Chaos in Carleton, MI
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2017 8:39 pm
The day started with Chloe puttering down my driveway.
My pipe dream had been that the bus would be running when Colin arrived, and that we would spend the day doing all sorts of improvements. This did not come to pass.
The engine found its way into the bay on Thursday evening, and the final exhaust bits were fastened in on Friday evening. Then when I went to start the bus I was greeted with nothing. So, I switched the two spade connectored wires on the starter and got it to turn over. But not the slightest hint of an offer. Hmm....
Traced it down to the double relay pretty quickly. Then I remembered to plug in the AFM fitting. This had to make it go! No luck... After a few more feeble attempts I resigned myself to having Colin help me get it started in an embarrassingly short period of time in the morning and went to bed.
Fast forward to Colin's arrival. We had a nice chat in the kitchen about a few things. He reveled that the pre-schooler he met on his first visit here was now 13. Then we discussed the no-start problem and our course of action.
After the first few minutes, we tried starting it. No fuel pump and no offer. Colin poured a little fuel down the plenum, surely this would bring it sputtering to life for a moment... but no! The battery was getting a bit tired, and since we were in a barn quite a ways from the house we had to bring in auxiliary electrical reinforcements.
So, time to make sure we have the basics in place. Pulled the middle wire from the distributor and turned it over. "That's a great f***ing spark!" says Colin. Hmm, we got spark. But still no fuel. We despaired that the Double Relay might be toast. Extensive testing (with the two of us struggling to read the numbers off the double relay to know where to apply the voltage) later, we decided the relay was fine. Then, Colin had an "AHA!" look about him and checked the connector to the AFM more closely.
Three of the pins had been pulled out of their place due to the ham-handed treatment I had subjected them to. So... I pulled the little barbs up on them and pushed them back into the connector. Put the ignition on and swept the wiper on the AFM a bit and the fuel pump started! Woo hoo! It was certain that the bus would now spring to life. But NO!
Hmm, we got spark, and fuel now. There is probably air... Gotta check the timing! After some gnashing of teeth, we decided we knew where #1 was and he set the timing. Still no start! Hmmm.... actually starting to progress to Grrrrr.... Pulled off the distributor cap again and noticed the distributor rotor was able to move because it was not seated deeply enough. This solved the timing problem and we got it re-timed. Shortly after this it started and he tinkered with the mixture enough for us to drive it out of the accursed barn and into the beautifully sunny day that was happening without us (and next to the dome).
Now that fully half our day was gone, it seemed like a good time for lunch. After lunch we attacked the pesky heat distribution cable. The one on it had broken, but it was not the correct one anyway. The replacement I had purchased was also not the right one. We raided one from a '79 deluxe that I am not prepared to treat as a parts bus. Colin took several pictures of this, and may have more to say about it. I will leave this to him.
We ended up having to remove the tree on the pipe that takes the heat to the dashboard. A spring is attached to the lever arm to help pull it into position. We raided that from the same "not a parts bus" but had NO CLUE where it was supposed to attach. We decided to drill a (small) hole into the back of the tree and attach it there.
Now it was time to do some AFM tuning. The bus had not been idling the best for a while now, and I had suspected trouble from vacuum leaks. I was not disappointed. The big one was in the brake booster circuit. The hose leaving the engine bay had been hacked several times. It also had the automatic only tiny little barb that feeds a tiny hose and what turned out to be a non-functioning check valve. In what turned into an epic bit of drama, we removed the entire hose from engine bay to the metal brake booster line from another "not a parts bus". This filled me with grief, but I will replace it on the '79 standard sunroof bus eventually.
Putting the hose into the '75 Westy was pretty easy after the fun of taking it out. It seemed to make a big difference, but after further review there still seems to be a vacuum problem in that circuit. We blocked it off for now, and I will pursue that on my own time.
So... time for a test drive! Colin wins the race to the driver's seat and we head off to gas station (I only put in a gallon or so at home). We get to the gas station and Colin is poking with things there, so I ran in and got a pop. When I come back out, the bus is not running. Good... time to put some gas in it. But not so good... it had stalled dead and refused to restart. The bus acted like it was out of gas, but filling it did not cause it to start on the next crank. I felt the fuel pump, it was pretty warm (nice bath temperature). Colin asserted that it might be dead.
Turns out it was just mostly dead. After a few minutes it started up. Colin's theory is that there was so little fuel in the tank, and we spent so much time idling, that it heated the fuel up so that it could no longer cool the pump. The cooler than ambient temperature pump that I felt upon the return home lends credence to this theory so that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Visit time was quickly drawing to a close. He insisted on taking a hatchet to the steering wheel!
The steering wheel was loose, and the hatchet was the closest thing to take the button off with. He tightened the steering wheel and adjusted the screws on the horn ring. He also took about 2 minutes and cleaned up the shifter stop-plate placement nicely! Another few minutes lubricating the sliding door made a world of difference and he was off!
It turned out to be a hugely productive, if not more than a bit unorganized on my part, day. The bus felt good when I took it out on the road (repair talisman extra fuel pump in tow), it shifts nicer, and the sliding door works much better. Thanks again for continuing to offer this unique service!
My pipe dream had been that the bus would be running when Colin arrived, and that we would spend the day doing all sorts of improvements. This did not come to pass.
The engine found its way into the bay on Thursday evening, and the final exhaust bits were fastened in on Friday evening. Then when I went to start the bus I was greeted with nothing. So, I switched the two spade connectored wires on the starter and got it to turn over. But not the slightest hint of an offer. Hmm....
Traced it down to the double relay pretty quickly. Then I remembered to plug in the AFM fitting. This had to make it go! No luck... After a few more feeble attempts I resigned myself to having Colin help me get it started in an embarrassingly short period of time in the morning and went to bed.
Fast forward to Colin's arrival. We had a nice chat in the kitchen about a few things. He reveled that the pre-schooler he met on his first visit here was now 13. Then we discussed the no-start problem and our course of action.
After the first few minutes, we tried starting it. No fuel pump and no offer. Colin poured a little fuel down the plenum, surely this would bring it sputtering to life for a moment... but no! The battery was getting a bit tired, and since we were in a barn quite a ways from the house we had to bring in auxiliary electrical reinforcements.
So, time to make sure we have the basics in place. Pulled the middle wire from the distributor and turned it over. "That's a great f***ing spark!" says Colin. Hmm, we got spark. But still no fuel. We despaired that the Double Relay might be toast. Extensive testing (with the two of us struggling to read the numbers off the double relay to know where to apply the voltage) later, we decided the relay was fine. Then, Colin had an "AHA!" look about him and checked the connector to the AFM more closely.
Three of the pins had been pulled out of their place due to the ham-handed treatment I had subjected them to. So... I pulled the little barbs up on them and pushed them back into the connector. Put the ignition on and swept the wiper on the AFM a bit and the fuel pump started! Woo hoo! It was certain that the bus would now spring to life. But NO!
Hmm, we got spark, and fuel now. There is probably air... Gotta check the timing! After some gnashing of teeth, we decided we knew where #1 was and he set the timing. Still no start! Hmmm.... actually starting to progress to Grrrrr.... Pulled off the distributor cap again and noticed the distributor rotor was able to move because it was not seated deeply enough. This solved the timing problem and we got it re-timed. Shortly after this it started and he tinkered with the mixture enough for us to drive it out of the accursed barn and into the beautifully sunny day that was happening without us (and next to the dome).
Now that fully half our day was gone, it seemed like a good time for lunch. After lunch we attacked the pesky heat distribution cable. The one on it had broken, but it was not the correct one anyway. The replacement I had purchased was also not the right one. We raided one from a '79 deluxe that I am not prepared to treat as a parts bus. Colin took several pictures of this, and may have more to say about it. I will leave this to him.
We ended up having to remove the tree on the pipe that takes the heat to the dashboard. A spring is attached to the lever arm to help pull it into position. We raided that from the same "not a parts bus" but had NO CLUE where it was supposed to attach. We decided to drill a (small) hole into the back of the tree and attach it there.
Now it was time to do some AFM tuning. The bus had not been idling the best for a while now, and I had suspected trouble from vacuum leaks. I was not disappointed. The big one was in the brake booster circuit. The hose leaving the engine bay had been hacked several times. It also had the automatic only tiny little barb that feeds a tiny hose and what turned out to be a non-functioning check valve. In what turned into an epic bit of drama, we removed the entire hose from engine bay to the metal brake booster line from another "not a parts bus". This filled me with grief, but I will replace it on the '79 standard sunroof bus eventually.
Putting the hose into the '75 Westy was pretty easy after the fun of taking it out. It seemed to make a big difference, but after further review there still seems to be a vacuum problem in that circuit. We blocked it off for now, and I will pursue that on my own time.
So... time for a test drive! Colin wins the race to the driver's seat and we head off to gas station (I only put in a gallon or so at home). We get to the gas station and Colin is poking with things there, so I ran in and got a pop. When I come back out, the bus is not running. Good... time to put some gas in it. But not so good... it had stalled dead and refused to restart. The bus acted like it was out of gas, but filling it did not cause it to start on the next crank. I felt the fuel pump, it was pretty warm (nice bath temperature). Colin asserted that it might be dead.
Turns out it was just mostly dead. After a few minutes it started up. Colin's theory is that there was so little fuel in the tank, and we spent so much time idling, that it heated the fuel up so that it could no longer cool the pump. The cooler than ambient temperature pump that I felt upon the return home lends credence to this theory so that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Visit time was quickly drawing to a close. He insisted on taking a hatchet to the steering wheel!
The steering wheel was loose, and the hatchet was the closest thing to take the button off with. He tightened the steering wheel and adjusted the screws on the horn ring. He also took about 2 minutes and cleaned up the shifter stop-plate placement nicely! Another few minutes lubricating the sliding door made a world of difference and he was off!
It turned out to be a hugely productive, if not more than a bit unorganized on my part, day. The bus felt good when I took it out on the road (repair talisman extra fuel pump in tow), it shifts nicer, and the sliding door works much better. Thanks again for continuing to offer this unique service!