Date:         Thu, 17 May 2001 17:32:46 -0500
Reply-To:     William Wedenoja <waw105f@mail.smsu.edu>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         William Wedenoja <waw105f@mail.smsu.edu>
Subject:      88 westy throttle out of control
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I regret to say that I've been off the list for more than a year.  Simply
couldn't keep up with it.  And I haven't had any van-related problems. Until
now.

I left the house one morning.  About half a mile down the road, in third, I
discovered if I took my foot off the accelerator that the engine kept
revving at about 3000 rpm.  Stuck.  I took it home and abandoned it for the
Saab.  The next day I tried the westy again and it worked normally.  Then,
of course, the next day the accelerator stuck again.

A shop replaced the idle stabilizer valve ($190 plus labor).  But that
didn't help.  I thought I should consult listees before letting the shop
replace more parts.  There's no one around here who's really savvy about
vanagons.

Sometimes I can get it back to normal by turning the key off, then
restarting.  Yesterday it ran fine all day, today it was out of control most
of the time.

Is this common?  Is there a clear-cut reason?  Or a good diagnostic
procedure to follow?

Thanks,
Bill
88 westy (hoppin' john)
Springfield, MO