Re: [T3] pressure regulator

[stans4@ix.netcom.com (Stan Schaefer)]

The regulators commonly will squeak or moan when pressure comes up,
all three that I've got do that.  It's one way I know I've got enough
pressure to start up. Normally you can't hear it over the engine
noise.  I'd first check to see if you're getting fuel volume, you do
that by removing the plug on the left of the engine between the
injectors and hooking up a hose.  You then ground the pump lead, Muir
has a good discription of this process.  You can also check the
pressure of the fuel ring at this point, I used a boiler gauge that I
got from a hardware store for years until I got the proper gauge.  If
you have pressure and volume, the problem isn't the pump or the
regulator. 

Check the electrical connections next, a disconnected pressure sensor
or head temperature sensor will also cause a no-start.  I usually
start there first, I've had a number of broken wires, usually at the
connector and usually after having to do something in the engine
compartment.  There's really no substitute for having the Bentley
manual and the FI circuit diagrams inside.  If I can get the injectors
to click when I depress the throttle, that indicates that the wiring
to the throttle position switch is good('71).  Likewise, I hook up a
spare distributor and turn the rotor by hand, if the injectors fire,
that clears that piece of wiring.  If no áe
stributor, you can
take a thin piece of solid wire and short from the center of the
connector to each side in turn, it should fire each set of injectors.
If no clicks at all and the pump is running, check the power and
ground connections to the control box.  You can always run the
exhaustive end-to-end tests that Muir has for the harness, this takes
the good part of a morning, but was the only way I found all the
problems that the P.O. had caused in the FI harness when I first got
my car.  You have to interpret things in there for your year, I think
it was written for a '70 or '71.  The combination of the Bentley and
Muir was what got mine going.  You should also probably pull your
distributor trigger contacts, if you haven't done so recently, and
clean them.  Just use a piece of brown paper or a business card to get
the oil off, don't file them.  Check for continuity from center to
side on them, I had one with a bad rivet once that didn't make up on
one side, kind of hard drivng a car with only two cylinders.

In my experience, a sudden failure to start is almost always a broken
wire somewhere, or a connector has come apart.

On Tue, 01 Jun 1999 10:30:54 -0700, you wrote:

>I have a '72 FI squareback that refuses to start.  I had the fuel pump
>re-built a couple of weeks ago and that got it running for about a week
>but then one day it wouldnt start again.  it's getting planty of flow
>from the gas tank but there's a strange noise coming from the pressure
>regulator. It's a low pitched squeek or maybe kind of a moan. It happens
>when the ignition is turned on and the pump runs for a second and also
>when I'm cranking the engine.  Has anyone heard of this before.  Thanks
>for any help anyone might have.
>                            Aaron
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>Too much? Digest! mailto:type3-d-request@vwtype3.org Subj=subscribe