It’s time to take LuLu to the Volkswagen mechanic. Its something I’ve been trying to avoid doing, but now that I feel like I’ve exhausted everything I can do and everything my friends can do, its time.
Just to be clear – she runs great! The problem isn’t that. The problem is getting her to start reliably. We’ve done kind of the laundry list of replacements and tuning as it does seem like its probably electrical in nature. Just to tick those items off, I’ve replaced (not necessarily in this order):
Starter (where we started)
Ignition Switch
Ignition Cylinder
Main wiring harness
Ignition coil
Points
Spark Plugs
Spark Plug wires
Cap and Rotor x2
Cap
Battery
Battery cables
Starter relay
Fuel filter x3
Fuel lines
Distributor (where we’re at now)
And she still isn’t starting reliably. Is it the alternator? I don’t think so, but I’d have to take the engine out to change it. Is it that I didn’t time the distributor right when I put it in? Completely possible. Am I tired and want a professional to take a look? A THOUSAND TIMES YES!
As of this writing, I’m still tossing around a few things in my head to prevent myself from having to tow her 80 miles. That’s going to be a pain in itself. I did ask for help in one of the local VW groups, but I didn’t have much success finding someone who knows VWs nearby.
Cross your fingers the path ahead is not as treacherous as the path behind us was! Interested in helping out? Check out How to Contribute and as always, thanks for the support LuLu fam!
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