Ignition system issues - 2.0 CU

[T25rc]

Hi everyone,

I have an issue that sometimes the van will start up no problem, and other times you could crank all day with nothing. I pull the king lead off when it won't, and get someone to switch on and off the ignition until i see spark. Then put the lead back on, and it will start. Basically intermittent sparking. I've tried using a different TCI-H to no avail. Does this sound like hall sender problems?

The engine also appears to be running on three cylinders, i can't see how, when running, the dizzy could chose to not give spark to one lead, so presumably it is a different issue.

[Gunslinger]

Dont take my word for it but I certainly had same/ similar symptoms on route to Cornwall and back in May resulting in 3 breakdowns. I have since replaced the hall sender and all is good now.

[T25rc]

Thanks a lot, it's looking like thats going to be a good idea. How difficult is the distributer strip down?

E D I T - Jesus! £103 for the repair kit! i imagine there is still no hope of buying a full new distributer? Might try a second hand unit again...

[Gunslinger]

Thanks a lot, it's looking like thats going to be a good idea. How difficult is the distributer strip down?

Its not too bad but I would suggest taking it off and doing it in a well light clean environment, eg, dining room table, where you can lay out the components in order of removal. You will need a tiny pair of circlip pliers though otherwise its harder work than it needs to be. All new shims and locking pin come with a new kit. They are available still from VW but are quite expensive from memory

[horizontal kipper]

I had similar problem with my 2ltr cu mine turned out to be the ignition amplifier.

[T25rc]

Ah brilliant!!!!!

I've fixed my engine, turns out that one rocker shaft has been missing both of it's nuts! I can only assume that those valves have not been opening at all. The old nuts are nowhere to be seen?!!? Grabbed some new nuts and put them on, the engine must have doubled in power instantly. I can't believe i havn't checked before, a couple of years camping down the drain since i havn't got off my fat a***.

Ignition problem must still be there however, and since i've tried both TCIH and Coil it only leaves the hall sender. looks like i will be paying out the £103, now i know the rest of the engine will actually work!

[T25rc]

Ok, still on this.. after the winter.

Im determined to get this thing running right for this year, but don't want to shell out over £100 if the hall sender is actually ok.

The problem is now;

The van sometimes starts and runs perfectly with no issues, it can decide to stop at any point and not spark again for any amount of time, either 10 seconds or a couple of days.

Playing around with all the connections on the ignition system doesn't seem to make a difference while i get someone to crank.

Pulling the King lead off the distributer cap and putting it against the tin wear seems to get a spark after many 'off, ign on, crank, off, ign on, crank... etc'.

Last time (after much trying) i got it to start by waiting for the spark to appear with the lead on the tin-wear, and once it did, putting it back in the cap with pliars while someone is still cranking it over. It then ran perfectly and i could switch it off and on and it would start no problems.

However when i go up to it today its a complete gamble if it will or not.

I figured maybe this means it's a dodgy earth? But cleaning up the brown earth that connects to the tab next to the dizzy made no difference, nor did rubbing it along the tin-wear. I can even disconnect it fine while the engine is running....? Is there another earth i can look for which may be causing this?

One final thing i noticed is that the king lead doesn't seem to 'locate' into the coil, it just sits in a hole bigger dia. than the hoop on the end of it (again though, when it runs, it runs fine...?)

Thanks for any help, sorry for the massive post!

Do these symptoms still point to the hall sender faililng? only thing troubling me is that when it runs, it is fine!

[T25rc]

a loss to you lot aswell?

[BOXY]

I fitted a dual vac dizzie to my van a few weeks ago and after a couple of weeks it packed in. The man from the AA pinned it down to the dizzie and the fact the van fired up straight away with the 009 back on proved him right. A couple of days ago I hooked up the dual vac dizzie to the van but didn't fit it to the engine, just turned the shaft by hand with the ignition on and a spare spark plug connected to it. I got fat, health looking sparks every turn of the shaft, but lost them if I held the dizzie in a different position. I'm guessing one of the three little wires in the sensor has broken and is only making contact in one position. A Hall sensor is just a magnetic switch so it's pretty easy to check out if it's working with a multimeter and a 12v supply.
http://www.ebbo.org/2av54.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can buy just a Hall sensor rather than a full refurb kit.

[BOXY]

Had another play with the dizzie today in the comfort of the kitchen. I rigged up a 12 volt supply and a LED and connected it to the female idle stabilizer plug. Spinning the dizzie shaft lit the LED every time, I couldn't get it not to work? I checked continuity and traced every wire end to end in the short loom that joins the dizzie, idle stab, ecu and coil together without finding any obvious problems either? I've cleaned up all the connections so I'll refit the dizzie next week and see maybe a dirty joint was causing the ignition to fail?

If it's any help to anyone else here is the circuit I used to test the sensor.