Re: Missing spark gremlin strikes again!!!

[thescirocco@juno.com]

On Sat, 22 Sep 2001 11:40:00 -0500 Nate Mellom <bronson@inwave.com>
writes:
> List, I need some help.  Seems a little green gremlin keeps showing 
> it's ugly head adn it's getting depressing.  This is on the '81.  For 
> some reason, my car sometimes runs out of spark, and my car dies.  
> Happened a couple of times now, I'll try and describe teh symptoms.
> I'll be driving, the car will start lurching and jumping and die, 
> like all of a sudden I get intermittent spark.  Sometimes it will
start, 
> I'll get a few feet down the road, and it will happen again. 
Eventually 
> it will refuse to start. 

Does the tach go directly to zero when it fails?

> Last time it happened (couple of months ago), 
> I followed the coil and specail coil checks in Bentley to the letter, 
> and everything checked out.  Still no go.  So I pulled the cap and 
> rotor, cleaned them off a little bit (they were still almost new), and 
> guess what?  Yup, started.  So, on to last night.
> Coming home from work on teh interstate, I started feeling that 
> trademark hesitation and hoped I'd get home.  I stopped at work 
> (halfway home) and I checked my rotor for fun, and it's half gone. 
Yup, the 
> business end is completely disintegrated!  The contacts on the cap 
> are scored badly too.  Somehow, it was still running with half a 
> rotor!!!  

I'd check the distributor shaft for excessive play.

> I decided to try and limp home, which I did stopped at the parts 
> store, got a  new cap and rotor, installed them, and now I'm stranded 
> there.   It won't start.  I hooked up my timing light to check for
spark, 
> and there isn't any.  I changed my coil and it made no difference.  My 
> fuel pump relay is also not turning on, which I think is related.  Even

> if I jump the contacts, I get nothing.  Aside from the coil checks, 
> ground checks, etc, what can I do to get my spark back?  Could I have a

> loose wire in the fuse block or something?  Fuses are all okay, by the 
> way.  I need some help here, this is getting depressing.
> Thanks,
> Nate
> '81
> '84

If you just swapped the cap and rotor, the only thing I can think of is
that maybe you budged the pickup coil connection and it has a bad
connection, or something like that.

That would also explain why it would suddenly lose spark.

My RIP '81 Rabbit Pickup would cut off at random going down the road, the
tach would drop directly to zero, and it would usually come right back
on. After I swapped the coil and ignition module, I figured out that it
was the pickup in the distributor. 

I'd swap in another known good used distributor. I think the connector on
the '84 is different, otherwise that would work.

Where are you located? 

Btw, check and clean the connections to the coil...

Peter - http://thescirocco.com - Discount Techtonics, Autotech-Quaife
USA, Ronal USA, Motorworks, Magnecor & Peloquin Dealer -  Bear, DE 19701 
                 
'79 Scirocco 16V 25 049    
'83 GTI 37 505
'84.5 Scirocco 42 133
'84 GTI 63 348  - SciRollers: '79 70 900, '84 Black, '88 Red -
http://www.neojedi.com/feedbyte/topTen.php


________________________DO NOT!!!_______________________________

________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

--
Email LIST problems to: scirocco-l-probs@scirocco.org.
To unsubscibe send "unsubscribe scirocco-l" in the message to majordomo@scirocco.org