My damn car (was: Mk1 Fuse Box)

["Dave Novak" <toastworks@hotmail.com>]

<x-flowed>>     So I assume you brought over everything from the CIS-E over and splice
>in the harness.
>
>     I'm not familiar with the 16v set up but does it use a jetronik box?

Yeah it does... Three computers: A CIS-E box, an Ignition Control Unit, and 
a Knock Sensor box. I do believe the CIS-E box says jetronic on it.

>     Anyway you say you get voltage at the coil when cranking.  Where are 
>you
>measuring the voltage?  I assume you you are getting voltage from the fuse
>box to the coil terminal.  But the high tension lead is not giving any
>spark.

Right. There's voltage at the coil terminal 15 coming from the fuse box C15 
-- grounded to battery, and it works when grounded to fuse box C19 (which 
has continuity to battery ground, too).

If I take the primary wire off the coil and rest it on the engine block I 
get one lone spark as the ignition switch is turned on to the 15 position. 
No spark visible as the starter cranks, tho.

>     Have you checked to see if the rotor is turning while the engine is
>cranking?

Yes. Rotor turns. New cap and the rotor has a lot of life left in it.

>     Have you tried a new coil?

Well, all the components I'm using came from an '89 Jetta which I drove 
home.. so yeah, all the components are known to work.

Here's the thing.. The same thing happened before I swapped the engine 
(which is why I one of the reasons I swapped the engine) with the old 1.7l 
8v.

Back in May (when the problem cropped up first), I tried starting my car one 
morning, and it wouldn't catch. I floored the gas, and it fired up. I let my 
foot off the gas. It died. In fact, as long as my foot was on the pedal, it 
would run. As soon as I let rpms drop below 2000, it died right away.

I pushed it in the back yard and screwed around with some ideas. I played 
around with the vaccum system. I got the car to idle with one vaccum hose 
off. As soon as I tried to drive somewhere, it died. (Like, as soon as I put 
some resistance on the engine, it gave)

So, I gave up on the 8v, and tossed the 16v in. And I'm here with the same 
problem.. sort of..

I fused the CIS-E computers, to the battery.. hoping that would solve the 
problem. It didn't. I noticed something funny, tho. When I eased the fuse in 
and out of it's holder (making contact and removing contact) while the 
starter was cranking, I could get a spark at the plugs if I played with the 
fuse at the right time, I could actually get the engine to sputter.

Which leads me to believe the car is capable of making the spark. Like, it 
can get voltage and all.. but it doesn't want to spark on its own.

>     Trouble shooting is hard without being in the engine bay.

I know.. and in my case.. it's even hard when I have the whole car to look 
over.

>     I will go up to my shop and get the fuse box tomorrow.  If you give me
>your Address I'll ship it out to you and hopefully you can get it before 
>the
>weekend.   We'll talk about money after we see if it works.  Cool with you?

Don't worry about that.. I broke down and dropped $60 on a new one. That way 
if it doesn't work, I can just return it for a full refund. That way I KNOW 
nothing's wrong with it. I appreciate the gesture, tho.

Damn car.

Hopefully this fuse box will cure the problem.

-Dave
'81 Scirocco 16v (wants to work BAD!)

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