Club 80-90 Forums

maxstu wrote: ↑26 Mar 2025, 16:33

jrt wrote: ↑26 Mar 2025, 14:38 Take the top off the carb and tip a drop of petrol down it or spray some carb cleaner in it and turn it over. If it fires up temporarily you can go from there.
It will take a bit for fuel to get delivered and there’s the likelihood that things may be gummed up after standing.
David.

It's a DJ, right?

It will need a very strong starter battery to get it turning fast enough to regains fuel pressure.

I would add another 5 litres first. Then remove a plug and check for spark. You could also add a very small amount of fuel down each spark plug hole and try again.

Is the fuel pump priming on first turn of key before turning over engine? If so, good idea to buy some carb cleaner or Easystart. Open the air boot at airflow meter and give it a spray into the throttle body.

Also check there is fuel pressure at tee-piece beside black oil breather tower. If so you need to test injectors or have them cleaned. They may well be gummed up.

read it as dg!

davidoft1 wrote: ↑26 Mar 2025, 19:47 The injector tester is called a noid light , cheap enough to buy but i would definitely start with £30 worth of fuel in it

I use this bit of equipment. About 15 quid. It allows you to hook up cleaning fluid or petrol to check nozzle pattern.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403894378822 ... edia=EMAIL

Hi All
Getting wheels this week. Also going thru all suggestions to get started.
Will updarte with results
Again thanks for all the help
Rob

Ok
So I have checked both the fuel pump power with my voltage meter. There does not appear to be power getting to the pump. Wd40d contacts before trying again. When the key is turned to prime pump there is no reaction. No sound or vibration.
This is confirmed by removing the t junction in the engine bay with the engine turning over. No gas.
The relay ticks as expected so no problem there.
Some of the electrics still do not work. No horn or emergency flashers.
Is this an electrical fault? How do I proceed from here?
Many thanks for continued suggestions.
Rob

So it sounds like something is not getting power from the ecu to the fuel pump.

There are two relays in the DJ box over the coil.
I wonder if both click.
One is for the fuel pump and injectors.
The other is for current supply to the ECU and idle stabilisation units.

They look like No 53 general purpose relays, so easy enough to borrow a 53 type relay from the main dash fusebox for testing purposes.

Otherwise, it is a matter of looking for broken wires or dirty / corroded 35 year old connectors

Regarding the hazards and horn.

The horn uses fuse 16, but there are multiple points to investigate there.

1 - corroded horn connections or dead horn, as it lives close to the road under the front of the van.
2 - detatched / broken brown earth link wire near the base of the steering collumn.
3 - Worn or damaged contact ring under the steering wheel.

The hazards use fuse 4 (15amps),
But normal turn signals use fuse 19 (10 amps).

So if you have turn signal but no hazards, fuse 4 is worth replacing.

Otherwise, it may be a simple task of checking out the flasher relay, or hazard switch.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.
No hazards, no turn signals.
Seems a lot wrong electrically.
Will look at those places during the week.
Cheers
Rob

I recall answering a post a few days ago.

The CE1 fusebox has one single brown earth wire.
This acts as the ground contact for any internal relays.

It is worth checking that this brown wire has a good clean contact to the van body at the A pillar.

Without sounding like a cracked record - all the earth crown connections need to be clean and made secure.

Following inspiration from silverbullet, I converted all my ground links from Lucar (spades) to ring terminals, and then used two bolts to securely attach them to the van body.

Sadly, as you are finding, 95% of gremlins are due to old, damaged, corroded or loose wiring or their terminals.

Sorry to sound like a complete novice, which I am… lol.
Where do I find the ce1 ?
Cheers
Rob

Its the fusebox thats behind the glovebox

Robsey wrote: ↑30 Mar 2025, 17:20 I recall answering a post a few days ago.

The CE1 fusebox has one single brown earth wire.
This acts as the ground contact for any internal relays.

It is worth checking that this brown wire has a good clean contact to the van body at the A pillar.

Without sounding like a cracked record - all the earth crown connections need to be clean and made secure.

Following inspiration from silverbullet, I converted all my ground links from Lucar (spades) to ring terminals, and then used two bolts to securely attach them to the van body.

Sadly, as you are finding, 95% of gremlins are due to old, damaged, corroded or loose wiring or their terminals.

What crimp lugs (ring terminals) did you use Rob ??
I am actually a Sparks, so would usually raid my crimp supply and use my red insulated crimp lugs. You auto-electrical geniuses/guru's don't particularly like these.....so what else is recommended please ?

The dislike for the pre-insulated terminals, is that when you use a crimp tool, most of the deformation is of the plastic cover.
You cannot see how effective and secure the actual crimping of the metal terminal is.
The metal is hidden from sight.

Besides, I am a lot O.C.D, and I like to solder my terminals in place too.
Totally secure, and less chance of ambient moisture getting into the wires causing premature heart-ache.

Again - I am going to bang the Brickwerks drum. I have used various terminals over the years.
And the brass coated terminals from Brickwerks tend to crimp and solder better for me.

Not the cheapest compared to flimsy Chinese imported tat.

https://brickwerks.co.uk/product/electr ... ale-latch/

https://brickwerks.co.uk/product/electr ... ternative/

https://brickwerks.co.uk/product/electr ... ternative/

I couldn't see ring connectors, but there are many UK suppliers on Fleabay.

I have used 'Durek' connectors too from Fleabay, and they are always good quality.

I am sure any proper UK supplier's terminals would be fine, and if you have a business account with RS, then they could probably do a cheaper deal than Brickwerks on many non-VW specific items.

Robsey wrote: ↑30 Mar 2025, 20:38 The dislike for the pre-insulated terminals, is that when you use a crimp tool, most of the deformation is of the plastic cover.
You cannot see how effective and secure the actual crimping of the metal terminal is.
The metal is hidden from sight.

Besides, I am a lot O.C.D, and I like to solder my terminals in place too.
Totally secure, and less chance of ambient moisture getting into the wires causing premature heart-ache.

Again - I am going to bang the Brickwerks drum. I have used various terminals over the years.
And the brass coated terminals from Brickwerks tend to crimp and solder better for me.

Bear with me, and I will put some links up shortly.

Cheers.
I understand what you're saying.
In my trade, we use ratchet crimp tools to securely 'squeeze' the crimp onto the target cable/join.
Like you, I can get a tad OCD at times and have been known to heatshrink over the top of the insulation too.
I've never soldered an electrical joint as we were taught that the solder capitulates up the cable.

I'm happy to use whatever is best, as I only want to do it once.

Look forward to the link when you have time.

Ian

I presume by capitulates, you mean the solder creaps along the strands by capillary action making the strands less flexible.

This would be true if you apply the heat for too long.
I solder only where the crimp itself wraps around the bare conductor strands.
Much beyond that and it will start to melt the insulation too.

And I use the old fashioned lead-solder, that is no longer sold.
It flows better at a lower temperature.
This modern lead-free junk needs a lot more heat, and has the appearance of grey toothpaste.
Nasty stuff

I use heat shrink a lot where there is no enclosing connector body.
I do not like to see exposed strands.

The links are a couple of posts up

I probably make no progress, because I do one job, like buying and fitting new Lucar (female spade) crimps and new earth crowns.



And then I see a great idea, and do it all over again.





Don't worry, none of the wires were under tension when I had finished.