Hello list. I have a baffling situation with the timing in my 87GL WBX.

While at a Vanagon meet last week here in Toronto, a fellow Vanagonaut pointed out to me that my timing gear was out 180 degrees. To his trained eye it stuck out like a sore thumb because the Hall sensor was pointing towards the rear of the vehicle. Obliviously an error by previous rebuilder. The timing gear was also missing the 2 washers at the bottom which resulted in a little but negligible wear. Also the timing seemed to be way out of wack as it showed to be nearly 30 degrees advanced - ran fine. We then proceeded to turn the timing gear to correct position (with cylinder #1 at TDC, as per Bentley) and added the 2 washers. Following the instructions from the Bentley manual we adjusted the timing. Still , the engine seemed the happiest at nearly 30 degrees advance, which does not make sense. Between 10-20 degrees advance the engine was bogging on heavy throttle but would eventually get up to RPM. Adjusting the timing as per spec. the engine ran like a dog - no power or would not run at all.

The only difference now is that the engine will not cut out at idle - which before required some fancy foot work when coming to a stop light to keep engine running.

So, please List - shed some light on this!!!

Ken Madsen Toronto, Ontario