Does my camper have a heart murmer?

[salgarfi]

Hello All (and happy New Year)

Honoria (1990, 2.1ltr, injected) has, if she were a person, a heart murmer. When we travelled cross country over Christmas, and we were about an hour and a half from our destination, Honoria started to get very short hiccups (for lack of a better word) out of the engine, as if, very momentarily she was losing power. She continued doing this until I got to my destination, and I planned to call out the AA if she did the same thing on the journey home. But to my surprise, Honoria took us home like the corn fed girl that she is, without a murmer, not even a belch. I took her to the mechanic (who knows his way around VWs) and he couldn't find anything obviously wrong. Anyway, she was given a full service. Unfortunately, the murmer, or hiccup, came back today, and although it only happened once, it's a bit disconcerting since it could be the kind of ailment that can only be cured when the van breaks down totally. I used to have a 2ltr, 20 valve Volvo, and I used to get the same thing. It was very intermittent and the mechanics could never, really, sort it out. So, has anyone else had a similar problem, and if so, how did it pan out?

ta ra,
Sal

[Ian Hulley]

Could be ... https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... ittent_2.1

Ian

[salgarfi]

Thanks for this Ian, but one simple question. In the Wiki, what's a DJ and an MV?

Also, if the Vanagon syndrome is, apparently, so common, how have the rest of you, out there, dealt with it? Or lived with it?

Sal

[Ian Hulley]

DJ and MV are the engine prefixes ...

DJ is the high compression engine with more basic engine management (our's is a DJ but running a 1.9 carburettor set-up) the MV is a lower compression and (IIRC) has a catalytic covertor and lambda probe so more complicated. There's the SS 2.1 engine as well.

Ian

[mark]

hi
your log book tell you which engine you've got (dj or mv) the later amf's have the vw mod fitted so you should be ok with vanagon syndrome. if you search stabilisation on here, brickwerks and the samba, there is a lot of info,

my missfire turned out to be temp2 related (and a dodgy tyre ) my advice is clean all the electrical contacts and get the earths to metal, and change the cheap stuff first

good luck mark

[icosahedron]

You can prevent "Vanagon syndrome" by taking the lid off the AFM and cleaning the potentiometer track every few years. Use a cotton bud dipped in alcohol and gently wipe the track. If it is badly worn you can either bend the wiper slightly (risky) or loosen the board and reposition it so that the wiper runs on a fresh surface of the track. I seal my lid with insulation tape which is effective and makes future removal easy.

Don't bother with the VW capacitor botch fix. This simply filters the noisy signal caused by a dirty track and delays the inevitable.

[salgarfi]

I've just popped into my mechanic's and asked him for his take on this problem. Although he's done good work for me, and is known locally as the only person who really knows his way around old VWs, he'd never heard of the Vanagon Syndrome, and his main approach seems to be wait until the problem is so bad that it is no longer intermittent (or you break down). I must admit that this is more or less the same attitude of most of the Doctors I've come into contact with, as well as mechanics. It's a bit depressing since I've been here before! Nevertheless, the wiring on the engine seems good, the plugs are new (it's just had a service), so when I get some dry weather (in mid-Wales?), I'll look into the AFM. If there are any tricks I need to know about this, please let me know. Also, will white spirit be good enough for cleaning the potentiometer?

We soldier on,
Sal

[salgarfi]

Also, how do I take the AFM apart to give it a good clean?

I've just popped into my mechanic's and asked him for his take on this problem. Although he's done good work for me, and is known locally as the only person who really knows his way around old VWs, he'd never heard of the Vanagon Syndrome, and his main approach seems to be wait until the problem is so bad that it is no longer intermittent (or you break down). I must admit that this is more or less the same attitude of most of the Doctors I've come into contact with, as well as mechanics. It's a bit depressing since I've been here before! Nevertheless, the wiring on the engine seems good, the plugs are new (it's just had a service), so when I get some dry weather (in mid-Wales?), I'll look into the AFM. If there are any tricks I need to know about this, please let me know. Also, will white spirit be good enough for cleaning the potentiometer?

We soldier on,
Sal

[colinthefox]

I've refurbed the AFMs on my vol vos several times. It made a massive difference to both smooth running and economy.

Here's a video of how to do it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-11J8XawQtc

The tricky bit is getting the cover off without breaking it. I made a spring clip to hold the cover on so I don't have the hassle of cutting the lid off any more. You can remove the circuit board by first slipping the wipers off the spindle.

This guy recommends bending the arms to get an unworn track on the potentiometer, but I prefer to move the circuit board by a millimetre by filing the mounting holes.

[E D I T] I didn't use any cleaner. just wiped the track with a cotton bud[/E D I T]

Best of luck.

[California Dreamin]

I would be inclined to change the ignition lead set/rotor arm/cap......and if an MV 2.1 with CAT there is also a chance this could be the Lambda sensor (mine was intermitant for over a year before it went altogether).......M25 overfueling to the point that I went from a steady 60mph to a standstill over about half a mile (lots of smoke from the unburnt petrol)

Martin

[salgarfi]

The mechanic who's just serviced the van thinks that the lead, rotor arm and cap etc are OK. Also, my Engine's a DJ so I don't have a Lambda sensor. He and I are still perplexed....

Sal

I would be inclined to change the ignition lead set/rotor arm/cap......and if an MV 2.1 with CAT there is also a chance this could be the Lambda sensor (mine was intermitant for over a year before it went altogether).......M25 overfueling to the point that I went from a steady 60mph to a standstill over about half a mile (lots of smoke from the unburnt petrol)

Martin

[salgarfi]

And excuse my ignorance, but what is the 'temp 2'? Is it related to the thermostat, and being numbered '2', are there two temperature gauges? Also, how did your dodgy tyre affect this??

sal

hi
your log book tell you which engine you've got (dj or mv) the later amf's have the vw mod fitted so you should be ok with vanagon syndrome. if you search stabilisation on here, brickwerks and the samba, there is a lot of info,

my missfire turned out to be temp2 related (and a dodgy tyre ) my advice is clean all the electrical contacts and get the earths to metal, and change the cheap stuff first

good luck mark

[mark]

And excuse my ignorance, but what is the 'temp 2'? Is it related to the thermostat, and being numbered '2', are there two temperature gauges? Also, how did your dodgy tyre affect this??sal

the temp 2 sensor is located on the lefthand side of the engine and fits in the bottom of the thermostat housing. its held in with a metal or plastic hairpin clip. dont remove unless your going to change it and have all new bits, sensor, o ring seal and clip. you will loose about a litre of coolant if your quick, expect to get wet. when this is failing it tells the ecu that the coolant is cold so it adds more fuel and you get over fueling and a missfire. its cheap about tenner all in from vw. disconnect the battery for half an hour afterwards to blank the ecu.

when a tyre is egg shaped its shape only affects the ride between 25 to 35 mph (mine was between 25ish to 32ish) and it feels like a missfire or lack of power. mine had missfire as it hit the power band in each gear so the temp 2 sensor change stopped the over fueling but i couldnt get to the bottom of the tyre problem because id never heard of it before and it was pointed out to me by a mobile car tuner after id told him what id done to the engine.

i swapped the afm with a good one from aiden the gearbox wunderkid off of here and it made no difference, start with all the electrical connections start one side and work your round blast of contact cleaner and scrub with a tooth brush when youve cleaned them and got the earths metal on metal, then all the service items, plugs, leads, fuel and oil filters (a dirty fuel filtter can cause the same problems, as can fuel below 98 ron)

if youve got 250000 miles on the clock then stuff will be wearing out i read a brilliant thread with some great info and op only let slip the milage in the final post

good luck mark

[salgarfi]

Mark, what you say about the Temp 2 sensor is interesting. My thermostat has been keeping my running temperature very cool. The the pointer in the water temp meter on the dash is staying very consistently in the left hand side of the broad white marker at the left hand side of the gauge. I pointed this out to the mechanic and he asked me if my heater was still working. I said yes (it works well), so he told me I shouldn't worry. He made the obvious point that the thermostat was allowing more coolant around the system by being stuck open, and that this was better than being closed and over heating. He also said that the housing for the thermostat had a lot of rust on it, and if he took it apart, it would probably need replacing, and the housing parts were £100+ (he even showed me the catalogue, with prices). So the mechanic and I agreed to keep the thermostat as is. But from what you say, I wonder if this was the right thing to do. I'll raise this point with him on Monday and see what his response is (but I always feel I've got to tread gently with mechanics, from my limited experience, they poo poo the internet, and don't react well to suggestions from the customer).

But I 've also read your 2.1dj missfire thread, and in contrast, my problem did erupt as the (very) classic Vanagon Syndrome.

We soldier on!
Sal

And excuse my ignorance, but what is the 'temp 2'? Is it related to the thermostat, and being numbered '2', are there two temperature gauges? Also, how did your dodgy tyre affect this??sal

the temp 2 sensor is located on the lefthand side of the engine and fits in the bottom of the thermostat housing. its held in with a metal or plastic hairpin clip. dont remove unless your going to change it and have all new bits, sensor, o ring seal and clip. you will loose about a litre of coolant if your quick, expect to get wet. when this is failing it tells the ecu that the coolant is cold so it adds more fuel and you get over fueling and a missfire. its cheap about tenner all in from vw. disconnect the battery for half an hour afterwards to blank the ecu.

[mark]

hi
here is a useful link it shows a step by step refurb for the afm. from what i read over a good few nights the syndrome is quite rare and very intermitant if your getting a regular fault then i would look else where first

http://www.the944.com/afm.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

mark