Oh noooooo, not again!!

[eric]

Having picked up my daughter and travelling to town 4 hrs ago, We met a large lake of water stretching from pavement to pavement. I guess it must have been only about 6in deep maximun. I saw a couple of mums with their children walking toward said lake and were about 50 metres away. I said to my daughter "watch this" love and accelerated to about 30 mph when I hit the water ..... I felt like Donald Campbell as I felt like the machine amost aqua-planned through. The result must have been impressive for the water simply squirted up er ... a good, I estimated ooo about 100 ft into the air..... at least. Went round the bend with a massive grin on my boat-race when ....it coughed, spluttered and back-fired a few times and limped for another 200 odd metres before pegging out.

Called the AA who arrived within a half an hour. He spent over an hour trying to get the old girl working, but would she have it? Nope.

As far as I can remember he tried the following:

1/ Damp-start ... no good.
2/ Checked the distributor, which was drenched inside so dried and cleaned it. ... no good.
3/ Checked the plugs and they were dry, but had a jolly good spark.
4/ Checked the fuel lines(?) cos he said that the number of times I turned her over, the plugs should have been wet with petrol. He said that although not strong pressure, it should not be be causing the problem.
5/ Took out the ECU and took it apart and found it dry.
6/ Checked air-filter ..... oh dear, it was black. I meant to take her in for a service um, a few months ago.
7/ Checked oil .... below minimum.
8/ He probably did a few other things which I can't recall and towed me to the garage.

He took us back home and said that he suspects it could be the `coil?` He relayed this opinion to Andrew, my main man at the garage.

I know I don't deserve any advice and guidance, but I ask for your forgiveness for being a toal w***ker.

Eric.

[1664]

I trust you got a suitable telling off from your daughter......................

[kevtherev]

I know I don't deserve any advice and guidance, but I ask for your forgiveness for being a toal w***ker.

tough sh*t
wankor

[trikepete]

watch this the driver got a fine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RM3R5KPXGk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[fullsunian]

Mmmm that was abit of a school boy error

[jamesc76]

think you need a good few tins of wd40!

People forget that the water dont just go outwards from the car it goes inwards too!!!!! Your loss there I think!

[VWCamperfan]

I would imagine it's still the distributor. if it's got wet inside the water can hide in the bottom where you can't get to. You put the cap back on, it warms back up again from the heat of the engine and a whole load of water vapour collects on your dizzy cap! Nice!
Take the cap off and try to warm the dizzy at the bottom (hair dryer etc.!) for a while. Might just cure it if you're lucky!
Good fun though, those puddles... Err... Lakes!

[eric]

Thanks for your advice Mark.
I guess from some of the comments no one has done anything silly in their lives? Nevertheless, I accept the criticism and scorn as well deserved.

Anyway, I blame Jed and his vids of going through the `Corwen Carwash,` together with other vids of Syncros doing the `Strata Florida.` I must admit, however, I did think the bus was immune travelling through water. A lesson learned therefore.

The main thing that perplexed the AA guy was that he found the spark-plugs to be bone-dry and given the number of times the engine was cranked he expected them to be wet with fuel.

I have Haynes and Bentley's manuals in an effort to try and understand mechanics, but from a total novice point of view it's like trying to comprehend Mandarin.

How about cutting me some slack fellas.

Eric.

[ermie571]

Eric - honest, they are only having a joke on you - you posted up what you had done, and I must admit, I nearly wet myself laughing, so I pretty much thought that you realised you would get your leg pulled.....and it is only friendly mate! Oh, and we have all done silly things....some of us aren't brave enough to post it on line....

As Mark says, let it dry out. Then you can start checking the obvious if it isn't running.....and if fuel is an issue, that is easily checked.

If you have haynes and Bently you are well equipped, and despite the leg pulling, everyone on here will help if they can! Start with the basics, and one thing at a time. Ask the question, get the answer, do the job and report back. its amazing what you can achieve. The thing with those manual is - Don't read them from cover to cover....you have a problem with the ignition system - just read that section. But read it while you are looking at the van - this helped me. Read, look, read again...then pick up the tools.

Oh - you haven't run out of petrol as well have you....sometimes its really EASY to overlook the obvious when problems arise.

Good luck - sure you will get her running again. Be brave, and have a go. The feeling when you have done your first repair is brilliant.

Em
xx

Ps - bet that water looked spectacular...

oh - question....why do muddy puddles spray further up the van than the clean puddles you then drive through to clean the mud????

Em
x

[ermie571]

Oh - don't just shove it at the garage.....learn a bit about it first.

I don't understand the how.....but I do know that the COIL is a metal cylinder strapped to the side of the engine bay, and uses the power from the battery to create the SPARK. It has a thick black wire coming from it to the centre of the DISTRIBUTOR CAP. This wire is the KING HT lead, and supplies the SPARK to the dizzy. The dizzy has 4 HT leads coming off it...they send the SPARK to the SPARK PLUGS, using a ROTOR ARM that spins inside the cap and lets the spark jump to each of the contacts inside the cap. The order of the distribution of the spark is critical too - get it wrong and it will sound lumpy as hell, if it runs at all. usually spectacular backfire as well!!! (Guess who has done that..... )

Wouldn't have thought the coil would have suddenly gone....but who knows.

let it all dry out, and try again. Have a bit of sandpaper handy, as you may well get some corrosion inside the cap and on the end of the rotor arm. (green muck - needs sanding off till its all nice and shiney again.) Tip: if you have never taken off the dizzy cap before, it is an idea to mark a line on cap and base...that way it goes on the same way it came off....(yep, learned that the hard way too.... )

Em
x

[fullsunian]

Thanks for your advice Mark.
I guess from some of the comments no one has done anything silly in their lives? Nevertheless, I accept the criticism and scorn as well deserved.

Anyway, I blame Jed and his vids of going through the `Corwen Carwash,` together with other vids of Syncros doing the `Strata Florida.` I must admit, however, I did think the bus was immune travelling through water. A lesson learned therefore.

The main thing that perplexed the AA guy was that he found the spark-plugs to be bone-dry and given the number of times the engine was cranked he expected them to be wet with fuel.

I have Haynes and Bentley's manuals in an effort to try and understand mechanics, but from a total novice point of view it's like trying to comprehend Mandarin.

How about cutting me some slack fellas.

Eric.

Mate... like Em says its all done in the best possible taste and let me tell ya something if you lived close to me I would round to help and drink all ya beer

[eric]

Awww, thanks lads.

It was with some trepidation that I signed in this morning for fear of being flamed, but I have been immensely warmed by your comments. Thank you both again.

The fact of the matter is that the manuals were purchased not for me to do any work on the old girl myself per se, but to help my understanding of how things work. You see, not only do I not have a garage at home, I am disabled to the extent that I'd have to ring the AA to change the wheel should I have a puncture. So, all work is done by a local garage.

I will, in the interests of any reader who is mystified as to the what exactly the problem turns out to be, post the results of my garage's findings and rectification of the fault/s.

My view? I am leaning toward the injectors being somehow clogged up, because the AA chap showed me that plugs were bone-dry. Or, bearing in mind that the engine refused to run, even with the aid of `Damp-start,` which AA man insisted that it should have run, that the engine has seized! Oh, btw, she was running on LPG at the time, but as recommended elsewhere on the forums, I do switch to petrol every couple of weeks or so and bring the guage down to almost empty and the bung £20's worth back in.

I will post details of any developments as and when they occur.

Eric.

[ermie571]

**cough**

Would just like to mention I is of the female persuasion!!

Em...short for Emma

Don't stop me from getting stuck in with the motor though!

All credit to you for running one of these beasts without the ability to do the work on it - it must be love!!

Yeah - let us know how you get on with the van - does it have a name by the way.

take care, hope you are driving again soon!

Oh - and your mechanic will tell you very quickly if the engine has siezed, so I shouldn't panic about that.

And I need the AA if I am on my own to change a tyre too - those wheel nuts are too flipping tight for me!!

Em
x

[eric]

Oooops, sorry about that Emma xxx.

Yep, the bus's name of course is LOTUS.
(Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious)

Eric.

[Aidan]

fuel pump eric it's right next to rear wheel and would have been submerged, if electrical contacts not good no fuel, can you here the pump when you turn ignition on ?