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Date:         Wed, 28 Nov 2001 07:03:56 -0800
Reply-To:     Ben McCafferty <ben@KBMC.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ben McCafferty <ben@KBMC.NET>
Subject:      Re: Strange problem with '91 Carat
Comments: To: Anthony Bailey <abailey@MAC.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <26175E42-E409-11D5-A66C-000502FD06CB@mac.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"

Sounds like my brother in law, who was an F-111 pilot--when they have electrical problems on the ground, they have a procedure called "Master Restart"--yep, shut it off, start it up again. Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when you're going Mach 1 over enemy territory, I'm sure... bmc :) "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel...."

> From: Anthony Bailey <abailey@MAC.COM> > Reply-To: Anthony Bailey <abailey@MAC.COM> > Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 08:06:41 -0600 > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: Re: Strange problem with '91 Carat > > Hey Tom, I'd be interested in what you find out. My van did a similiar > thing on my trip to see my parents over the Thanksgiving holiday (3 hour > trip). It would gradually lose power until I could only do about 35 mph. > I pulled off the road, it would rev up okay, but wouldn't pull very > well. It finally after a few minutes went away and then 30 minutes > later, it did it again. This time I turned the Van off and when I > restarted it worked fine... My wife has had this happen once or twice > since she starting driving it, we figured at that time it might have > been water in the gas, now I'm thinking fuel filter... However, as luck > would have it, it worked fine all the rest of the way home that evening.. > Go figure, Tony > > 87 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Edition (still looking for a name) > > On Tuesday, November 27, 2001, at 09:20 PM, Tom Stone wrote: > >> I just returned from a Thanksgiving week trip from central Illinois to >> Silverthorne, CO and back -- about 2400 miles in all.  The van handled >> the job remarkably in most respects.  Mileage was 17.7 mpg on the >> westward leg (uphill with an occasional west wind) and 20.1 on the >> return (downhill with the same wind).  This fall, I redid the valve >> adjustments and installed a new, more accurate fuel pressure >> regulator.  I couldn't be happier with the mileage and performance in >> general. >> >> However, when driving for extended periods of time with the cruise >> control on, I began to experience Vanagon syndrome.  Sometimes just a >> little hiccup every now and then but occasionally a gut-wrenching, rod >> throwing, valve sticking sensation that forced the foot to the clutch >> pedal and that van to the side of the road while I listened for >> expensive noises.  I fiddled with turning the key off and coasting for >> a few seconds and with varying the speed and that seemed to help so I'm >> pretty certain it is Vanagon syndrome.  I have the info on how to fix >> this with the tantalum capacitor so I'll attack it  before a trip to >> Florida and back for Christmas. >> >> Another problem occurred that I have not seen mentioned on the list.  >> If, after sustained driving at speed with the cruise on, I pulled off >> onto an exit ramp and slowed down, the van would not rev smoothly.  It >> would idle, occasionally stall, and rev very slowly regardless of the >> pedal position until it reached 3k or so and then it would rev at >> higher rpms OK.  When I stopped for gas or to eat and the van cooled >> down, it would rev OK until I got on the highway.  I said "cool down" >> but the engine was not hot, the needle was mid point-between the light >> and the marker on the cold side and the outside temperatures were in >> the 30-60 range.  I don't think it was heat related.  >> >> Could this be related to the Vanagon syndrome, which I understand is >> caused by static electricity affecting the FI computer?  Both problems >> seemed to go away when the engine was not running for 15 mins. or so.  >> I plan to check the AFM tracks as well.  Any thoughts are appreciated. >> >> Tom >> '71 Westy, '85 Westy, '91 Carat >> >> > ---------- > this is coming to you from Anthony Bailey KC0HZP > (mailto:abailey@mac.com) Marble Hill, Missouri 63764 >


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