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Date:         Tue, 4 Jan 2000 16:58:15 +0200
Reply-To:     Ken Turner <kturner@IAFRICA.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ken Turner <kturner@IAFRICA.COM>
Subject:      Idle Stabliser Control Unit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

I’ve just gone through a couple of frustrating weeks when for no apparent reason our 2.1 litre Digijet Vanagon would intermittently start, but idle VERY badly, refusing to respond at all to the accelerator, or pull away. Replacing fuel filter, spark plugs, distributor cap and HT leads all helped to cure an elusive miss during normal running, but not this main problem.

Nothing I checked seemed to be clearly the cause, and what was more puzzling, the fault “disappeared” after anything between a couple of minutes and an overnight wait. I now realize nothing I did at that stage had anything to do with getting it going again.

The fourth occasion it happened, I was still at home, which was great, and this time I duly checked the Idle Stabiliser Control Unit for the first time. Eureka! Instant success when I bypassed the unit; plugging it back into the circuit brought the problem back again. I really should have checked it before, as it’s so easy to do. Problem located if not solved.

Today I priced a replacement unit - OUCH! No way! Much Too Much!

Which leads me to ask -

1. Am I likely to do any harm by leaving the wires permanently bridged and the Idle Stabilizer right out of the ignition circuit? (I honestly can’t say I notice any difference in idling whatsoever, though I must point out that we in South Africa are currently just past mid-summer with temperatures well up the the 90's)

2. Has any brave soul ever cut one of these units open? What lives inside? Any likelihood whatsoever that any part inside might be replaceable or serviceable? If not by an average Joe Soap then by whom?

3. I see on the wiring diagram, that it lies between the Hall Sensor and the Transistorised Ignition Control Unit. Can it do anything at all beyond advancing or retarding the ignition timing slightly? Does anyone know just what it’s function is and how it stabilizes idling?

4. Has anyone ever located a third party replacement part? (Much as I like to stick to genuine Volksie parts)

Many thanks in anticipation -

Ken


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