Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 21:18:36 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: stalling problem when van is running for about 5 minutes.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
all right Bart,.....
if you're getting into it deeply like that upgrading the internals of your AFM ..........way to go !
when you say
"the van stalls if left idling or if driven' .......
that sounds like a simple won't idle problem possibly.
is it that it won't idle, it idles weakly, or intermittently it won't idle, or it looses power and shuts down while driving ?
The latter I suspect, near as I can tell.
like when driving it 'shuts off' or no reason....
or ..........different scenario .......it doesn't 'shut off' so much as it just looses power and barely runs.
For sure, if it mysteriously looses power and turning it off and back on fixes it for a while.....
you think of that capacitance thing in the AFM.
there is also the old trick of grounding the AFM with a wire to the block.
Don't know if that helps , but I've seen it done on a few vanagons.
Plane old bad AFM comes to mind too.
let us know what you find .
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: Bart Prinsen
To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans
Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 8:57 PM
Subject: Re: stalling problem when van is running for about 5 minutes.
thanks for the info.
the van stalls if left idling or if driven. i try to let it warm up gently when i start it.
the vacuum hoses all look ok from what i can tell.
i did a google search and a bit of reading and i think it would be worthwhile to solder a capacitor into the AFM to function in the same way as the aftermarket wiring harness from vw.
thanks again for the help. much appreciated!
bart
On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 5:55 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
All vacuum hoses must be intact and connected properly. Period.
Not hard to check, and can cause all sorts of symptoms. though not likely yours here.
sounds like 'vanagon syndrome' to me.
that is ..............it runs, it looses power, you shut it off, it starts up and is ok until it does it again.
IF ..........if everything is fully up to spec, and very dialed in, and you have this going on ......
it could be genuine Vanagon Syndrome ( goggle it , or wikipedia ) .
there is an adapter harness that goes between the air flow meter and the standard main EFI harness.
most 2.1 vanagons have on on them already.\
when you say this :
When I start it up and have it running for about 4 or 5 minutes, my van
stalls. '
Do you mean DRIVING for 4 or 5 minutes, or do you mean sitting there and idling 4 or 5 minutes.
I CAN NOT recommend enough against just letting it idle, ESPEICALLY to 'warm up.'
! ! !
they warm up the fastest, and work the best, if you start it as gently as you can, let it run 20 to 30 seonds or so, then drive gently under mild load for a few minutes, then start to drive normally.
It can't warm up very well without a load on it ................it's bad for the oil, it wastes fuel, can't say it enough, letting it idle to warm up is a bad idea.
I even had a case of that myself the other day. Some vangon ( i was working on some other system .............I remember now - a roachy 87 ......put a clutch in it, van has a dozen write ups on it, but I did the clutch and axles etc........it seemed a bit low on the battery charge, so I started it up and let it idle for 5 or 10 minutes .....
part way through that it died, And would not restart . And I'm like............sure don't need this..........it's pretty ragged throughout anyway , sure don't want to get into this whole other area. I wait a while , it starts up .....and is ok after that.
but .......'just idling to warm it up '.............basically ........I advise against doing that if you can possibly help it.
Fire it up, drive gently under light load for a few minutes, .....much better for everything.
Saying it's like ' a vacuum hose' issue ......is like saying poor handling could be a tire pressure issue - that is true, but checking vacuum hoses, and a basic visual inspection is the first and most obvious thing to do. You don't even have to know anything about cars to see a hose if off sometimes.
So defenitley check those.......
but those are like 'basics' ..........like full oil level, and easy to inspect for too.
popular other factors are ...
grounds, and corrosion at them,
and ..the igniton switch, temp sensor II ........
I'd just inspect things carefully to start with, including vacuum hoses on the engine.
and if 'warming it up'................they are not designed for that. It's not good for them.
Starting a car is a mean thing to do to it .......
getting it from 'fired off' to half warmed up as quickly and gently as possible, is important.
You accomplish that by gentle driving at first,
which might be what you are doing anyway.
But that's a car's worst mode - right after firing it up ..........lots of fuel in there, rich mixture, acid in the exhaust .......lots of nasty things happening .........oxygens sensor isn't in the loop yet, etc. ......you want to get through that period as directly and easily as you can.
If it doesn't run right cold, it's not running right .......and things are out of spec, or they are worn out.
Scott
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bart Prinsen" <bprinsen@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 4:44 PM
Subject: stalling problem when van is running for about 5 minutes.
I am wondering if anyone can offer some help on this issue my vanagon has:
When I start it up and have it running for about 4 or 5 minutes, my van
stalls. It seems as if it is not getting fuel to the engine.
when that happens I turn the engine off briefly, and restart it and it
starts and runs fine after that. If I am driving, when I notice it start to
studder I can just put it in neutral, turn the ignition off and restart it
while still driving. It then will run fine until I stop and let it cool
down, and then the same thing will happen.
It does this consistently. It never becomes a bigger problem than that. It
will always restart right away, and runs ok after that.
Somone I spoke with thought it might be a vacuum hose. Does this sound
logical? Is there anything else that this sounds like it could be?
Any help would be appreciated.
Bart.
Vancouver, BC, Canada. 1988 Vanagon.
