Date:         Tue, 21 Jan 2003 13:38:21 -0500
Reply-To:     Marc Perdue <marcperdue@ADELPHIA.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Marc Perdue <marcperdue@ADELPHIA.NET>
Subject:      Idle update
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi all,

A quick (or not) update on my idle issues:  I replaced the breather hose
and the idle stabilizer control module (with the "D" version) in my '87
Westy.  I didn't figure the breather hose was affecting my idle,
otherwise I would have installed the parts separately and tested each.
Here's what I've got now:  When I first started the van this morning,
about 20F, the van started and did NOT run rough.  Yay!  One problem
fixed!!  It started out idling at about 1100 RPM, a good cold idle
speed.  After a minute or so, however, the idle would periodically drop,
slowly, then would jump back up.  Strange, I thought.  Seemed to me it
would react quicker to compensate for changes in idle speed, but at
least it WAS compensating, so clearly the control module was working
now.  It stopped doing this after it warmed up for a few minutes and
dropped to about 900 RPM.  I drove it the 20 minutes to work and when I
parked, i.e., put the AT in PARK, the idle would fluctuate between 1200
and 1600.  I did not kick the gas pedal to see if it would drop down and
idle normally at that point.  Just forgot.

I also noticed a different sound when it was cold that may or may not
have been there before . . . the engine seemed to be ticking, and the
speed would change with the engine speed.  If it was there before, I
probably wrote it off as some part hitting some other part outside the
engine.  Now I'm not so sure.

Back to the idle . . . at this point I'm thinking that the idle
stabilizer valve is not responding quickly enough and that is
responsible for the idle fluctuating.  Thoughts?

But then again, the J pipe in the exhaust, the part that connects to the
cat. conv., seems to have a leak in the gasket at the end furthest from
the cat.  This is annoying because I replaced that J pipe and gasket
about 2 years ago.  Apparently I didn't do such a great job.  The
question is, though, can this gasket leak cause bouncing idle?

I also have the Temp II sensor and a new oxygen sensor, should these be
implicated in this scenario . . .

Thanks to all for your help,
Marc Perdue