mystery repair-Jetta--any ideas?????????

I've been chasing a miss / bad hesitation issue with my engine for months.
I've removed and had the injectors professionally cleaned, new plugs
installed,-new wires plus dist cap and rotor are on order blah, blah, blah--
so, ....Saturday I raise the hood and spray degreaser all over the engine
(not that it needed it so much, but that it was nice weather , ect) ...I
especially sprayed the distributor area, pulled plugs wires one by one
(engine running) and sprayed down in the plug shaft--long story/short the
car runs like a champ???????????

any ideas why????

Thanks!!
dan
89 Jetta GLi (16v)

--
D.L.Freeman
IT and Networking Services



"You're not supposed to be so blind
with patriotism that you can't face reality.
Wrong is wrong no matter who does it or
who says it."
....Malcolm Little

In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, freeman, daniel l. wrote:

>I've been chasing a miss / bad hesitation issue with my engine for months.
>I've removed and had the injectors professionally cleaned, new plugs
>installed,-new wires plus dist cap and rotor are on order blah, blah, blah--
>so, ....Saturday I raise the hood and spray degreaser all over the engine
>(not that it needed it so much, but that it was nice weather , ect) ...I
>especially sprayed the distributor area, pulled plugs wires one by one
>(engine running)

You did not get shocked? Cool.

> and sprayed down in the plug shaft--long story/short the
>car runs like a champ???????????
>
>any ideas why????

Sounds like you might have washed off conductive debris. Look at the
engine in the dark some time-- especially in foggy weather. Consider
spraying your own fine mist if fog is not handy.

freeman, daniel l. > wrote:
> I've been chasing a miss / bad hesitation issue with my engine for months.
> I've removed and had the injectors professionally cleaned, new plugs
> installed,-new wires plus dist cap and rotor are on order blah, blah, blah
> so, ....Saturday I raise the hood and spray degreaser all over the engine
> (not that it needed it so much, but that it was nice weather , ect) ...I
> especially sprayed the distributor area, pulled plugs wires one by one
> (engine running) and sprayed down in the plug shaft--long story/short the
> car runs like a champ???????????

> any ideas why????

Well, if all you did was clean it up, then either something was blocking
conduction where there was supposed to be conduction, or there was
something causing conduction when there wasn't supposed to be conduction.
I don't know specifically what areas you sprayed or what not, however, a
relatively common problem on the 16V cars is bad oil seals on the
distributor. Used oil tends to be somewhat conductive because it
typically has a lot of tiny particles of metal in it. If it gets into
your distributor it can play havoc both with spark distribution and with
the hall sensor which is pretty critical to determining engine
speed/timing.

The bad news is that people have reported very mixed results at replacing
the seals, and if you can't get a good seal you may have to get a new
distributor which will probably cost around $250.

Look inside of the distributor like blah says. If it is leaking
oil...............
I have had good success replacing the 16V distributor seals cheaply. Write
up on my site (poor pictures though lol).

You might need some spark plug wires too. ;-)

later,
dave
(One out of many daves)
http://vwdoc1.tripod.com/


"blah" > wrote in message
...
> freeman, daniel l. > wrote:
>> I've been chasing a miss / bad hesitation issue with my engine for
>> months.
>> I've removed and had the injectors professionally cleaned, new plugs
>> installed,-new wires plus dist cap and rotor are on order blah, blah,
>> blah
>> so, ....Saturday I raise the hood and spray degreaser all over the engine
>> (not that it needed it so much, but that it was nice weather , ect) ...I
>> especially sprayed the distributor area, pulled plugs wires one by one
>> (engine running) and sprayed down in the plug shaft--long story/short the
>> car runs like a champ???????????
>
>> any ideas why????
>
> Well, if all you did was clean it up, then either something was blocking
> conduction where there was supposed to be conduction, or there was
> something causing conduction when there wasn't supposed to be conduction.
> I don't know specifically what areas you sprayed or what not, however, a
> relatively common problem on the 16V cars is bad oil seals on the
> distributor. Used oil tends to be somewhat conductive because it
> typically has a lot of tiny particles of metal in it. If it gets into
> your distributor it can play havoc both with spark distribution and with
> the hall sensor which is pretty critical to determining engine
> speed/timing.
>
> The bad news is that people have reported very mixed results at replacing
> the seals, and if you can't get a good seal you may have to get a new
> distributor which will probably cost around $250.
>
>

freeman, daniel l. > wrote:
> Come to think of it there is that oil leak problem with my car-THANKS!
> Also, I did spray a lot of degreaser in that area and I tugged on that
> rubber boot attached to the dist cap. Is that the Hall sensor connector???
> One mo
> Is it safe to degrease inside the dist?

I don't see why its unsafe to use degreaser on the inside of the
distributor, but I'd recommend letting it dry before trying to start the
car afterward. However, if you need to clean the inside of the
distributor it means the seals are leaking and cleaning it is a very
temporary fix.

Some distributor caps are equipped with a metal shield that goes over the
cap (and its supposed to be connected to the base of the distributor,
probably doesn't do much if its not). If there is a metal cap on it, there
will be a black rubbery cover over the metal. It's supposed to be there, its
for electromagnetic interference suppression.

The hall sensor is inside the distributor (you can see it if you remove
the rotor and the grey plastic dust shield -- note that removing the
rotor on a 16V distributor is a destructive process as its supposed to be
glued on) but the connector is the three pin connector near the base of
the cap (where it goes to the body of the distributor). Often times the
plastic will crack loose and the connector will no longer be solidly
attached to the distributor. Theoretically, this isn't a problem, but it
can put a lot of stress on the wires that connect to the hall sensor, and
the wires are quite small and they will break easily if subject to any force.

TOM'S VR6 WHAT DO YOU MEAN PRAY YOUR OWN FINE MIST IF FOG IS NOT HANDY? BE
MORE SPECIFIC PLESE.

In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, smokeman wrote:

>TOM'S VR6 WHAT DO YOU MEAN PRAY YOUR OWN FINE MIST IF FOG IS NOT HANDY? BE
>MORE SPECIFIC PLESE.

"Spray" a mist of water from a sprayer so that the fine mist falls
around the engine that is running in the dark. Look for arcing.

See
http://www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/...s/117750_3.jpg
for a picture of a suitable sprayer.