Skip to content
Aussieveedubbers

Pokey the Wunderbus! (1976 Westalia Conversion, ej22)

1 like
Share Share on Facebook Share on X Share on Reddit
Log in to reply

Inane Cathode Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Nov 2009 ·

#829150
Well i got all the wiring all wired (at least what i can do right now, no MAF, o2s or anything) and tried to start it.

It turns over just peachy, and it apparently is getting fuel, but it wont start (gas comes out the pin holes in the exhaust). Did the old screw-driver-spark-plug trick, no spark.

I did some poking (lol) around with the electronics and got a little tied up and bass ackwards with the main relay. Naturally i jump to the most technical problems (oh no, bad ecu! shorted harness! bad grounds!) After i'd turn the key on, it'd actually stay on for a minute or so. I got it into my head that this isnt supposed to happen so i tore through the diagrams and decided that theres no real way for it to short out, i never touched the power distribution so it should be from the factory still. So i tried the 'spare' ecu from the bug, still the same issue.

Well wtf? So, i gave up for the day (55 degrees drops off awful fast once the sun goes down in the trees). On the drive home (i live about an hour from the bus itself) i had an epiphany that maybe it's SUPPOSED to do that. I recalled working on the bug once where i had turned on the key, then off, then went around back and monkeyed with stuff, and i could hear something squealing. Turns out it was the IACV that was still on for some reason, i dismissed it as a strange happening. So, maybe the relays are working fine (fuel pump relay does it's thing, comes on during cranking and everything) and theres some other problem.

Oh well, no big deal. No sparks are easy to find, i think. Less smelly problems to have and most the work is done with a meter (tried doin the test light thing, not really hip on that for finer stuff).

Joel Now containing 100\% E-Wang

9,368 posts · joined Feb 2006 ·

#829176
Tried swapping the ignitor and coil packs?

Inane Cathode Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Nov 2009 ·

#829299
Well the coil pack was the one on the beetle before i swapped it, should be fine. I dunno about ignitors though, cant imagine it'd go bad just sitting but it's worth checking.
I'll go through the checklist in the factory manual, it's usually pretty spot on 🙂 I'm thinking something stupid like the crank sensor is dirty or something. Of course, it is obdII so i'll before anything else plug the reader in and see what codes i've got 😀

Inane Cathode Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Nov 2009 ·

#829400
Well allrighty, i did a bit more work. In the chart it has you check for power and ground in the ecu pinout. The power was good but i had a couple of grounds that werent grounded. One for the sensors and one for the ignition.

I grounded both and tried to start it, and after about 20 minutes of various forms of trying to start heres the result:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x8UjnP9qBE

Its obviously not idling well, i cant imagine why. Wouldnt have anything to do with not having a MAF or o2 sensors, would it? All in good time with that stuff.

Here's the inside of my office today:


I have a nice forest view out my window in my office


Attack of the 50 foot vinyl spaghetti!


Some malcontent hacked these wires and swapped them, thinking that they were obviously wired backwards (red to yellow, yellow to red) then realized that it probably doesnt matter where either of the wires end up. Hmmmm...


That is all for now 🙂
Next project is:

Fabbing (uhg, welder time machine time again) up an exhaust that wont break off -_-.

Finding an airbox for my spare maf i had the forethought of buying when i didnt need to months ago.

Making a longer throttle cable of some construction (probably 1/16th braided steel a-la whats in the beetle) as well as lengthening the bell crank.

Getting and installing a temp sensor (no tach in the bus, i dont really see the point)

Installing the rad fan relay and wiring

Testing the cooling system (letting it warm up until it almost overheats or cools down as it should)

Finding seats that will work (its got some audi seats that are way too tall, you end up looking out the top of the windshield, and my hair brushes the ceiling). I'm thinking of getting some fiero seat rails and pontiac sunfire seats (by the way, the rails and sunfire seats are a bolt match) that should get me pretty low.

Then, other stuff.

Thanks for reading 😀

Its obviously not idling well, i cant imagine why. Wouldnt have anything to do with not having a MAF or o2 sensors, would it? All in good time with that stuff.

Here's the inside of my office today:


I have a nice forest view out my window in my office


Attack of the 50 foot vinyl spaghetti!


Some malcontent hacked these wires and swapped them, thinking that they were obviously wired backwards (red to yellow, yellow to red) then realized that it probably doesnt matter where either of the wires end up. Hmmmm...


That is all for now 🙂
Next project is:

Fabbing (uhg, welder time machine time again) up an exhaust that wont break off -_-.

Finding an airbox for my spare maf i had the forethought of buying when i didnt need to months ago.

Making a longer throttle cable of some construction (probably 1/16th braided steel a-la whats in the beetle) as well as lengthening the bell crank.

Getting and installing a temp sensor (no tach in the bus, i dont really see the point)

Installing the rad fan relay and wiring

Testing the cooling system (letting it warm up until it almost overheats or cools down as it should)

Finding seats that will work (its got some audi seats that are way too tall, you end up looking out the top of the windshield, and my hair brushes the ceiling). I'm thinking of getting some fiero seat rails and pontiac sunfire seats (by the way, the rails and sunfire seats are a bolt match) that should get me pretty low.

Then, other stuff.

Thanks for reading 😀

Joel Now containing 100\% E-Wang

9,368 posts · joined Feb 2006 ·

#829441
Even with any of the sensors out it's got a default setting to keep the engine running.

You can see in my error code vid the default setting with a dead TPS is to idle at 1500rpm 😂

Your coil pack plug wiring is abit nasty 😉

The ECU actually ignores any o2 sensor readings till it's above a set temp, but yes they don't like not having the AFM connected 😂

Inane Cathode Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Nov 2009 ·

#829472
Joel wrote:Even with any of the sensors out it's got a default setting to keep the engine running.

You can see in my error code vid the default setting with a dead TPS is to idle at 1500rpm 😂

Your coil pack plug wiring is abit nasty 😉

The ECU actually ignores any o2 sensor readings till it's above a set temp, but yes they don't like not having the AFM connected 😂
Yeaaaaah, i know about the coil pack. Ghetto, at best. But, that's just a temporary setup. I'll be soldering and heat shrinking it like i should.
I've heard lately that you're supposed to use crimped joints instead of solder joints anymore. I dunno, i've never had a solder joint fail, but all the problems in intermittent connectivity has been from some kind of crimped connector.

Inane Cathode Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Nov 2009 ·

#831035
Woo! Got to drive it today! Sorry about the lack of press release, haven't done a whole lot worth mention (and pictures of wires over and over arent very interesting!)

Got some coolant in it, got the rad fans relay-d, got some gas back in it, and enough of an exhaust to not set off car alarms further than 200 yards.

I wanted to get the temp gauge calibrated (i have a new vdo gauge, stock subaru sender). They seem to get along ok, 180 on the motor shows 180 or so on the gauge.

That said, they seem to get along all the way up past 200, unfortunately. Driving it just a couple blocks got it hot enough to boil. I shut it down and cooled it off a few times until i got back home.

I took the thermostat out and dropped it in some boiling water. Opened all the way right at 180 as planned. I then took the top hose off and filled up the motor as much as i could then ran it some more. Still got too hot.

I'm not sure whats going on, i suspect a giant air lock. So, my question is, how do i figure out exactly what's going on? I can't seem to cram any more coolant into it, and the lines i can squish dont seem to tell me much.

My other thought was perhaps the 'suck' side is connected to the top of the radiator, and the 'blow' side of the water pump is connected to the lower, is it just sucking air off the top of the radiator, or wouldnt it still flow through?

The setup i have, i dont have a header tank, my money is in the hat on that being whats wrong. A regular car can be a pain in the ass to fill with no header tank, i can imagine a 15 foot long U shaped system like i've got going on right now would be really hard to fill without an air bubble getting in there.

I think what i'll do next is put in a header tank, jetta, that way the setup would be virtually identical to what my beetle has, should work out fine like that 🙂

Pictures!

Air intake!


Funky hose setup, but it seems functional so far 🙂


Video to follow...

Pokey running

rocknrob Insano Dub Head

844 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#831104
might be handy to have an air bleed on the water manifold on top of the engine...it can be hard to get the air out of there with the pipes running so low🤪

Inane Cathode Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Nov 2009 ·

#831395
Yes actually i decided to get a coolant tank like whats on the beetle. It's installed and all hooked up, just havent gotten a chance to test it out yet 🙂

dlrecord Learner Dubber

19 posts · joined Sep 2010 ·

#833053
Nice work man. But I gotta ask about your air intake hose...what is that?



My project is still coming along but I'm dealing with the under the bus framerail mounted system right now. Since I have no welding skills, I ponied up to have it done professionally. Cooling lines and set up at the same time.

My next task is wiring and then hopefully firing it up. I am worried though about my reversed throttle body intake and the IACV being uside down...might have to take your approach and leave the throttle body stock and run a fresh air intake system like yours. Let me know.

-Dan
1979 Westfalia Campmobile Deluxe
2.0L EFI, 090 auto transmission

-----------------------------------------
Subaru 2.2L conversion project
http://1979vwconversion.blogspot.com/2010/09/start.html

fatdadis Commited Dubber

64 posts · joined Jan 2010 ·

#833441
....so I can do this, to make it look nice

1 attachment · Log in to view

fatdadis Commited Dubber

64 posts · joined Jan 2010 ·

#833630
ej20t

Bizarre Moderator The artist formerly known as blue74l

12,789 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#833656
original - looks good 👍 👍 like it

I would black the bolt heads but that is a personal pick
Futue te ipsum!!!

fatdadis Commited Dubber

64 posts · joined Jan 2010 ·

#833664
yes.....I could have gone more conservative on the rad grill attach bolts. Had to be stainless bolts, and tried painting them, but when you need to unscrew...the paint is damaged by screwdriver - so I took the option of leaving the bolts as a feature.
These posts were a test......moving my "kombi story" to busses (link in members rides, too) - so I don't hijack this fellow's build pics.

Inane Cathode Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Nov 2009 ·

#837186
Picture boooooomb!

I've been working on the beast this whole time, but a combination of crappy weather, poor time management, and losing the camera means no pictures. Everyone likes pictures, so i took some 😀

Got this inductive proximity sensor so i can get my VSS put together. I'm thinking of arranging it so it sees the bolts holding the cv axle to the trans. I've had issues keeping the bolts snugged, and losing some of the fins on the sensor on the beetle, so i'll try the bolts on the bus this time.


Got a little bit of weather. Two feet, but the sun burnt it off pretty good.


Removed all the wood stuff, took the ugly ass 70's TV den veneer off. It's like... birch veneered plywood underneath, so i just sanded it down and urathaned right on the wood.


Rear area, excuse the mess. The gray thing is the tent that came with it, one of those godawful heavy cotton things. I had it out at least once but i cant figure out how it goes together. Into the rain channel i see, but im missing ALL the poles to it, anyone have an idea of how to copy the pole design?


Tore out the top


Got some modern 'canvas'. I think its heavy polyester, but its super waterproof and way strong.


Then i copied the old top


Put it together




Then put it back in. At this point i have the top stapled in (damn thing isnt quite the right shape, required some creative stretching and such to get the top part to fit)








Oh, and i figured out the cooling problem. The radiator top was higher than the coolant tank, so i relocated it (who really puts shoes in there anyway 😉)



I dunno if i have this shot up already, but i think i did a good job arranging things 😀


That's all for now! More pictures as i put the top back together, build the vss, replace the thermostat (well probably no pictures for that), put in a heater, seats, on... and on... and on... >