The "Lurchmobile"

[wisepilgrim]

Hey guys thanks for the tips. If it stays warm until Sunday I will have a go at these suggestions. Barring that, Streetsboro it is.

[wisepilgrim]

If not Streetsboro, can anybody recommend a shop in the Cleveland or Lorain areas?

[wwebner]

I know you said that you do not a a garage to work in but,take advantage of the current warmer temps and stare at the inside of your engine comp. Follow Rand'ys suggestions. If you are going to drive this YOU HAVE TO BE AT MINIMUM , familiar with how it works. As this was Dan's bus I am a little familiar with what he has done. I know the fuel tank and lines were taken care of
and the small elbow connector on the aux air valve and most,if not all the other vac lines. However,if it did backfire, You may have blown off a hose on the S boot or even the Vac Line for the brake assist. Don't just wiggle them,look at each hose and follow it from begining to end and make sure it is connected. I am leaving for vacation or I could help out in person. Dale's on State Rd. can help you out if you can't do it yourself. BUT YOU REALLY NEED TO LEARN THIS VEHICLE AND HOW IT WORKS if you intend to drive it.

[volks71folk]

Do you have a timing light? If not I have one you can have if you can pick it up in Cuyahoga Falls. Randy that posted above sent me this timing light for free when I was just learning about my engine. I bought a new one so I want to pass this one to someone that might need it. Thanks again Randy and let me know if you want it

[Randy in Maine]

Wow, that timing light gift was a long time ago. Time flies doesn't it? Give it to someone who can use it, I say. That is why I gave it to you.

To the original poster, have a look in there and see what is "amiss". I will bet it is something obvious and really easy to fix. That little 90º boot at the end of the aux air regualtor likes to split on the bottom side where it is hard to see. A "mirror on a stick" gizmo is handy to have in your bag of tricks.

Also do you know how to see if the Temp Sensor II over by cylinder #3 is tested? Make sure it is plugged securly into the engine wiring harness.

[Six Volt]

I went over today to take a look at this bus and see if I could help. I couldn't.

The new owner is Mike. Real nice guy. It's Lurch's old bus, as was pointed out earlier. Looks like Dan did a lot to the engine. Has a new Kyle wiring harness, some new vacuum lines and a petronix or compufire module.

It cranks slowly, (battery is weak), but enough where it should start. It turns for several revolutions then backfires. I looked all over at the vacuum lines and nothing seemed out of place. The brake booster line was there, the boot on the AAR was there and seemed new. The cold start valve lines were all intact. The line going over to the charcoal canister was off, but I don't think that matters. It didn't change anything once I connected it. S boot was on the AFM and the spaghetti vacuum lines above the plenum seemed ok.

I thought it would be the points, but upon popping the cap I realized its been upgraded to the electronic module. I know nothing aobut them so I just put the cap back on. I wish I had another distributor ready to go to drop in and see.

Put the key on the "on" position and could hear the fuel pump engage when I moved the sweeper. I didn't have a fuel pressure gauge nor did I have the right sized wrench to even see if gas was pumping at the fuel rail.

I did notice that the cap on the potentionmeter on top of the AFM is missing. I don't think that can cause a vacuum leak but if it can, there you go. Mike said he wasn't sure if it ever had one or if it was in a box of stuff Dan had given him earlier.

Anyway, this is probably an easy fix for someone with a little more awareness of FI troubleshooting than me. Mike is moving to Iceland at the end of the month, so he needs to do something with this thing. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions post something.

[Six Volt]

Just a quick follow up to this because it's bugging me. On reflection I sense the backfire was from the plenum. Is there a gasket under that thing that can go bad? How do you tighten up a plenum? I looked at the "S" boot, but I'm wondering how often do they go bad? I didn't take it out and REALLY look close. Could an "S" boot crack prevent starting?

I think the battery needs to be charged to be sure we're getting full cranking power. It was getting a little week on the 2nd and 3rd tries but still should have started.

I'm still thinking timing is an issue. I couldn't see any timing marks on the pulley, but the timing sale was there. Perhaps Dan or Bill will remember if there are timing marks on that pulley for TDC. Assuming there's a crack in the pulley, when you line that up with 0 degrees on the scale is that TDC? Yes, assuming the rotor is pointed at #1. I know I should know this, but it's been a while since I've looked at a type IV.

Anyway, its just bugging me because it looks like a lot was done to this engine, but it just won't start.

[21window]

http://www.type2.com/library/electrip/timemark.htm

[wisepilgrim]

I'll be charging it up later this afternoon to give it another go.

[Randy in Maine]

Minimum voltage for the FI to run is about 10 volts or so.

Minimum fuel pressure to get into the game is about 26 psi.

If it were me, I would jump his battery with a running car for about 20 minutes without trying to start it. You can also hook up a dwell meter to the "-" or "1" side of the coil to see if you get a singal on the dwell meter. It won't mean anything (because it is a points replacement module), but it should read something to show it is at least doing something.

The only real seals on the air plenum is the big S boot, the 4 intake runners (to the injectors) and the throttle body to plenum seal. The vacuum hoses to the AAR, the decel valve, and the brake booster can be removed and sealed with duct tape to make sure they are not at issue. If the injector seals are old and tired that could be a vacuum problem also.