Fuel injected bug problem.

Does sound like flooding. No check valves, but the injector itself should prevent any fuel flow at all.

Could be any one of the 5. Pull each one out and see if you get dribbling .

Plan "B" Leave it alone and see if the problem goes away after driving a while . It may be dried fuel sludge which will dissolve with use. If the injectors are removed, the seals should be replaced or you'll have other problems.

Also, if the fuel hoses (including the short stubs to the injectors) are original, note that they have a life of about 30 years . Then the hoses split and you have high pressure fuel squirting onto a hot engine. Bye bye Cabrio.

Type2.com has an excellent section on fuel systems:

hose replacement.(it's for an FI Bus, but the procedure is simialr) More fuel system maintenance for FI here: Speedy Jim

If the suggestions Jim gave you don't help, here's my guess: The thermo-time switch does fail on these systems. If it does a similar stunt on you, try pulling the plug on the fifth injector. It may be a real bear to work loose, but it is just a spring wire in detents holding it (plus years of baked-on accumulated "stuff") so you should be able to pull it straight off. If it starts without flooding then, the prob is likely in that thermo-time switch circuitry and you may want to decide whether or not to fix it based on your climate.

Other flooding causes: Cylinder Head Temp sensor failing - open circuit will cause full rich condition but probably won't heal itself. Resistance should be about 2400 ohms at "room temperature" decreases as it heats up. More resistance = richer. Too much fuel rail pressure - fuel pressure regulator stuck or fuel line deteriorating and blocked internally on return side - pressure can go over

100psi - normally around 30.-BaH

Thanks Speedy and Busahaulic. My grandson made it back to my place with no problem so maybe it was gunk from being stored. I do try to run the engine once every 6 weeks or so during the winter. I will look into replacing the fuel hoses. I did replace the cylinder head temperature sensor about a thousand miles back. The bug has been so relieable I have taken it for granted the last several years.

We started driving our 79 cabriolet this spring and a similar thing happened to us. My wife drove the bug to work and on her way home she stopped to get gas. She drove it about a 1/4 to a 1/2 mile from work. After gassing up it would not start. She called AAA for a tow home and when I got there the wrecker had just gotten there. The driver wanted to move the bug to hook up so we rolled it down a slight hill, I told my wife to put it in gear and release the clutch when we got it moving and it started immediately. We have started it several times without issue since? Any ideas. I didn't get there early enough to see if there were any gas fumes.

Also what is the fifth injector, are we talking about the cold start valve thingymjig.....

Dan

Hi Danny,

Your correct, the "cold start valve" is a special injector that adds extra fuel to the manifold depending upon head temperature. It is also on a timer that is supposed to turn it off after a certain time regardless.

I will run some tests this week but I think the problem may have been due to some gunk caught in an injector. Even though I add a gasoline preservative (Sta-Bil) when I put away the car in the Fall stuff may precipitate out upon standing. The next time I fill up I will add a bottle of Chevron Techron.

The other thing I thought of is the S shaped rubber pipe that connects the top of the trottle body to the air-mass meter is getting pretty ratty. A leak there may screw up the mixture somehow although offhand one would think it would make it leaner. I bought a new pipe this past winter but have not installed it yet.

Just to clarify a fine point:

The CS valve has its own thermostat switch which is measuring ambient/eng case temp, not cyl head. The cyl head sensor sends an analog signal to the ECU to control mixture richness during running, not starting.

The timer is a thermal delay contact.\

CS valve only operates when the starter is actually cranking and then only for as long as the thermal delay is set for.

The thermal delay timer prevents flooding if the engine is cranked for long periods without starting.

Speedy Jim

Thanks Jim, this fuel injection is new to me but I figure I better get some understanding of it if I am going to be able to keep it running.

Dan