[tcb] A very goofy gremlin
- From: julie.hey.ho.lets.go@xxxxxxxxx
- To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:20:21 -0600
I enjoy gremlins. They challenge me. But I have one that I can't beat in
my '71. And I thought I had. He is chuckling loudly right now.
I have electronic ignition and this one has been in this Bus for 95,000
miles. And the horn is no longer the button in the steering wheel, it is a
button off to the side and it has been this way for years. Otherwise this
is a stock Bus, 1600 dual port, nothing unusual.
Sometimes he won't start. But I discovered that if I toot his horn then he
will start right up, or he will stall and not start until the horn is
tooted. This has been happening very intermittently since June. It always
happens on the way home, never first drive of the day, always after 5
o'clock (this may or may not be a clue). He never does this when there is
a mechanic or a VW friend that has knowledge greater than mine is around.
I did bring him to my mechanic a couple of months ago and he cleaned up
all of the corroded wiring that was hiding behind the dash. It was really
green and crumbly and nasty back there. We thought that would have done
away with the gremlin.
I was just a my mechanic's Tuesday morning and we were addressing another
problem. Donner drove the 70 miles there perfectly. On the way to work
after the mechanic at one point on the highway it was like we were cruising
along at a sprint and then suddenly there was a significant lose of power,
I drifted into the gas station because I needed gas anyways so once he was
filled up, he started up and made it to work like nothing happened. After
work he drove 40 miles with no problems. And then at midnight when I was
heading home he stalled in the first 1/4 mile. Started only after tooting
the horn. On the highway there were times when I would have sudden
stepping down loses of power, like I was an Olympic sprinter, then a high
school middle distance runner, then an out of shape jogger and then stall.
I have never run out of gas but I assume you would just feel a vehicle slow
smoothly as the gas runs out? It wasn't like that. And then honk the horn
and I would be able to start up again. One time as I was going through
these sudden loses of power I honked the horn and it was like a rocket
booster, he went back to normal for a little while. So today I was just
going down the road a bit so I thought I would see how Donner behaves. I
figured if worse came to worse I can just keep doing my honking trick and
make it home, this trick has consistently worked. But no. When I was
going to head home, he wouldn't start. I honked and honked and honked.
Nothing. My mechanic had me put the key in the on position and un-connect
the solenoid on the carb and it clicked so I was getting power there. And
then he had me un-plug the wire that goes to the middle of the distributor
cap and my mom would have the engine turn over while I held the wire near
metal and no spark, none at all. So I could not do the pop the clutch
trick to get started. My mechanic figured it must be the electronic
ignition. So I called AAA. While waiting the hour for the tow truck I
fiddled more and more and tooted the horn and tried and tried to get him
started. Towed him home. As soon as the tow truck left the driveway I
turned Donner's key, wouldn't start, wouldn't start, wouldn't start. Toot
the horn and he starts right up.
My mechanic says that electronic ignition problems aren't intermittent. It
either works or it doesn't.
I will try to make the 70 mile journey to my mechanic next week but I was
wondering if you guys have any ideas on how to slay this gremlin or at
least chase him a few states away. The electronic ignition? The ignition
switch (this one is about 2 years old)? Constantly beep the horn until
someone shoots me? Any other ideas?
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