Road Wrenching

Issues encountered with Evelyn, the 1983 Volkswagen Vanagon

Current:

  1. Under heavy load at higher RPMs, the van will buck pretty significantly. Not an issue when driving normally but want to resolve. Possible fuel pressure regulator, electrical ground, O2 sensor, AFM, vacuum leak, etc. issue. Will monitor and troubleshoot.
  2. Van sometimes hard to start (must crank for awhile) when cold. If I jumper the temp switch on the cold start injector to ground, it starts fine, indicating the cold start injector works. I cleaned grounds but now it’s been so warm I can’t verify that this resolved the problem. Waiting until temp gets down below 50’s.

Resolved:

  1. Heater fan not working. No power to switch. Traced wire – found it had simply come unplugged from terminal in fuse box. 10/16/19
  2. Heater flap cable crimp broke off, meaning flaps couldn’t be opened or closed when controls were operated. Fixed with a small electrical crimp on 10/20/19.
  3. Decel valve is failing, resulting in sustained high-idle after letting off gas. Clamped off hose connection for now, may replace valve or permanently blank off later. 10/20/19
  4. Alternator belt loose. Adjusted and tightened. I’m hesitant to really torque down on bolt due to aluminum threads and previous repair. Good for now though. 10/20/19
  5. Water coming out fill connection on side of van when using faucet. We don’t plan to ever use the high-pressure hose connection, so I removed the hose connection entirely. 10/20/19
  6. Blower motor seized. Replaced with new. Also replaced switch and fan resistor. 11/22/19
  7. Headlights dim. Replaced headlights, cleaned grounds, and added low and high beam relays. Much brighter now. 11/22/19
  8. Headlight high beam switch broken. Have to hold in to keep high beams on. Replaced switch. 11/22/19
  9. Small exhaust leak at band clamp. Removed, added sealant, and reinstalled. Better now. 11/22/19
  10. Alternator belt squeal. Adjusted and tightened, again. 1/10/20
  11. Loud buzzing sound when using the auxiliary heater. Inspection revealed that the fridge was rubbing against the heater’s fan housing. Shimmed the fridge up with two pennies. Perfect now. 1/12/20