Trip home

1
To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
2
Hi Hart, 
I reported a similar problem recently suggesting that we had solved it.
After going through the oxygen sensor idle stabiliser we replaced the temperature sender with a new one.
There was an improvement, but only under cool running.
We then replaced the thermostat with a new one.
Runs perfectly even on an expressway, but not after a traffic jam or a blue mountains hill climb with a load.

Spoke to Mark Hammond my one time and now retired T3 fleet mechanic.
Mark shared that he had the experience of replacing three dealer supplied thermostats before he obtained one which worked.

I have yet to deal with my problem, but rather than buying yet another new one, 
I’m thinking of taking the one out of my “donor” 2WD, to see how it goes.

I’d love to know what is happening with our thermostats, because the new one worked perfectly on it’s first runs,
temp gauge climbing nicely as per conditions, but when stressed, the temp gauge drops down to almost cold,
the temp sensor thinks that the engine is cold and the injectors flood the exhaust with unburnt fuel.

Begs the question:  where do we get thermostats which can be relied on ?

Oh, 
and to those who knew Mark Hammond,  he is now retired and and enjoying his Winebago and boats in Queensland.  
His health is not brilliant, after some small heart attacks, diabetes, etc., but he is still our Mark.


Peter


 





On 4 Oct 2017, at 11:00 PM, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:



To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



3
Excellent result Hart.

I think it is worth everyone installing a secondary engine earth strap.

My old 6cyl suby engine started coughing and missing after only partially warming up.

Seems the earth strap builds up a significant resistance when its warm and prevents the engine earthing. It was using just an original VW 2.1 earth strap then.

After adding a second earth strap (which is just a battery cable from supercheap auto) - it ran perfectly ever since.

Worth everyone doing :)

Cheers,

Skot

On 4/10/2017 11:00 PM, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] wrote:

To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

--
Best regards, Scott Pitcher SPB Consulting
4
Thanks Skot , tomorrows job will be the new earth connection.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: "Scott Pitcher spbconsulting@bigpond.com [Syncro_T3_Australia]" <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Date:05/10/2017 09:48 (GMT+10:00)
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Trip home

 

Excellent result Hart.

I think it is worth everyone installing a secondary engine earth strap.

My old 6cyl suby engine started coughing and missing after only partially warming up.

Seems the earth strap builds up a significant resistance when its warm and prevents the engine earthing. It was using just an original VW 2.1 earth strap then.

After adding a second earth strap (which is just a battery cable from supercheap auto) - it ran perfectly ever since.

Worth everyone doing :)

Cheers,

Skot

On 4/10/2017 11:00 PM, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] wrote:
 

To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

--
Best regards, Scott Pitcher SPB Consulting

5
Hi Peter, here we go....i bought my red TRiStar from Northshore VW where Mark was running the workshop. Did you perhaps attend the gala opening of the VW shop on Pittwater Rd ? The top of the line Trakka was on display for around $ 76.000 from mem. Too much for us , that car i bought 25 yrs later ! It now is owned by Jon now in Melbourne.
I am sure that we have met some time. We had our business in Winbourne Rd same as Beetle Wreckers.
Hart


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: "Peter SCHWEINSBERG peter@peterandval.com [Syncro_T3_Australia]" <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Date:05/10/2017 09:31 (GMT+10:00)
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Trip home

 

Hi Hart, 
I reported a similar problem recently suggesting that we had solved it.
After going through the oxygen sensor idle stabiliser we replaced the temperature sender with a new one.
There was an improvement, but only under cool running.
We then replaced the thermostat with a new one.
Runs perfectly even on an expressway, but not after a traffic jam or a blue mountains hill climb with a load.

Spoke to Mark Hammond my one time and now retired T3 fleet mechanic.
Mark shared that he had the experience of replacing three dealer supplied thermostats before he obtained one which worked.

I have yet to deal with my problem, but rather than buying yet another new one, 
I’m thinking of taking the one out of my “donor” 2WD, to see how it goes.

I’d love to know what is happening with our thermostats, because the new one worked perfectly on it’s first runs,
temp gauge climbing nicely as per conditions, but when stressed, the temp gauge drops down to almost cold,
the temp sensor thinks that the engine is cold and the injectors flood the exhaust with unburnt fuel.

Begs the question:  where do we get thermostats which can be relied on ?

Oh, 
and to those who knew Mark Hammond,  he is now retired and and enjoying his Winebago and boats in Queensland.  
His health is not brilliant, after some small heart attacks, diabetes, etc., but he is still our Mark.


Peter


 





On 4 Oct 2017, at 11:00 PM, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:



To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



6
Hi Hart,
I bought the Bergmeister in 1982, new, from Northshore VW.
It was an air cooled window van which we used in the business until it was transformed by Mark and Michael Newton, the Porsche expert,
into an interpretation of what Porsche would have built if they had built past the B32 to a B36.
I was not part of the product launch, it was just a case of here was a new rear engined VW Kombi with a fuel injected air cooled engine,
having had the enjoyable experience of a Type 3 fastback, and needing a van for our almost two year old business.

As the businesses grew I ended up with a fleet of five, and over time, deperate for a skilled mechanic, not associated with a dealership,
met Mark in his own workshop, and he became my fleet machanic till we both retired.
Mark was servicing my T3s every 7000Km, so there was seldom a time that there was less than one of mine in his workshop.
One of the last things Mark did for me was build the balanced, crack tested gas flowed standard camshaft "racing standard" engine that is now in my working Syncro.
To me, Mark was a wizzard with great skills.

Peter






--Original Message Text---
From: Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia]
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2017 10:57:42 +0000



Hi Peter, here we go....i bought my red TRiStar from Northshore VW where Mark was running the workshop. Did you perhaps attend the gala opening of the VW shop on Pittwater Rd ? The top of the line Trakka was on display for around $ 76.000 from mem. Too much for us , that car i bought 25 yrs later ! It now is owned by Jon now in Melbourne.
I am sure that we have met some time. We had our business in Winbourne Rd same as Beetle Wreckers.
Hart


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: "Peter SCHWEINSBERG peter@peterandval.com [Syncro_T3_Australia]" <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Date:05/10/2017 09:31 (GMT+10:00)
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Trip home



Hi Hart,
I reported a similar problem recently suggesting that we had solved it.
After going through the oxygen sensor idle stabiliser we replaced the temperature sender with a new one.
There was an improvement, but only under cool running.
We then replaced the thermostat with a new one.
Runs perfectly even on an expressway, but not after a traffic jam or a blue mountains hill climb with a load.


Spoke to Mark Hammond my one time and now retired T3 fleet mechanic.
Mark shared that he had the experience of replacing three dealer supplied thermostats before he obtained one which worked.


I have yet to deal with my problem, but rather than buying yet another new one,
I’m thinking of taking the one out of my †donor†2WD, to see how it goes.


I’d love to know what is happening with our thermostats, because the new one worked perfectly on it’s first runs,
temp gauge climbing nicely as per conditions, but when stressed, the temp gauge drops down to almost cold,
the temp sensor thinks that the engine is cold and the injectors flood the exhaust with unburnt fuel.


Begs the question: where do we get thermostats which can be relied on ?


Oh,
and to those who knew Mark Hammond, he is now retired and and enjoying his Winebago and boats in Queensland.
His health is not brilliant, after some small heart attacks, diabetes, etc., but he is still our Mark.




Peter














On 4 Oct 2017, at 11:00 PM, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:



To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
















7

Great story Hart. Was that Northshore European? That is where my 2WD Caravelle came from, just looked at the service records, was survived there until '97 (covered 150,000km in it's first 7 years!). Has only just passed 200,000km now.

Richard



---In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, <hartis@...> wrote :

Hi Peter, here we go....i bought my red TRiStar from Northshore VW where Mark was running the workshop. Did you perhaps attend the gala opening of the VW shop on Pittwater Rd ? The top of the line Trakka was on display for around $ 76.000 from mem. Too much for us , that car i bought 25 yrs later ! It now is owned by Jon now in Melbourne.
I am sure that we have met some time. We had our business in Winbourne Rd same as Beetle Wreckers.
Hart


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: "Peter SCHWEINSBERG peter@... [Syncro_T3_Australia]" <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Date:05/10/2017 09:31 (GMT+10:00)
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Trip home

 

Hi Hart, 
I reported a similar problem recently suggesting that we had solved it.
After going through the oxygen sensor idle stabiliser we replaced the temperature sender with a new one.
There was an improvement, but only under cool running.
We then replaced the thermostat with a new one.
Runs perfectly even on an expressway, but not after a traffic jam or a blue mountains hill climb with a load.

Spoke to Mark Hammond my one time and now retired T3 fleet mechanic.
Mark shared that he had the experience of replacing three dealer supplied thermostats before he obtained one which worked.

I have yet to deal with my problem, but rather than buying yet another new one, 
I’m thinking of taking the one out of my “donor” 2WD, to see how it goes.

I’d love to know what is happening with our thermostats, because the new one worked perfectly on it’s first runs,
temp gauge climbing nicely as per conditions, but when stressed, the temp gauge drops down to almost cold,
the temp sensor thinks that the engine is cold and the injectors flood the exhaust with unburnt fuel.

Begs the question:  where do we get thermostats which can be relied on ?

Oh, 
and to those who knew Mark Hammond,  he is now retired and and enjoying his Winebago and boats in Queensland.  
His health is not brilliant, after some small heart attacks, diabetes, etc., but he is still our Mark.


Peter


 





On 4 Oct 2017, at 11:00 PM, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@... [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:



To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



8

Hi Peter, that's an interesting scenario on the thermostat. Have had both go in the Syncro and my 2WD (both possibly originals). The failure though was the system took a long time to heat up, and never heated up fully (dash gauge never got to 12oclock). Heating up normal then suddenly dropping in temp sounds odd, almost like it is getting stuck some how then suddenly comes free. I wonder if during assembly pressure on them can make them stick?

I have put a Behr one in the Syncro, has been fine since (yet to do the 2WD)


If you have a couple of suspect ones, could be worth heating them up and see if the operate normally.

Richard



---In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, <peter@...> wrote :

Hi Hart, 
I reported a similar problem recently suggesting that we had solved it.
After going through the oxygen sensor idle stabiliser we replaced the temperature sender with a new one.
There was an improvement, but only under cool running.
We then replaced the thermostat with a new one.
Runs perfectly even on an expressway, but not after a traffic jam or a blue mountains hill climb with a load.

Spoke to Mark Hammond my one time and now retired T3 fleet mechanic.
Mark shared that he had the experience of replacing three dealer supplied thermostats before he obtained one which worked.

I have yet to deal with my problem, but rather than buying yet another new one, 
I’m thinking of taking the one out of my “donor” 2WD, to see how it goes.

I’d love to know what is happening with our thermostats, because the new one worked perfectly on it’s first runs,
temp gauge climbing nicely as per conditions, but when stressed, the temp gauge drops down to almost cold,
the temp sensor thinks that the engine is cold and the injectors flood the exhaust with unburnt fuel.

Begs the question:  where do we get thermostats which can be relied on ?

Oh, 
and to those who knew Mark Hammond,  he is now retired and and enjoying his Winebago and boats in Queensland.  
His health is not brilliant, after some small heart attacks, diabetes, etc., but he is still our Mark.


Peter


 





On 4 Oct 2017, at 11:00 PM, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@... [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:



To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



9
Great story Hart. I would love to see some photos of our vans at that opening gala.

-- 
Jon Bartlett
0424006192

On 5 October 2017 at 9:57:50 pm, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] (syncro_t3_australia@yahoogroups.com) wrote:

 
Hi Peter, here we go....i bought my red TRiStar from Northshore VW where Mark was running the workshop. Did you perhaps attend the gala opening of the VW shop on Pittwater Rd ? The top of the line Trakka was on display for around $ 76.000 from mem. Too much for us , that car i bought 25 yrs later ! It now is owned by Jon now in Melbourne.
I am sure that we have met some time. We had our business in Winbourne Rd same as Beetle Wreckers.
Hart


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: "Peter SCHWEINSBERG peter@peterandval.com [Syncro_T3_Australia]" <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Date:05/10/2017 09:31 (GMT+10:00)
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Trip home

 
Hi Hart, 
I reported a similar problem recently suggesting that we had solved it.
After going through the oxygen sensor idle stabiliser we replaced the temperature sender with a new one.
There was an improvement, but only under cool running.
We then replaced the thermostat with a new one.
Runs perfectly even on an expressway, but not after a traffic jam or a blue mountains hill climb with a load.

Spoke to Mark Hammond my one time and now retired T3 fleet mechanic.
Mark shared that he had the experience of replacing three dealer supplied thermostats before he obtained one which worked.

I have yet to deal with my problem, but rather than buying yet another new one, 
I’m thinking of taking the one out of my “donor” 2WD, to see how it goes.

I’d love to know what is happening with our thermostats, because the new one worked perfectly on it’s first runs,
temp gauge climbing nicely as per conditions, but when stressed, the temp gauge drops down to almost cold,
the temp sensor thinks that the engine is cold and the injectors flood the exhaust with unburnt fuel.

Begs the question:  where do we get thermostats which can be relied on ?

Oh, 
and to those who knew Mark Hammond,  he is now retired and and enjoying his Winebago and boats in Queensland.  
His health is not brilliant, after some small heart attacks, diabetes, etc., but he is still our Mark.


Peter


 





On 4 Oct 2017, at 11:00 PM, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:



To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



10

Hi Hartmut, Graham and ALL,


Pleased to report I arrived back home from the Old Bar Festival on Friday last ... a pleasant 12 day leisurely round trip with no hiccup of real note. Touch wood?


Given recent experiences by some, I can only emphasise the importance that negative wire grounds play in so many aspects of our syncros proper function .... or inconvenient failure.


Perhaps in the past we all have been guilty of looking first elsewhere for the solution to a malfunction when in fact the culprit can simply be one of many negative wire grounds that have been overlooked in terms of preventative maintenance. I'm thinking this issue should really be a FIRST port of call in fault diagnosis ... not near last.


For example, in order of recent occurrences ...

Graham set out for Old Bar but had to turn back home when the cooling system spat the dummy because the radiator fan was simply not working at all. The culprit, once found, was a bad (oxidised/rusted) chassis grounding cluster that the fan negative wire was connected to ... adjacent LHS of the fuse box.


Hartmuts Tristar unexpectedly spat the dummy halfway home to Port Macquarie with black exhaust smoke and loss of power. Limped home slowly and in the process, spat out lots of wasted fuel. Main culprit was a bad ECU negative wire ground.


At Port Macquarie, I experienced out of the blue a not dissimilar but lesser issue. It concerned the 12vdc positive cable that supplies a charge current from the 240vac 30 Amp charger to the camping battery. The charge current in the cable was being blocked from reaching the battery by a failed/degraded inline fuse holder.


So for me, having learnt of Grahams finding, I immediately dropped my glovebox, lowered the fusebox and eyeballed the two grounding clusters that connect fourteen negative cables to chassis ground. Pulled all the wires, cleaned the terminals to the wires, cleaned the two grounding clusters and gave a lick of dialectic grease to all mating components and reinstalled. It occurred to me I had never ever serviced this area before!


As for Hartmuts ECU negative ground, well I know I've previously cleaned and lubricated mine several years ago so touch wood, should still be OK.


So please, be sure to take the time to check out all your ground connections. Could well avoid an untimely failure some time soon.


For those who've not yet found it in the Syncro Forum files section, here reproduced below is a reminder checklist from PK of TODO items worth addressing any time soon, not a complete list but a very good start ...


Here is list of causes / fixes for any unpredictable behavior & not in any real order.
01. faulty plugs
02. faulty plug leads (only genuine VW OEM copper)
03. faulty distributor cap
04. remove / clean all sensor connections
05. remove / clean all ground connections
06. add capacitor across pins 2 & 3 Air Flow Meter (AFM).
07. Add earth wire to AFM case.
08. faulty O2 sensor
09. faulty temp 2 sensor
10. faulty Hall sender
11. remove / clean ECU main connector.
12. test sensor continuity to ECU
13. faulty fuel regulator
14. faulty fuel filter
15. check fuel pressure
16. check vacuum
17. check timing
18. carbon build up on valves
19. Air Flow Meter carbon track worn, move.
20. Faulty fuel pump relay
21. Faulty ECU power relay
22. Faulty coil & /or connections.
23. & a few other things I haven't thought of.

 

PS. The Old Bar Festival 2017 record attendance challenge beat the previous record by approx. 50 kombis!

It was also quite exciting joining the huge congo line of kombis in the return run between Old Bar and Taree.


Finally, attached is a pic of the OB syncros that played hide and seek with the local "officionados". Fun times indeed! Thank you to all those who joined the freecampers group. We must all do it again sometime soon!


Cheers.

Ken

 

   



From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 4 October 2017 11:00 PM
To: Syncro Group
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Trip home
 
 

To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

11
A very useful list Ken. Thank You. summarises the issues that have been covered in this forum.
I had an issue for two years about 18 months ago.
My Synchro would just stop as if the ignition was turned off. No real pattern in terms of temperature etc.
Based on what I had been reading on this forum and with no real understanding, I addressed the following from the list 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 17, 20 and 22 as well as replace the ignition switch (twice).
None worked.
I then replaced the ECU power relay (# 21) and the problem went away!. No problems since.

Regards
Peter
On 9 Oct 2017, at 10:34 PM, Ken Garratt unclekenz@hotmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


Hi Hartmut, Graham and ALL,


Pleased to report I arrived back home from the Old Bar Festival on Friday last ... a pleasant 12 day leisurely round trip with no hiccup of real note. Touch wood?


Given recent experiences by some, I can only emphasise the importance that negative wire grounds play in so many aspects of our syncros proper function .... or inconvenient failure.


Perhaps in the past we all have been guilty of looking first elsewhere for the solution to a malfunction when in fact the culprit can simply be one of many negative wire grounds that have been overlooked in terms of preventative maintenance. I'm thinking this issue should really be a FIRST port of call in fault diagnosis ... not near last.


For example, in order of recent occurrences ...

Graham set out for Old Bar but had to turn back home when the cooling system spat the dummy because the radiator fan was simply not working at all. The culprit, once found, was a bad (oxidised/rusted) chassis grounding cluster that the fan negative wire was connected to ... adjacent LHS of the fuse box.


Hartmuts Tristar unexpectedly spat the dummy halfway home to Port Macquarie with black exhaust smoke and loss of power. Limped home slowly and in the process, spat out lots of wasted fuel. Main culprit was a bad ECU negative wire ground.


At Port Macquarie, I experienced out of the blue a not dissimilar but lesser issue. It concerned the 12vdc positive cable that supplies a charge current from the 240vac 30 Amp charger to the camping battery. The charge current in the cable was being blocked from reaching the battery by a failed/degraded inline fuse holder.


So for me, having learnt of Grahams finding, I immediately dropped my glovebox, lowered the fusebox and eyeballed the two grounding clusters that connect fourteen negative cables to chassis ground. Pulled all the wires, cleaned the terminals to the wires, cleaned the two grounding clusters and gave a lick of dialectic grease to all mating components and reinstalled. It occurred to me I had never ever serviced this area before!


As for Hartmuts ECU negative ground, well I know I've previously cleaned and lubricated mine several years ago so touch wood, should still be OK.


So please, be sure to take the time to check out all your ground connections. Could well avoid an untimely failure some time soon.


For those who've not yet found it in the Syncro Forum files section, here reproduced below is a reminder checklist from PK of TODO items worth addressing any time soon, not a complete list but a very good start ...



Here is list of causes / fixes for any unpredictable behavior & not in any real order.
01. faulty plugs
02. faulty plug leads (only genuine VW OEM copper)
03. faulty distributor cap
04. remove / clean all sensor connections
05. remove / clean all ground connections
06. add capacitor across pins 2 & 3 Air Flow Meter (AFM).
07. Add earth wire to AFM case.
08. faulty O2 sensor
09. faulty temp 2 sensor
10. faulty Hall sender
11. remove / clean ECU main connector.
12. test sensor continuity to ECU
13. faulty fuel regulator
14. faulty fuel filter
15. check fuel pressure
16. check vacuum
17. check timing
18. carbon build up on valves
19. Air Flow Meter carbon track worn, move.
20. Faulty fuel pump relay
21. Faulty ECU power relay
22. Faulty coil & /or connections.
23. & a few other things I haven't thought of.



PS. The Old Bar Festival 2017 record attendance challenge beat the previous record by approx. 50 kombis!

It was also quite exciting joining the huge congo line of kombis in the return run between Old Bar and Taree.



Finally, attached is a pic of the OB syncros that played hide and seek with the local "officionados". Fun times indeed! Thank you to all those who joined the freecampers group. We must all do it again sometime soon!


Cheers.

Ken

 
   


From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 4 October 2017 11:00 PM
To: Syncro Group
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Trip home
 
 

To my T3 friends who taken care of the tristar and its driver (me) when the MV got very ill on trip back home from Old Bar to Port a huge Thank You. Dont really know what i could have done without the shield from the rear. Especially when the trucks started honking not happy having to go 50kmh through black smoke of unburnt fuel...
Richard and Arne thank you so much for all your knowledge sharing and Arne giving a full day of help to get the MV revving again.
We changed cat con sensor, no2
Sensor, temp sensor, AFM for a new one, checked the system for water leaking into engine because of the steam blowing from exhaust ....
All of the above where of some help but the real break through came when Arne started to clean every single one ground connection including the ECU. He used emery paper cleaning them until shiny and that changed it back to normal...
Did a test run today with Ken as an observer...all seems to be functioning again. Would have made Les very proud.
Hart



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


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