insulating with, the
> idle went from smooth to lumpy as one of the connectors in our F-F
> adaptor got loose in the removal process.

Okay, so one of the adaptors was at fault.

> Oddly, with one of the wires
> totally disconnected, the mot?r continued to run on, just not very
> smoothly 

Hmmm, don't know why, unless removing power from the logic puts the 
injectors full open. Can't actually tell without a correct schematic 
for the B brain.

> Here are what the wires from the FI power relay under the back seat
> look like in the engine bay. They´re clean, solid, and show no signs
> of fraying or damage: 
> 
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1505295
> <http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1505295> 

Okay, that clears up the black and white wires. They are 2 wires, 
each white with a black stripe (wht/blk.)  

> Here are the ones on our FI harness, which are also male: 
> 
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1505296
> <http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1505296> 

Okay, long males with locking tabs.

> In the end, we reinstalled the T2 connector and built a smaller
> adaptor between the male ends of the black and white wires and the
> male ends of the FI harness, which are numbered 15 (not 16) and 24: 
> 
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1505297
> <http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1505297> 

Joe must have made a mistake with the 15. If you check it to the 
brain, I'm sure it must come to position 16 (or 24.) Position 15 is 
ground.

> We insulated the exposed brass with electrical tape because we´re not
> convinced this is a permanent fix. What I really want to do is change
> the ends of the FI harness to female and run them directly into the
> connector without an adaptor. It seems that the weak link in our set
> up is the adaptor and how the wires bend. The bending causes the
> connectors to get tugged slightly off each other and?to make less firm
> contact which I think is our issue¦..short or long losses of power
> which cause the bucking or cutting out. 

It's got to be a bad crimp problem. Sideways strain will be hard on 
the wire in the long run, but no amount of gentle wiggling should 
affect the spade contact unless the F end is stretched and isn't 
tight on the M. Are all 4 of your F ends tight on the tabs?

> I also want to go back to factory with our wire 19 (fuel pump ground)
> set up. I have the T1 connector but I need a new one of these
> connectors. Does anyone have any they´d be willing to sell? 
> 
> https://www.belmetric.com/noninsulated-connectors-c-19_164_200/e308-uni
> nsulated-male-spade-with-tab-p-1403.html?zenid=9hm3vqlg5ovu7or1tnu4og80
> l2
> <https://www.belmetric.com/noninsulated-connectors-c-19_164_200/e308-un
> insulated-male-spade-with-tab-p-1403.html?zenid=9hm3vqlg5ovu7or1tnu4og8
> 0l2> 

That's a long M with locking tab. I THINK I have a couple of them. 
I'm willing to part with just 1. Yes, they are hard to find. I should 
try to buy several. You should know that different makers (AMP, 
Molex, Panduit, 3M, etc) put the locking tab in different places, so 
they won't always intermix. I tried the locking male that I have with 
a T1 shroud that came from VW and it was right, but I can't PROMISE 
that it will work with the one you have. VW may have changed 
suppliers at some time, although they show these parts as available 
spares, so one would hope that all their parts would work together.

Glad to hear that you seem to have found the light at the end of the 
tunnel.  ;-)

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