Should have stayed in bed

[MikeH]

On the subject of "what did you do to screw up your bug today"...

Decided today was the day to yank the engine on my 78 FI. Jacked up the car, pulled off all the FI crap thats bolted all over the freakin engine and firewall. Crawled underneath to remove the fuel lines and chickened out. Saw one big greasy, oily mess and a whole lot of potential new trouble if I dropped the engine.

Thought about it and decided, chances were good I was gonna find a lot more issues than I wanted to deal with once I dropped the engine. So bolted all the FI crap back on, reconnected all the wires. Turned the key to make sure everything was ok and heard a loud pop and sizzle.

A quick check of the engine compartment showed a nice cloud of smoke pouring out of the distributor. I hooked the distributor wire to the + coil. Melted my points and probably the condensor.

So much for avoiding potential trouble.

[dansam]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!

WECANFIXIT!

I hate the old original FI stuff. Rip the engine out and retrofit carbs/electric fuel pump.

[Dustin]

Ah that might be a good new topic, "What did you break on your VW today" haha

[ghiastein]

The big greasy, oily mess could be the reason for the over heating issues. A clean engine will dissipate heat better than a greasy one.

[MikeH]

Oct 26, 2010 8:30:14 GMT -5 ghiastein said:

The big greasy, oily mess could be the reason for the over heating issues. A clean engine will dissipate heat better than a greasy one.

True, but I'm confident that's not my issue.

I've decided to man up and yank the darn engine. Where's the fun in having someone else fix it. If I have to pull the heads or even split the case it will be a good experience.

[dansam]

Agreed.
And think of all the stuff youll learn! And all the stuff you can break and then fix again