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Date:         Fri, 11 Jul 2003 08:45:11 -0700
Reply-To:     gary hradek <hradek@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         gary hradek <hradek@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Vanagon Syndrome
Comments: cc: EJHin@AOL.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Ed, I am not a big believer in the "Vanagon Syndrome". Heck I have had a few fords with "Vanagon Syndrome". I think it is more useful just to say the obvious. "I do not understand what is going on" and move from there. There may be some truth to the idea overtime the lead from the AFM to ECU may degrade. I think that in fact the older oem cables were just not up to specifications and the later ones were just better quality. Also just plugging and unplugging them may make a better contact as the leads become oxidized over time. Ed, You have to always do the obvious fixes first. Then move to the more obscure. If you have a headache you take an aspirin before you seek the brain surgeon. Do the plugs, do the wires do the cap. Replace the temp2 sensor. Pull the 02 sensor wire when the van acts up to see if the bucking goes away. Ask yourself if the afm is performing well as these are mechanical items that can wear out. Check your grounds and your cable plugs. The fix is easy it is identifying it that is the problem. Hense the concept of the "vanagon sydrome" has been invented like a ghost to explain something that take too much work for many to carefully find. There exist no single fix for the "vanagon syndrome" since it is an invention in the minds of vanagon owners. Even a blind sow can find an acorn in the forest, likewise if you work long enough to solve this problem, something specific to your problem will solve it and you may never know what you actually did to fix it. The capacitor fix could be just some mojo when what really fixed it was pulling some plug. good luck, gary

Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 09:22:48 -0400 From: Ed Hinchey <EJHin@AOL.COM> Subject: 89' Wolfsy - Vanagon Syndrome

I just got my Wolfsy. An 89' Weekender, blue on blue with the skirts. Driving home, it bucked and shuttered and shut down about an hour into the trip. Sounded like syndrome, felt like syndrome, and smelled like syndrome. It has the VW cable fix on the AFM, so I immediately pulled apart and cleaned contacts, pulled on the grounds and got nowhere. Finally I opened the ECU compartment under the back seat, the cooling blades were hot so I helped it cool down by fanning with an old Mother Jones magazine. After five minutes of fanning - it started and away we went with the back seat open and the ECU getting a B@#& Job for the next two hours all the way home.

My quesions are:

Does the 89' 2.1L benefit from the capacitor fix or should I stay with the VW cable repair?

Could an overheated ECU have givin me these symptoms??

If heat is the culprit, is there a way to instal a cooling fan on the ECU?? Should I get a new one? Am I way off base??

Thanks,

Ed in Syracuse 84' Westy 89' Wolfsy

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