Not sure about anything, but I've had a similar problem (loss of power, but none of the other symptoms you mention) on my '87 VW Golf, and it turned out to be the idle switch (it's an electrical switch that is "on" when you press the accelerator, and off when you release it. Baically, I'd be accelerating, then for no reason, I would lose power (the switch would fail) until the engine would basically go idle, and then suddenly I would have power again for no apparent reason (the switch would start working again).

Anyway, can't tell if the same situation applies to Vanagons, but it's worth a look.

Thanks,

philippe

On Fri, 19 Jul 2002 03:11:43 -0400 Richmond Mike <keepongrowin@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote: > So the story starts off like this.. The van, an 85 automatic. accelerating > from time to time on the hiway the engine would lose power. Like I was > taking my foot off the gas. With the pedal to the floor it would finally > pick back up. Anything else would be completely unresponsive. Curious I > thought, what the hell could this be? > Well on the way to a wedding this past weekend, The exhaust manifold on > the left rear cylinder comes loose and gets noisy for the rest of the trip > (almost 3 hours). After returning home I take it to a mechanic for > inspection. My usual guy is on vacation (the acceleration problem has gotten > worse since the pipe fell off). He discovers a noise in the right side of > the engine that he believes it to be valves..in his opinion an adjustment is > needed. That doesn't really sit right with me. Patiently waiting for my > regular guy to get back to town I am faced with a worsening problem with > acceleration. The pipe is now back in place. Tonight the issue is really > bad, and after making a short 5 mile trip home I smell burning oil. quick > inspection shows that the exhaust has super heated. the engine temp guage is > about a third of the way up but my nose tells me somethings really wrong. > not to mention the site of smoke coming from the rear of the engine after > pulling off the lid. I'm totally stressed... > So how does it sound? I'm thinking it's time for an overhaul.. Anyone ever > had this sort of experience before? If you've seen this type of thing happen > before please let me know what you think I may be facing. > a million thanks > -Mike > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > http://www.hotmail.com

A bientot et avec amour,

Fuzzy :philippe Stilts/Chocolate Truffles/Chill Spaces/Fuzzy Characters... mystikat@california.com - email (866) 248-7673 x6111 - voicemail/fax

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