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On 18 Sep 2003 at 9:34, jim wrote: > In an attempt to trouble shoot my car, I hooked up my pressure gauge and it measured 30 > PSI. When doing that, I bumped the wire for the head temperature sensor and the car > started to die. I moved the wire again and it ran better. Bump wire = die, move back = > smooth idle. This happened with a regularity that I am not familiar with when trouble > shooting my car, perhaps it is the problem. (Most problems I have been having are very > intermittent.) This is a 69, right? This is a fairly common intermittent problem with the 68-9 FI. It's not really a FI problem, it's more of a mechanical problem. More on this below. > Looking closely, the wire from the harness is coming loose from the spade(?) connector > inside a plastic housing to the temperature sensor. The connection spot is just behind > the generator if that helps place it visually. The most common problem with these is where the wire actually enters the temp sensor which is screwed into the head just below the #4 exhaust port. The wire is forced to take a sharp bend there, which often cuts thru the insulation letting the center conductor get grounded, which kills the engine. You should test to see if wiggling only has an effect if you are moving the sensor end of the wire. I suspect that if the connector end is still hanging together AT ALL, then it is not the problem. If the sensor is getting grounded, then the easy fix is to replace the sensor and be careful not to bend the new wire too sharply. BTW, replacing a sensor in the early location is a REAL PAIN. Starting in 1970, VW moved that sensor to the top of the engine near the #4 spark plug. That location is MUCH more reliable because no sharp bend is required. If you are lucky, your head has been replaced and you already have the boss there (replacement heads have installation holes in BOTH places) and you can install the new sensor in the later position. You will probably have to cut a hole in the sheet tin for clearance. If you don't have the upper installation location available, you will just have to install the new sensor in the early location and make a note to replace the head and left cooling tin (with the clearance hole), or just modify the left tin later, when you have the engine torn down. Wiggle your wire a bit more and let us know what you find. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org