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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ L jet miss

Posted by: qa1142 Jun 19 2005, 02:25 PM

So I have a 1.8 with L jet. I have miss that is complete loss of power. Tach does not bounce so not likely ignition related.

I replaced dual relay and keep looking for bad grounds.

Happens at any speed, any rpm, during accel or decel or when just crusing at any speed. not at idle.

Some days not there at all, other days only after several hours, other days, right from start. Hot cold raining dry may be there or not.

Any ideas?

Posted by: jim912928 Jun 19 2005, 05:30 PM

Something very similar was happening to my 1.8. It was almost like it was starving for gas an no power..intermittently. Turns out I had loose connectors (actually the wires going into the connectors) on my fuel injectors. It was totally intermittent. When it was running poorly i did the "pull off" the spark plug wire to find out which cylinder wasn't firing. Then I siimply wiggled the injector connectors and found the bad ones. This had many stumped and it was a simple old wiring issue....it's worth a check on yours...but do it when it's acting up.

Posted by: Brando Jun 19 2005, 08:52 PM

Wiring?
Connectors?
Bad ECU?

Make sure the connector for the ECU has all good contacts and that it's in fully. Mine came disconnected/unplugged just a hair on one side and it would intermittently stall due to no fuel.

Posted by: double-a Jun 19 2005, 10:28 PM

check yer plug wires. i had the same symptoms, turns out it was bad wires. just personal experience, fwiw.

~a

Posted by: qa1142 Jun 20 2005, 07:00 AM

Thanks

I'll check all of the above. The power loss is too long to be just one cylinder. sometimes it drops power for 8-10 seconds with Tach still working as rpms drop

Drove it in to work this AM though, miss or no miss. I figure if it would just stop, I can finally figure it out.

Posted by: Marty Yeoman Jun 20 2005, 12:58 PM

I had a simiar problem. I tracked it down to the ECU.
If you have a known good one try swaping. Of course, always make sure your connections are tight.
Good luck.

Posted by: ClayPerrine Jun 20 2005, 01:27 PM

FWIW.. ECU failure is so rare as to be almost non-existent. After saying that, I will also say that I have a dead one at home.

Check the rubber tube between the air flow meter and the throttle body for cracks or splits. Check carefully in the valleys of the pleats. If it is split, it will introduce false air into the system. The air bypasses the AFM, and because of that the engine will run lean to the point of power loss. Also make sure that you have no vacuum leaks, and check the oil cap seals.

If that doesn't fix it, check to make sure that you don't have a VW Beetle air flow meter. A lot of the FLAPS out there will sell you a Beetle AFM, and the calibration is completely wrong for a Type -IV. I bought one from AA, and it was the part number and calibration for a Beetle.

Whatever you do, don't open up the air flow meter and start monkeying with the innards. There are special tools that are required to recalibrate one correctly, and the average person doesn't have them.

If I can help in any way, just let me know.

Posted by: double-a Jun 20 2005, 01:43 PM

QUOTE (ClayPerrine @ Jun 20 2005, 11:27 AM)
Whatever you do, don't open up the air flow meter and start monkeying with the innards. There are special tools that are required to recalibrate one correctly, and the average person doesn't have them.

if i could hijack for just a moment: i've got a bad afm, is there anyone that can recondition it? i hate to just trash the thing.

~a

Posted by: ClayPerrine Jun 20 2005, 02:04 PM

I have the calibration tool... but the meter that goes with it is DOA.

When I finally finish my /6 conversion, I intend to sit down and fix the meter. Then I will start calibrating the AFMs for club members.

Posted by: double-a Jun 20 2005, 02:06 PM

say the word, and i'll send it to you. one of the things i had to do to get this car running (it sat since 1984) was replace the afm. so the one i pulled out is in really nice shape, it just doesn't work for some reason

~a

Posted by: qa1142 Jun 20 2005, 07:09 PM

AFM and ECU are matched both are 022 prefix part numbers. I have been cleaning contacts and searching for loose contacts

I have full "late" 1.8 harness, ecu and AMF 473 prefix. but I really do not want to switch out the harness PITA

Any other ideas?

PS not a vaccum leak, I have been over and over that.