Newbie to the Van!

[WAgrower]

It's a pain in the ass. I pull the return and put it into a jar while while the ign is on, keeping the "T" plugged. When it's dribbling out I do a quick switch. Takes a few tries but it seems to work.

Is there and easier way??

[Fatmobile]

I suppose a manual 3-way valve would be easier.
This return to the front of the pump was an early vegy kit idea,.. easy to build, troublesome to operate.
Check to see if your tank has a return port,.. I have never seen a vanagon tank.

[WAgrower]

I looked when I was running the tubing for the vacuum gauge and didn't see any other port on the tank. But when it was swapped from a gasser to diesel they would have had to installed a new tank correct? Or can you use a gas tank for diesel?

I guess I would have to put a "T" in the line going from the pump to the solenoids for the return and put a little petcock that I could use as a bleeder valve with a vacuum bleeder.

I wish there was a way to simplify it! I have so many hose connections I'm concerned and air leak will develop before long.

[WAgrower]

Found a return port on the tank and was able to plumb the diesel return to tank! Seems to be working well now; but a bubble will form right before the pump if it sits for too long...

Now I'm noticing an exhaust leak from the manifold. Happens when RPMs are ramping up, about 1/4 throttle; you'll hear a deep knock sound and then a puff of white smoke from the manifold. I can't tell where because of a heat shield and turbo lines.

More investigation is needed... I'm also noticing quite a bit of oil on the low side of the engine. I'm hoping its from having the cam cover off and on a few times.

[WAgrower]

Ok so the exhaust leak was simple and kind of scary. The manifold was missing the 2 nuts towards the front of the van, top and bottom. Replaced them and added some blue loc-tight to all of them. It seems the studs are short however, on some of them only a couple of threads are showing and on one the threads are recessed inside the nut. I'll keep an eye on them but it seems strange that they are all different.

Now it seems to have an issue with "bucking". It's running as if one of the cylinders isn't firing completely or on time. As I raise the RPMs , it will start to cough (or studded) on what seems like one cylinder; almost like it's tripping over itself.
Could this be timing or an injector issue (both of which I've been tinkering with...)?

[rsxsr]

If you are talking about the "exhaust manifold studs" being too short, most likely someone put in the wrong length ones. The exhaust manifold is retained with special "lock nuts" that require the threads to protrude all the way through the nut to work. In my experience, "tinkering" with the timing is not something you should be doing. You set it to spec and forget it. There is a tool to hold the cam to time it to the crank and a dial indicator with adapter that is used to set the pump timing. If you don't set it properly, you are only guessing. Just my opinion.

[surfcam]

I think you will find that a lot of people on this forum have a different opinion on setting the timing. I believe it stems from the fact that low sulphur diesel have a different viscosity from what the I.P. was originally design for. This new fuel tends to make a lot of mechanical diesels run slightly retarded dew to lower plump gallery pressure.

[WAgrower]

I've set the timing 3 times now, each time with the cam plate, IP lock and dial gauge. I'm not that new at it, but are these lock nuts just normal ny-locks or something else. Definitely no way a ny-lock would grab.... Guess I'll have to trust lock tight and keep checking for a while...

As far as viscosity, I have to deal with that alot, this van has a WVO set up so I can hear the difference when the pump is working too hard due to thick fuel. I also have a vacuum gauge set before the pump to monitor how hard it's been working.

What I think may be happening now is the crank bolt may be slipping; or that's what I'm hoping for.
All the problems seem to point to the timing being off; rough acceleration, white smoke when coughing, likes the cold start pulled out.

What I was wondering was if a faulty injector could also be making these issues as well. If it were leaking fuel or not enough. I resurfaced them a while ago and things seemed to be working just fine. Then the GPs went out, then exhaust leak and now rough acceleration.

I'm hoping it's just the timing- going to check here in a little bit.

I also have another interesting issue but I think I'll start a new thread for that one.

Thanks for the input it's nice to see more guys on the van forum!

[rsxsr]

Hopefully the crank sprocket is not shifting. I realize that adjusting the pump is within reason for optimizing the setup for an individual's needs. But when troubleshooting a driveabilty problem, you often have to eliminate possibilties as you close in on the problem. If you set the timing to spec, then you have eliminated that as a problem. If the timing is changing, then you can suspect that something is loose, if not, you move on to the next thing.

The nuts are not nylock, but similar in function. I have seen two types. One has a sort of split ring at the outer end the other is a deformed looking nut. The threads look oblong. The replacement nuts are copper on color and have 12mm flats.

[WAgrower]

Well the crank nut was above 45ft lbs so that doesn't seem to be a problem.

However I did find a couple of things that helped it run better.
First was I removed a priming bulb from the fuel line that leads to the IP. I also advanced the timing to 1.02mm. The engine sounded better and accelerated smoother after so I think I'm on the right track, however when accelerating it still blows white smoke and sounds rough.

However 2 things are stopping me. One is my new injector hard fuel lines are slightly different from my old ones and the #4 line is preventing me from advancing the timing any more, the IP is running into the hard line. So I'm going to swap it out for the old one and advance some more to see if that helps the problem.

I'm thinking the problem is in the timing or injectors becasue that's all that's been changed since it was running smoothly after a head gasket change. I'm open to other ideas I just have a strong suspicion it's the timing.

[rsxsr]

To be honest, I am not familiar with the crank style you have, but the early version of the 1.6 had a keyway that in some cases could wallow out. You would really need to pull the sprocket to see if that has happened. The later crank had a sprocket with a nub that fit a slot in the crank end. The bolt was also different as well as the torque. You may want to pull the bolt and see if there is rust dust under it. That would be an indication to look further. Sorry I don't know the specific differences in the bolt.

[WAgrower]

Well the timing was dead on so I'm doubting the sprocket is loose. I'm hoping it just needs some more advancement on the timing.

If it's not that then I'm kind of puzzled as to what would cause the rough acceleration and white smoke... I think I may drive it to work tomorrow (one hr freeway drive) to see how she performs and if it tells me anything.

[jolotter]

If you can't advance the pump enough without hitting against the injector hard lines, it's possible the belt may be off by one tooth.

[WAgrower]

Well it's been a while but I think time for an update!

The van is running like a champ, and today I am about to embark on a road-trip from Philadelphia to Seattle to move myself out to a new job! My girlfriend will be making the trip too
It goes without saying that without the support from you guys I would have beat myself senseless trying to get her running! So a big thank you to you all!

So here we go!!!

[rsxsr]

Roadhaus.com just in case. Enjoy the ride. mark