Subject: Pokey the Wunderbus! (1976 Westalia Conversion, ej22)
Inane Cathode
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posted on March 3rd, 2011 at 04:06 PM
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
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posted on March 4th, 2011 at 03:11 PM
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
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posted on March 5th, 2011 at 06:44 AM
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:
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
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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
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posted on March 5th, 2011 at 03:24 PM
Quote:
Originally
posted by Joel
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
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posted on March 17th, 2011 at 08:29 AM
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
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posted on March 17th, 2011 at 04:59 PM
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
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posted on March 19th, 2011 at 04:16 PM
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
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posted on March 29th, 2011 at 06:35 AM
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
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posted on March 31st, 2011 at 06:54 PM
custom rad
here is my custom radiator
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fatdadis
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posted on March 31st, 2011 at 06:57 PM
spoiler
....so I can do this, to make it look nice
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fatdadis
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posted on April 1st, 2011 at 08:23 PM
ej20t
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posted on April 2nd, 2011 at 07:09 AM
original - looks good like it
I would black the bolt heads but that is a personal pick
Futue te ipsum!!!
fatdadis
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posted on April 2nd, 2011 at 09:42 AM
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.
fatdadis
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Inane Cathode
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posted on April 23rd, 2011 at 08:15 AM
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... >
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 
