[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]
Most of my parts packing is done; I got the '71 square out and got the tires aired. The engine didn't want to run well, however. At idle it would die, and in a drive around a long block it missed a lot while cruising but ran fine when I put my foot in it. Everything smelled gassy, however, so it seemed like it was running rich. The system voltage was fine. On a whim, I pulled the distributor last night, took it downstairs, and pulled it apart. It was clear that it had never been disassembled before. It was somewhat dirty inside, but the main thing I noticed was that there was old, stiff grease on the FI trigger points. I cleaned everything up and put on fresh grease or oil where necessary, then put it back together. This morning I put it back in the car. I knew that there was a good chance that nothing would have changed. It started once and then died. Started again and stayed running. It idled and ran smoothly. I set the dwell and timing, and now it seems perfectly happy. I drove it to work and back with no problems at all. My guess is that at low speed the ramp on the trigger point cam let the points down so softly that they didn't always make contact. OTOH, I can't explain why it would run well as soon as I floored the pedal, even at low rpms. It almost seemed like a trigger point problem might have made the injectors STAY open, rather than not opening at all, like I had always assumed. I'll do the valves tomorrow. Lube the front end and then probably take it for a ride, warm it up, and change the oil. I think it's ready for the trip. If I can get everything packed that I want to take, then I think I'll be ready, too. Looking forward to seeing Keith, John, and Russ tomorrow, and everyone else in a few days. -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~