A camping forum for VW bus and camper owners.

come on little vanagon! aka tuning help needed

Bought my first westy a month or so ago ('89 manual) and have pretty happy with it so far. Due to gas leaks, a nasty looking tank, and a shot fuel pump i've spent the last week or so replacing all grommets, all lines, the tank, and fuel pump. She started right up afterwords, but now i've got what i believe is a fuel/air mixture problem. When i first started it back up, if i slammed the gas, the engine would lose all power and eventually cut out. I also noticed that when i did this looking at the engine, that the air flow meter was smacking around and making all sorts of noise.

So, in fiddling with the throttle cable, the CO2 adjustment, and the air flow meter, i got the thing running pretty swell while it's warm. Not so much when it's still cold. Problem is that i am basically just doing a little trial and error. The big green manual i bought doesn't really give me a base line of settings to start with and what to do if you happen to not own a CO2 sensor, etc.

Does anyone have any tips or know of a good online resource for this sort of thing? I'm a big fan of old Honda CB motorcycles, and there's an amazing amount of info out there on the web for novice mechanics. With the bus/van following out there, it seems like they'd have similar info available.

Cheers.

casey g.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by westywoman (Melissa) on December 31, 2009 at 10:30am

Vanagon.com, TheSamba.com,http://www.benplace.com/vw2.htm for starters. The Vanagon.com archives are searchable but sort user-unfriendly. Good luck! Melissa

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Blake on January 3, 2010 at 5:01pm

Wish I had the perfect answer for you situation. I would check your fuel pressure first at the metal T above the engine. I'm guessing you might have a restriction in your fuel lines, pump, or filter. The Bentley manual describes this process pretty well. Check it at idle and higher rpms. If this is OK then then next step is checking for air and spark.

Make sure your air filter is clean and that the air flow meter is moving smoothly and that it's "plugged in". The CO adjustment screw should be set by a mechanic with equipment. Mine is set for 4 full turns out counterclockwise. This is very subjective but may give you an idea as to where to set it.

Hope this starts you in some direction. Remember you need fuel, air, and spark to make the engine run.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Casey Gerstle on January 4, 2010 at 9:20am

Thanks Blake. I think the fuel is getting to the engine correctly and that the air filter is good; however, since this van is new to me, i decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and get it checked out and tuned up by a professional. Don't want to mess up a new engine just cause i'm cheap :).

Thanks for the info.

casey g.

Blake Heinlein said:

Wish I had the perfect answer for you situation. I would check your fuel pressure first at the metal T above the engine. I'm guessing you might have a restriction in your fuel lines, pump, or filter. The Bentley manual describes this process pretty well. Check it at idle and higher rpms. If this is OK then then next step is checking for air and spark.

Make sure your air filter is clean and that the air flow meter is moving smoothly and that it's "plugged in". The CO adjustment screw should be set by a mechanic with equipment. Mine is set for 4 full turns out counterclockwise. This is very subjective but may give you an idea as to where to set it.

Hope this starts you in some direction. Remember you need fuel, air, and spark to make the engine run.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Casey Gerstle on January 4, 2010 at 9:23am

Nice! The benplace.com site looks pretty handy...

westywoman said:

Vanagon.com, TheSamba.com,http://www.benplace.com/vw2.htm for starters. The Vanagon.com archives are searchable but sort user-unfriendly. Good luck! Melissa

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ANTHONY HAYWOOD ARNOLD on January 29, 2010 at 11:02am

A "shot fuel pump" can be killed prematurely by a fuel filter that should have been changed long ago. My type 2 fuel filters were changed based on mileage in the past UNTIL some contaminated gas clogged the filter that I could not visually see inside of and in turn caused the fuel pump to fail. I now install a clear Permatex fuel filter that I can visually inspect to see just how contaminated it may or may not be. You mentioned changing out a lot of items but didnt mention a fuel filter. Try installing a new fuel filter ( a transparent one) before you go too high tech---hope it helps--let everyone know exactly what cured your problem please once you make the correct prognosis. Thanks for the opportunity to hopefully help you. A.Arnold '77 W