cincy and ignition problem

[fahrvegnugen at cox.net (David Utley)]

> 
> From: "Jim Ruffi" <sciroccos@earthlink.net>
> Date: 2005/04/21 Thu PM 03:25:07 EDT
> To: "Drew Mac" <type53@gmail.com>, 
> 	<roccit_53@scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca>
> CC: Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> Subject: Re: cincy and ignition problem
> 
> >Along the lines of what Cathy's talking about, most CIS cars have a
> >wire running from the solonoid to the ignition coil to insure good
> >voltage to the coil when cranking.  You may wish to check that yours
> >isn't missing, broken, or otherwise not functioning as advertised.
> >
> >Drew
> 
> I'll check the diagram/car for that one.
> 
> I did check all grounds in the engine bay, as I mentioned before.  Checked
> the ground strap to the trans mount and the cluster of grounds on the back
> of the intake maniold.  Checked the coil low-voltage wires.  Checked
> continuity of all ground wires and installed additional grounds and jumper
> cables to beef it up during testing....no dice....I only get a spark AFTER I
> stop cranking the starter, which tells me the car will probably bump start
> just fine.  I still plan to replace the battery negative cable and crimp new
> ends on all of the ground wires....have to buy the OE brass ring terminals
> from Wurth first, though :-)
> 
> The PO put new plug and coil wires on the car, presumably to correct the
> problem.  I ran through all of the Bentley tests and it pointed to a bad
> ICU, however, when I drop the fuse panel, the car seems to start right up.
> Last night, I pulled all of the connections from the back of the fuse
> panel....looked ok, except for a dab of corrosion that got my attention.
> Put the box back in place...no spark while cranking......
> grabbed at the wires on the left side - no luck
> tugged at the wires on the right side - started right up
> 
> I can't locate the exact wire that might be causing this.  I might actually
> need a new fuse panel...it could be that the wire tugging just stresses the
> panel enough to bridge some loose connection somewhere.
> 
> What frustrates me off is that I feel that the info the Bentley provides is
> not detailed enough.  It would help if the various black boxes were expained
> a bit more, as far a functionality...some logic info and a breakdown of the
> purpose of every external connection....but I'm asking for a lot.
> 
> Jim

That sounds pretty damn strange...  It may indeed be the fuseblock, they do not tolerate any corrosion anywhere, and they are a funky sandwich-type, and once they go, they get really weird...  Speaking of weird, I have noticed that whenever I am dealing with something I cannot wrap my head around, I like to speak to a higher authority.  Most of the time, this is God, but occassionally it would be Bosch Technical, at least I think that latter might be more likely to help you...  Give them a call...  1-800-521-5462.  Have your notes (if you have any), and pertinent paper history, and all of your repair manuals on hand when you call.  The way this works is you would call them and leave a message.  They will call when you are next (may be a day later, sometimes minutes), and they will quiz you again.  The more information you therefore have on your hand at the time of your call will make things flow that much easier, that much more quickly...

Hope this helps, and I will be curious to hear what the cure of this is...

Cheers,
  David

'83 GTI, Daily Driver...
'87 16V, parts car
'82 pickup, 2.0 16V, collecting dust...