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Date:         Tue, 19 Dec 2000 07:10:47 -0800
Reply-To:     Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Lethargic starter (Update)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi All,

Well, some of you may remember that I was having difficulty with trying to get my '86 van started and I'd like to thank the following generous folks for lending their suggestions (in no particular order:

John Klun Gerald Masar Justin B. Jensen Richard Golen Ron Olsen Kenneth Lewis Joel Walker Samuel Walters Andrew Fox Jon Hathaway

and to anyone else whos name I failed to mention above that sent help for this problem...

***** Meanwhile, back at the problem ****

Well since then, I've replaced the transmission to chassis cable, the spark plugs, spark plug wires, starter, battery, cap & rotor. Changed oil to 10W-30W (filter is VW). All to no avail. :(

So I had to have the van towed up to my house in New Hampshire and for several weeks have not been able to start the engine. I also added 5 gallons of gas and gas treatment to see if maybe that would help. Still no-go.

The van sat for a week or so since I last touched it. Then along came this last weekends storm and 30+ degree warm up. about mid-afternoon, I thought, "Ahhh what the heck." I jumped in the van and tried the ignition and Wam! It started right up! What!?! I couldn't believe it... It had trouble idling and so I restarted it again and held the accelerator pedal down and let it warm up. After a few minutes I shut it down and checked the engine compartment to make sure everything was secure. A few minor things were reattached and I took her out for a drive. Wow! It ran just fine. But I'd sure like to know what was wrong. I've since started it up in 20 degree F weather with no problem! Idles fine too. So, it's still a mystery and I don't want it to not start out in the middle of no-where. I will be checking/cleaning all grounds and still want to check the resistance of the main fat wire from the battery to the starter. I don't know what else to check. I know that before when I tried jump starting it, I could hear the donor engine idle drop when I turned over the starter of the van. Other than that, I have no clue. But at least it runs now. But for how long?

Thanks to all for the help,

Steven Johnson

'86 vanagon

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