Club 80-90 Forums

I'm new around here into the T25 scene so please be gentle.

So a bit of background. I bought a camper a few weeks ago from on Brick-yard a 2.0 CU Aircooled.
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Initially when I looked at it it was very reluctant to turn over, my initial thoughts where it was going to be a bad earth and an easy fix. So i've checked the earths from the battery to the body and from the gearbox to the body and they all seem good and come up as no resistance with a meter. The battery is new and has been tested just to make sure and can provide 550amps. After making sure the battery was charged it turned over slowly so I have replaced the starter motor with a new one (although not the bush) and it turns over a bit faster, but i'm not sure if it is fast enough. Some other tests I have done.

-If I connect a jump lead between battery positive and starter it turns over slightly faster, if I connect jump leads to the starter and gearbox to my car when it's running then it turns over faster still, but won't start
-I have also connected a jump lead from gearbox directly to battery negative to double check the earth
-If I disconnect a petrol pipe from one of the carbs when the engine is cranking I get squirts of petrol
-I'm getting a spark at the plugs but it is yellow in colour which someone has said is a weak spark
-I have tried to check the timing by taking the plug out of no 1 cylinder till the piston got to tdc the rotor arm was pointing at the plug lead that goes to no 1 cylinder and I have checked the order of the leads based on a the wiki
-It has also had a new distributor cap (in the last few days) and had new plugs, leads and oil done in march

When I first got it home and charged the battery I did get it to fire and it ran for 5-10 seconds (roughly) before stopping, now it won't start and doesn't even seem to try.

Sorry for the long post but I though it was better to provide as much info as possible, any help would be appreciated

Jonathan

My van has same engine and doesn't turn over that quickly but does start and has never got any worse. Its hard to gauge how fast its turning over but if you have changed the starter and checked the earths properly it should be good to go (did you check the spade terminal was good?). Other things to check:

Spark should be white/blue idealy so could be stronger, clean rotor, cap, check leads, plug gaps/clean etc
ignition on, is there 12 volts coming through black wire from coil to chokes and fuel cut off valves?
ignition still on, if you unplug and plug back in the fuel cut off valves do they click as you do so?
Check the breather pipes are in good condition, 2 on each carb.

I'll try and find a good picture to label these things up for you

Thanks for your reply. When you talk of the spade terminal is that the one on the starter motor? If it is then yes I put a new crimp on that one as the old one fell off when I changed the starter motor.

As for the fuel cutoffs are they the silver barrels on the sides of the carbs? Are there two on each carb? And the chokes the bits on the back of the carbs nearest the back of the bus?

I have given the rotor arm a clean and put on a new cap.

A picture would be good if you can find one.

j4jon wrote:Thanks for your reply. When you talk of the spade terminal is that the one on the starter motor? If it is then yes I put a new crimp on that one as the old one fell off when I changed the starter motor.

As for the fuel cutoffs are they the silver barrels on the sides of the carbs? Are there two on each carb? And the chokes the bits on the back of the carbs nearest the back of the bus?

I have given the rotor arm a clean and put on a new cap.

Has this made the spark any brighter, have you tested the spark coming direct from the coil ?

happy camper wrote:

Has this made the spark any brighter, have you tested the spark coming direct from the coil ?

I haven't checked it directly since I changed the cap as I haven't had a helper that could turn it over whilst I watched, although it still doesn't start. At the same time I was testing the spark plug I did try holding the king lead (the one from the coil to the cap) and could get a spark to jump 5 - 6mm

Well if an engine has fuel, air, spark and its all happening at the right time then it should be up and running, i'm thinking timing providing your spark is a good strong one ?

happy camper wrote:Well if an engine has fuel, air, spark and its all happening at the right time then it should be up and running, i'm thinking timing providing your spark is a good strong one ?

That's what I thought and hence the check with no1 cylinder and checking the rotor lined up with the no1 plug lead. It also did run for a brief period when I first got it and although I have changed the cap and checked the order of the leads I've not moved the distributor.

I'll go and double check the spark now I have changed some things and check the fuel cutoffs etc and report back.

If anybody has anything else I need to check then please let me know.

Thanks for your help so far

is it electronic ignition? if not it could be condensor and points, not common on these vans but they are out there, also the ad said clutch cable had snapped, the 2l should have a hydrolic clutch, the 1.6 had cable

Not the best picture but you'll get the idea



Red dots:
top one is in balance pipe (cant think of what it does now)
middle one is fuel cut off
bottom one is choke

Should have the fuel cut off and choke on other side as well. Make sure theres 12v and they click when disconnected/connected with ignition on. If there not working although fuel is being pumped through its not getting to the carbs.

Yellow dots are locations for breathers/vacuum pipes one each end of metal pipe at rear and one each end of metal pipe going into inlet manifold.

I'll doa proper picture tomorrow with air filter removed as it does come in handy sometimes!!

With a new starter motor your engine should be whizzing round. I would change that bush. Shame you didn't do it when the motor was out but gives you another excuse to go under the bus in the freezing cold!

Maybe barking up the wrong tree but you could try and bypass the idle stabalisation unit and check the earth on or around the distributor hasn't been disturbed. I've also read on here that a few people have had issues with faulty ignition amplifier, not sure how you would test this though.

woodmonkey wrote:is it electronic ignition? if not it could be condensor and points, not common on these vans but they are out there, also the ad said clutch cable had snapped, the 2l should have a hydrolic clutch, the 1.6 had cable

Yes it does have electronic ignition. At some stage previously somebody has changed the 1.6 engine for a 2l, so it now has the bigger engine but the original gearbox which has the cable operated clutch.

VWCamperfan wrote:With a new starter motor your engine should be whizzing round. I would change that bush. Shame you didn't do it when the motor was out but gives you another excuse to go under the bus in the freezing cold!

I did debate changing the bush at the same time but didn't have anything to remove the old one. M12 tap has been ordered and I'm just waiting for it to turn up.

cygnak wrote:Maybe barking up the wrong tree but you could try and bypass the idle stabalisation unit and check the earth on or around the distributor hasn't been disturbed. I've also read on here that a few people have had issues with faulty ignition amplifier, not sure how you would test this though.

I currently have the idle unit disconnected as I thought it was worth a shot but alas no different. You mentioned the earth on the distributor I did have a look for one yesterday but couldn't find one, any idea what colour the wire is likely to be and where it should be grounded so I could maybe work backwards?

As to the ignition amplifier, if it was faulty would I get a weak spark or no spark at all, is it possible for it to half fail?

Thanks for every bodies help so far

Check for volt drop on the main feed to the starter if thats had it you might not be getting full powere there, check it whilst some one cranks it over so as to test it under load, plus try using a jump lead and attach it to the engine and then to a good earth on body and give it a try?