Date:         Sat, 13 Apr 2002 12:45:06 -0700
Reply-To:     Graham Freeman <graham@CALTEG.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Graham Freeman <graham@CALTEG.ORG>
Subject:      '85 Vanagon fails smog - diagnosis help requested
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Hi folks,

I have an '85 Vanagon GL (Westfalia edition) that won't pass smog.  Yes,
I'm in California.  Yes, it sucks to be in California at times like these.

Here's the situation:

I got the van for free from an older friend who is not interested in
fighting with "high-maintenance" vehicles anymore.  He got his use out of
the van, and now it's my turn.  Part of the deal is that I have to deal
with smog, which, for the price, seems fair to me.

Initially, the van died sporadically for no apparent reason.  I could be
making a left turn in a busy intersection after an hour of unventful
travel, and the thing would just die.  No sputtering, no warning - just
suddenly the engine would go dead.  Or, the same thing might happen at
65mph on a straight stretch of the freeway - again without any warning.
Almost always, I could just start the van again with no hesitation.
Those rare occasions when the van wouldn't start up again easily, it
turned out to be because the contacts on the fuel injection computer were
not secure - easy enough to fix.

So, at this point I've had the spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor
cap, and fuel injection computer replaced, and now the van doesn't die
unexpectedly. Cool - problem #1 solved.  Now for problem #2...

Unfortunately, it also won't pass smog.  It passes everything on the smog
test except the "HC(PPM)" section of the idle emission test results.  For
that test, the maximum allowed measurement is 150ppm @ idle, while my van
measures 829 @ idle.  The maximum allowed @ 2500RPM is 180ppm, while my
van measures 614ppm.

It's been suggested to me that perhaps there's a vacuum leak or an exhaust
leak. I'm also wondering if maybe the catalytic converter is damaged.  I
think this because on the sun visor it has a warning that says, in
summary, that turning the engine off while the van is still in motion will
damage the catalytic converter.  Of course, when the van was dying at
random times, this is exactly what was happening - and by the time I got
it fixed it must have have happened a few dozen times at least.

Any ideas?  I can certainly take it back into a mechanic, but I thought
I'd take a breather here before I go shelling out even more money on this
vehicle.

Thanks

-Graham