81 Scirocco smog check fixes update

It would be quite bizarre if it were, yes?

Not enough change. As oil temp moves above 50C, idle moves above 1K.

Yesterday I thoroughly cleaned the filter side of the fuel distributor, just in case (it was still pretty varnished up). Double checked to make sure the plate was centered (it is). Again, no change.

I think the only things not yet checked are fuel pressures.

nf

Reply to
nutso fasst
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Car passed smog test today with very low numbers. To do it, though, mixture had to be set so lean the engine would barely idle at all, even with idle air screwed waaay out.

When CO was set with dwell meter, such that idle was smooth but too fast, both CO and HC were grossly too high at both 15 and 25 mph.

nf

Reply to
nutso fasst

Well congrats on that at least! Now you need to correct the fast idle before the next time! lol

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

Yeah, I still want to correct that pesky problem. At least now I don't have to worry about the black-n-whites when I take a test drive.

Latest thing: I tried disconnecting the 'control box' by plugging the two connectors together. I noticed no difference. Not sure what that box is supposed to do besides display a 'replace O2 switch' warning every 30K miles.

BTW, I got the impression from responses here that aux air regulator and aux air valve were the same thing but I just found out otherwise. The 81 engine has an AAR, not an AAV.

nf

Reply to
nutso fasst

If you also have A/C you might have more than one! AAR is attached to intake Another device possibly called an Aux Air Valve (A/C equipped) would be attached to the body and some vehicles may have 2. BUT I have not seen any WC vehicle older than my '83 Audi in a while! lol

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

That car adjusts the idle speed with vacuum retard. At least my 1980 did. When it retards the ignition the idle speed goes down. Bad diaphram and the idle control cannot do its magic. Having a MityVac arround is a good tool for testing bad diaphrams in vaccum advance, vacuum retard, egr and other devices that use vacuum to do their jobs. The slightly more modern cars used the auxilary air valve mounted on the right strut tower. Or did it use the digital idle stablizer which was mounted behind the firewall. I thnk the DIS is used if you have a transistor ignition. I removed the points distributor on my 1980 and replaced it with electronic ignition. That electronic ignition did not have a vaccum retard so the DIS did its thing. The 1984 used the AAV.

Reply to
Jim Behning

hmmmm I vaguely remember some device that actually cut off the retard vacuum to the distributor when you needed a faster idle in a car with a/c. I wonder if it created a slight vacuum leak too. I still don't have a clear picture in my mind. I will need to go back to the books on that one!

Thanks Jim! ;-)

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

I tested vacuum retard and advance early in this process using my 'organic MityVac': my lungs. With cap off it was easy to see that both were working. Additional proof comes from removing and plugging the vacuum retard hose, which causes timing to advance (and idle speed to increase) considerably.

The 81 has an electronic ignition using a hall sensor in the distributor. The hall sensor moves clockwise with intake manifold vacuum and counterclockwise with vacuum from the throttle body venturi just ahead of the throttle plate. The outside of the trip rotor rotates counterclockwise (advances ignition) from centrifugal force. All of these seem to be working as they should, though I have no way of knowing if the springs are exerting precisely-correct counterforce.

Here's something that strikes me as weird: When I disconnect the O2 sensor, the idle speed goes down. If anything, shouldn't it go up (voltage < 450mv indicates lean mix, therefore mix gets enriched)?

I hooked my el-cheapo digital multimeter between sensor and computer and started the warm engine. Voltage moved from about 300mv to around 500mv as engine got fully hot but sometimes went negative.

(Crap, the smog- & heat-eaten connector to the computer just lost some of its plastic.)

nf

Reply to
nutso fasst

Reply to
Jim Behning

Reply to
Jim Behning

Would that I had one to get out as it looks like a good reference. Maybe next time I order ink from Amazon...

Reply to
nutso fasst

Sorry I was raised in a house where factory service manuals were purchased for cars. Even back in the day when cars were not so complicated. That carried over to me. I get manuals so I do not waste time looking for answers found in the manual. ;-) Easier to open the manul to find torque values and wiring diagrams.

Reply to
Jim Behning

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