[T3] The road trip blues

[Jim Adney]

On 25 Aug 2017 at 23:05, Daniel Nohejl wrote:

> 1. The starter has been great but for once.  After a longish interstate
> run at speeds between 75 and 80, we pulled into a rest stop. We spent
> about 10 minutes resting and when we got back to the car, the starter
> didnTMt do anything but click again so we had to push start and it fired
> up right away. The starter has been okay since then, but this suggests we
> should reconnect our hot start relay. 

Sounds like it might be worthwhile reconnecting the relay, but I'm surprised 
that this keeps happening to you. I've never needed one.

Bump starting is not that much of a problem if there are 2 of you, but I know 
you don't want this to happen in NYC when you're driving alone. OTOH, 
you're not that likely to get this hot in normal city driving.

And, like you say, it might just be the ignition switch. I have new ones for 
your '69. Maybe next year....  ;-)

> 2. About 460 miles into our 481 miles, we were cruising along at 60 mph in
> a construction zone when all of a sudden the engine cut out for a second.
> The car lurched forwards and so did we against our seatbelts. It was as
> though weTMd hit a large bump, but there was no bump and I could clearly
> feel in my right foot that the engine just wasnTMt there for a second. In
> the 21 miles since then, all was well. 
> 
> So whatTMs up with that? 
> 
> WeTMve had random non-recurring misfires before and weTMve also had
> misfires that are connectivity related and which recur with a vengeance.
> Is there actually such a thing as a random and oebenign non-recurring
> misfire, or can it actually always be traced to a larger issue?
> 
> So now, for our final 472 miles, I suspect weTMll be a bit on edge
> waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Yeah, I suspect we've all had those "waiting for the other shoe to drop" 
moments. I hate those, but most of them never have a followup event. It 
could be a bubble of water in the gas, or it could be a bit of dirt that fell into 
the ignition or FI points and then fell out.

Let us know how today's drive goes. I'm sure you'll be happy to be home 
again.

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