Date:         Mon, 11 Jun 2001 09:33:20 -0400
Reply-To:     John Philcox <jphilcox@HOME.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Philcox <jphilcox@HOME.COM>
Subject:      Re: Engine Cutting Out at Highway Speed

"Mike Finkbiner" <mike_l_f@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote
Subject: Engine Cutting Out at Highway Speed


> Last fall I had an episode where I was driving down the road, and the
engine
> just cut out for an eyeblink.  It did that several times one afternoon.  I
> noticed once that the tach needle dropped a lot, but each time it was too
> brief to look at the gauges or the digitool readings.

I had similar symptoms about 4 years ago.  The cut-out was momentary and
seemed to be random, becoming more and more frequent over a period of a
month or so.  Engine speed or temp didn't matter, and it happened at idle
too.  Anyway, mine turned out to be a short in the wire from the coil to the
tachometer.  I never did locate the short, but by disconnecting the wire,
the problem went away.  There are probably other "peripheral" circuits that
would do this too.  Little logic was used in the diagnosis, mostly just
trial and error.  Running a new wire for the tach is still on my list of
projects, but always seems to get bumped down on the list.

John Philcox
'85 GL
Newport, RI