Date:         Sat, 13 Jan 2001 16:37:05 -0500
Reply-To:     David Luddy <bugle@EPIX.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Luddy <bugle@EPIX.NET>
Subject:      strange intermittent engine miss
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

hello,
While driving up the PA turnpike last night, the engine ('86 2.1) started
to miss.
temperature fine.
oil fine.
I putt-putted into the Allentown rest-stop. The idle surged between stall
and 1000rpm.
I shut the engine down and unloaded the rear cargo,opened up the engine
access and did some preliminary checks.
Found nothing obvious pulled off or leaking. I hooked up the Digitool
(thanks Darrell !) every thing fine.
Sooooo....
we did our pee stop and continued north on 476.
Running great for about 30 miles... then it starts missing again.
made it to Tunkannock, shut down, fueled up with that 5th tank feeling
petrol from Texaco (I've got about a 100 tank feeling... pretty boring, I
prefer the feeling from a fifth of Glenlivet much better!)
drove off on the final 60 miles and it runs fine the rest of the way.
could the hot exhaust from the leak (right by #3 cyl) be heating up the
injectors causing them to fail?
Both times, after shutting the engine down for ten minutes, it ran fine for
a quite a while afterword.
so... gut feeling,
injector bad?
ignition fault?

          David at the ranch for the weekend.(hating intermittent fault
diagnosis)