Itinerant Air-Cooled

Colin arrived on time (naturally!) and I had the first mug of coffee ready for him

We went through the basics and then got to work on getting Harvee's engine started. First job was Colin teaching me how to do the hydraulic valves, then we went through the engine connections. Probable cause of the engine not starting was that the brake booster vacuum line wasn't connected properly! Changed to cooler plugs, checked the air filter, cleaned up the connections on the S-boot (both side points weren't fitted properly, just gunked into sort-of position!), and tested the electrical connections - Colin also noticed that when the engine was rebuilt, the control flaps were omitted, so the oil cooler isn't getting proper air flow control! I'll be going back to the mechanic and asking about that - we also set the vacuum hoses to how the factory diagram shows (two had been omitted previously).

After some fiddling, Harvee started! Not running well though, with #3 cylinder not present. Changed the injector to #4, but removing #4 caused the engine to die! Strange. After some head-scratching and testing, we (Colin) eventually managed to get all four cylinders firing, so we went on the test drive. After 10 miles, including a good ascent and descent (around 700') we pulled over to check tire pressures and a chat.

Then we went to re-start and come home.

Oopsy.

Oh, the ignominy of it:



Colin's first 'itinerant' tow truck back to home base!

No spark, so looks like the ignition module has died - I'll be changing to a standard breaker points distributor and Bosch blue coil, replacing the Hall Sensor equipment etc.

As it was late, and thundering, we decided to reconvene this morning for a half day, partly in the hope that I could acquire a 205 P distributor to allow us to get the engine running, but no luck in time. So, instead, we did the slider refresh and adjustment, and cleaned, greased and oiled the driver's door lock - they both work so beautifully now!

I have a list of things to look into doing - tightening the steering, fitting the DD CHT gauge (Colin got the ring terminal under #3 spark plug as part of the engine tune up), fitting some more seals around the engine in an attempt to lose the CO coming into the cabin when using the heater and some tidy-up.

It was a great weekend, I learned a whole heap of stuff and Colin is a great guy! I'll start my list for next year now

'least he got to wear his shorts...

...and wife beater...

You know, when I was young and in-shape I used to wear those t-shirts, and I didn't even have a wife! They've gotten a bad rap. Here's a fix for that:

http://cbsfresh1025.files.wordpress.com ... .jpg?w=420

Don't thank me, I did it for the love of all that is good and pop-ish from the 80s.

ML

Gypsie wrote:'least he got to wear his shorts...

For a guy that is generally so precise about a lot of things, you would think he would do a better job on the cut-offs rather than just hacking away at them.

aopisa wrote:

Gypsie wrote:'least he got to wear his shorts...

For a guy that is generally so precise about a lot of things, you would think he would do a better job on the cut-offs rather than just hacking away at them.

He probably cut them with his key to fashion the excess into a fan belt in the middle of nowhere. In the rain ;)

rallybug wrote:Colin's first 'itinerant' tow truck back to home base!

No spark, so looks like the ignition module has died - I'll be changing to a standard breaker points distributor and Bosch blue coil, replacing the Hall Sensor equipment etc.

Gads what a moment that must have been!

Sylvester wrote:

rallybug wrote:Colin's first 'itinerant' tow truck back to home base!

No spark, so looks like the ignition module has died - I'll be changing to a standard breaker points distributor and Bosch blue coil, replacing the Hall Sensor equipment etc.

Gads what a moment that must have been!

It was. Triumphant were we to resuscitate this bus from extremely odd symptoms, triumphant were we to have ripped through the wiring diagrams with alacrity, rallybug was facile and sharp as we determined which terminals were going where from the ECU plug. It was a pleasure to have a peer-to-peer consultation:
"Since the dead cylinder followed the plug swap, it has to be the wiring to the plug."
"Hey look, the power supply to injectors three and four are singularly dedicated."
"Power to #3 also energizes the ignition module."
"Well, the ignition module is working."
"And power to #4 energizes the ECU itself at #29."
"There is no #29 terminal in the ECU plug"
"Hmmmmm. Some goofyass botch job of incompatibility of components?"
It was a Federal double relay with missing terminals needed for the California only fuel injection that was causing the dead cylinder.

We re-installed the 1979 California-only double relay and were triumphantly cruising the hillside streets (amazing views!) enjoying a peppy FOUR cylinder engine when, upon hammering it on a sweeper ramp to I-15 South/Us-89/Beck St, I suddenly felt a pang of HoldOnAMinute - we had NOT checked tire pressures on what had been a poor languishing Harvee The Wonder Bus under the carport. Bad. Pulled into a lot to check tire pressures and actually adjust them with the buzzy little portable air pump. After getting the tire pressures squared away, the bus refused to start.

Immediately and with an eye to the storm clouds, we performed focused No Start diagnostics. Immediately, the engine told us that there was no spark.
Immediately, I knew we were stranded.
Why? Because these new-fangled circa 1979 electronic Hall Effect Ignition Modules either work or they do not work and this one now does not work.
We weakly hoped that cleaning and securing grounds would resurrect it. No.
We weakly hoped that "cooling down" would resurrect it. No.
We were chased into the interior where I brightly noted in the ensuing downpour that the rear sunroof at least was not leaking.

Never in my life have I been *stranded* in an air-cooled VW, ever!
Never have I had to hear an air-cooled VW owner give their AAA membership number over the phone.
Never have I had to ride in a tow truck with an air-cooled VW caught like a fish on the back.
That photograph did not catch the soundtrack of my rant against electronics, I vowed that Harvee must and shall henceforth be fitted with breaker points.

Thankfully, we got back to the house in short order and the driver, in a show of personal bravado, backed Harvee right under the carport even remembering to drop the rear end a few inches so the roof would clear.

Outside of Green River Utah, I did a breaker point maintenance on Chloe to help distance me from that instance of irritating ignobility. Thank-you, rallybug, for your excellent company through our transistorized trash trashed triumph tour.
Colin

Sometimes the wiring harness from the distributor to the ignition module chafes and shorts out. Worth having a look at.

Amskeptic wrote: Thankfully, we got back to the house in short order and the driver, in a show of personal bravado, backed Harvee right under the carport even remembering to drop the rear end a few inches so the roof would clear.

I've had to have two of my VW's towed and both times was amazed at the placement skills of the tow driver. I can't park them that accurately when they're running perfectly, much less on a tow hook.

I run a pertronix in mine but carry spare points and condensor to swap in "just in case". So far only my son has fried it by leaving the key on so he could play the radio. Radio is wired differently now and hasnt failed in 7 years. Todays points seem to wear out faster than they used to ands its time again to change em in my Ghia

dtrumbo wrote:I've had to have two of my VW's towed and both times was amazed at the placement skills of the tow driver. I can't park them that accurately when they're running perfectly, much less on a tow hook.

LOL yes! This guy was the Star of his very own movie, a Clint Eastwood thriller with every tow. Rallybug and I obligingly sat through the suspense. Traffic circles! Wicked hills! Tight corners! and then . . . backing it down the wicked hill through the tight corner of the driveway and up the hill to the carport. I felt like a little old vw man in the presence of Ford VIRILITY.
"YEAH THIS BABY CAN TOW ALMOST ANYTHING!"
". . . . my vw has never needed a tow . . . "
"YEAH 7.3 POWERSTROKE JUST PULLS YOU UP TO SPEED."
" mine's a 1.6 . . . single port."

There is not much worse, to me, than seeing your Bus headlights in the mirror of a flatbed tow truck. I have done it twice, once in Atlanta when Big Red melted it's engine on 285, and once with Samantha when she blew a front tire on the highway on the way to camping and my spare turned out to have a slow leak.

I have never read about those Hall Effect ignition systems. They can still be had?

Sylvester wrote:There is not much worse, to me, than seeing your Bus headlights in the mirror of a flatbed tow truck. I have done it twice, once in Atlanta when Big Red melted it's engine on 285, and once with Samantha when she blew a front tire on the highway on the way to camping and my spare turned out to have a slow leak.

I have never read about those Hall Effect ignition systems. They can still be had?

Like fuel injection that has been ripped off because of some dumb problem with a ground or a terminal, I am sure that there are some functional units available here or there. But, one state/one year-only 1979 bus electronic ignition systems are not terribly numerous. With the long list of warnings mentioned previously, I would look at a CA Hall Effect ignition system sitting in a box with skepticism, like I would a Pertronix sitting in a box,
"you want it? $25.00. I can't guarantee that it works, I don't know why it was removed . . . "
With fuel injection systems, I feel more confident that they will be functional.
Transistors that threaten you with failure (as both Pertronix and the CA electronic ignition systems do) if you keep the ignition on with the engine off . . . not so much.
Colin

My Petronix system in both vehicles is going on 9 years old, which either speaks to their long -lastedness or there will be a time soon I'll be taking that long ride on the back of some flatbed.