[T3] FI wire #18 connected!

[Toby Erkson <air_cooled_nut@pobox.com>]

<x-flowed>Yesterday -- through hail, sunshine, pouring rain, sunshine, and more 
hail -- I was able to wire my starter power (terminal #50) to the FI 
wire #18 that goes to the ECU during start up.  The wire, along with the 
power source for the external cold start, had been melted and fried 
thanks to the "mechanic" that incorrectly wired the system...that's 
another soapbox, though...

Anyway, after a inch of digging into the FI harness just as it comes 
from the fender into the engine bay I was able to find the missing #18 
wire amid melted wire insulation and copper strands using the continuity 
tester on my VOM.  I soldered a wire to it, along with heat-shrink to 
protect it, and tapped the wire into the #50 wire that I already had for 
the external cold start (that I had fixed a few weeks ago).  The engine 
was already warm due to a previous drive so I couldn't tell if any 
improvements were made but at least the car started and drove okay.

This morning I only activated the fuel pump twice (turn key to IGN then 
OFF then IGN) to build pressure, then twisted the rest of the way to 
START.  Normally it's three pump cycles, couple accelerator pumps to 
squirt fuel into the intakes, and several seconds of cranking.  This 
time, however, it cranked a couple of times and fired which is better 
than what normally happens.  Then it died.  Tried it again and she 
caught and kept an idle for the couple of seconds needed for the aux. 
air device (AAD) to open up and get the idle running strong.  So I guess 
it helped.  A little.

Does this #18 wire tell the ECU to provide more squirt during start up?  
What's it's purpose?

BTW, the long post is because I'm home, out of work, and EXTREMELY BORED!

--
 Toby Erkson  --  http://www.icbm.org/
 '72 VW Squareback Darksider, 5-speed, 2.0L, rag top
 '72 VW Squareback Lightsider, automatic, FI, sunroof, gas heater
 '95 VW Jetta ~ SCCA Solo 2 EP #3; '73 Porsche 914; '81 Honda Gold Wing
 Portland, Oregon

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