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Zippy Update: It seems that zippy was really flooding (with something)? I finally got portions of the Bentley's book photocopied and I started diagnosing the problem with the FI system (since I just did the tune up, I'm assuming that the ignition system is ok, for now). While I was testing out the idle speed settings, the problem started reappeared. This time, however, after shutting off the engine, I was not able to restart it immediately. I noticed that there was white smoke AND gas (or some sort of fluid) coming out of the tailpipe as if the engine was completely flooded. After waiting for ten minutes or so, zippy was able start up again without problem, but zippy was unable to start immediately after the incident. So far I've tuned her up, checked the pressure sensor, adjusted the valves etc. I'm not losing any oil (or if so, too little to be noticed), but it really seems odd that fluid would be coming out of the exhaust pipe given how hot the exhaust is. Given this and the helpful feedback from y'all, I figured the problem might be ignition related. I rechecked all the points, wires, distributor and cap and they seem ok, but I did notice that the generator reads 12.65 volts at 1000 rpm idle, but gets as high as 14.1V. Is that normal? My alternator vehicles generate a more constant 14 volts at any engine speed. Jim had mentioned the fuel overflow hose and water contamination as a possibility as well. Mine was broken and leaking gas when turning right. Unfortunately, I replaced this part about a month ago (4 tanks of gas or so ago), but the problem still seems to be occurring. If the problem were fuel contamination, would I need to drain the tank or would the problem generally clear up over time as the water-contaminated fuel gets used? Any ideas or next steps? Thanks, Wade -----Original Message----- From: jadney@vwtype3.org [mailto:jadney@vwtype3.org] Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2002 12:26 PM To: type3@vwtype3.org Subject: Re: [T3] Smoke, Loss of Power... On 27 May 2002, at 22:37, Wade Shen wrote: > When it happened this afternoon, I pulled over and shut off the > engine. I saw gas fumes coming out of the tailpipe. When I started > zippy again, white smoke came out. I waited a couple of minutes, > started zippy for a third time, and he ran fine for the rest of the > day. Anybody experience intermittent problems like this? Start by checking your fuel overflow hose. If it is damaged you may have a gas tank that is half full of water from driving in the rain. This can be pretty intermittent depending on how much time the water has had to settle to the bottome of the tank. While smoke often means unburned gas, which can be an injector stuck open, or just a cylinder not firing (ignition problem of some kind.) You have to narrow it down first. Blue/black smoke is usually oil, which can be normal if it happens only briefly after sitting overnight. Troubleshooting by smoke color can be a problem in itself because your perception of the color may not be the same as someone else's, and the color impression is often different if you are sitting in the middle of the cloud than if you are viewing it from a distance. - Jim Adney Madison, WI USA ------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe? mailto:type3-request@vwtype3.org, Subject: unsubscribe