Thats a fantastic write up Roger.
Love it!
Very handy for future issue diagnosis.
Cheers,
Scott
Hello Gaetan,
Iām new to the forum (Ryszard is my name, GW2200). I understand your frustration because I also had a gearbox overhaul and engine rebuild and several thousand kms later also suffered similar hiccups as you.
All the engine auxiliaries appeared to be in good working order and after all sorts of testing and swapping spares the culprit turned out to be an erratic ECU - the ECU manages 6 parameters of engine performance. My ECU went crazy and decided to fluctuate across all these parameters. How did I discover it was a disruptive ECU? Luckily I had a spare ECU and simply replaced the erratic one as a last resort - presto! 40kms later and Syncro hasnāt missed a beat.
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OOPS, My last phrase should read 40,000kms
Greetings comrade Ryszardā¦
Gerald.
Hi Ryszard,
Welcome to the syncro club - please introduce yourself and say what State of Oz you are in.
My mate Phil bought a wrecker camper from Brookvale Sydney last weekend and the Owners Steve from Mackellar Automotive said he has an auto electrician who has an old retired friend who actually rebuilds the computers.
He believes the most common problem is cracking to the solder joints which causes this erratic behaviour you mention. Anyway at least there is someone in Oz that can fix and test them as good and working after.
Enjoy your travelsā¦
Cheers,
Scott
Ok Scott, here goes the intro:
My VW life began at the beginning of the 70s last century with a battered old 1300cc Beetle. I went through another two battered Beetles working and ābushingā around the outback for 5 years - those simple Beetles fearlessly went places that would scare most 4WDs.
Later, married life saw me into a 1979 T2 which Trakka converted into a campervan. Ten years later and an offspring appearance the T2 campervan was replaced by an Audi 5 plus 5 sedan (great car). Another 10 years and a 1985 Trakka T3 automatic which I had a Peloquin rear diff fitted entered the family.
And many years later (about 4 years ago) my VW dream vehicle arrived: 1989 Syncro Trakka campervan (rear diff lock). After all my travelling the outback and other places in the past I took the plunge and upgraded the Syncro to beast level:-
Front/rear Peloquin diffs
Decoupler
Solid shaft
Front ābig brakesā
Rear heavy duty finned brakes
2ā lift
15ā steel wheels
Porsche 930 axles/cvs (rear)
And lots of other things, engine/auxiliaries stuff
Oh, nearly forgot, I exist in Melbourne (Victoria).
Thanks for the welcome Gerald, Scott
Ryszard
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Welcome Ryszard
Many Syncro owners have similar stories with VWās!
Sounds like yours is well setup, enjoy the drive!
Ryszard,
Sounds like your van is an absolute beast with all the extras.
So you mentioned a rear Peloquin diff and also that it had a rear diff lock. So you removed the full locker diff and replaced it with a Peloquin.
Very interesting - how is the Peloquin in comparison to a full locker?
Cheers,
Scott
Hi Gaetan,
We just got back from seven weeks in the Kimberley and the last week was because of the same problem you had. But the RAC diagnosed it first crack thankfully. Unfortunately it took just over a week to get the new distributor cap. The rotor was there in a couple of days. But oh well, an extra week on holidays in Broome isnāt to to bad. But that was it. The van died just like that and it turned out to be the distributor and rotor. But now that your running again, you have to get u[p to the Kimberly! What a spot. The Dampier Peninsula was particularly nice and so close to Broome for supplies too. I never had to use the tyre I bought from you and we survived the Gibb River Road and the road into the Bungles!! Have fun in your Syncro
Hi Harold,
great to hear you had a good trip, we are looking at some in the future for sure! My van now has an awesome Subi motor so fully reliable and lovely to drive.
Crazy to hear you got that same issue, so weird when it just suddenly stops, right? Brownie points for the RAC, but take āem off for not carrying those spares 
Talk soon,
Gaetan
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A mate of mine had his van still running but it was struggling for power down low then would pick up around 3000rpm. It would backfire occasionally too.
Turns out it was the hall sender on the dizzy which had partially failed causing the timing problem and low power. A new sender and it works perfectly again.
Sounds like a wonderful trip Harold, I have been there in the T2, but not made it that far in the Syncro! Certainly a beautiful spot.
Glad you sorted that issue and diagnosed it quickly!
Funny I had replace the cap/leads/plugs on mine, but for some reason did not do the rotor. When I did replace it, it was all falling apart, I was surprised it still worked!!
Richard
Yeah Iāll take off the points for not having spares but jeez, Iāve never in all of the vehicles Iāve owned had a Distributor and Rotor quit on me! Oh well, live and learn. If these borders ever open and the virus is under control weād like to do Tassie as a trip as well. I think the Syncro (Myrtle the Turtle) would;d love it down there too.