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Date:         Mon, 29 Sep 2003 11:01:55 -0600
Reply-To:     Chad Morris <chad@ALLMORRIS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Chad Morris <chad@ALLMORRIS.COM>
Subject:      Re: The "Other" Vanagon Syndrome, Part II
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I concur with Robert that you should try replacing your AFM. It sounds like you have been everywhere else. The AFM is such an enigmatic part to trouble shoot, you have to simply replace it to know for sure if yours is good.

I just replaced my AFM - $250 from GoWesty, which I was glad to pay considering the going rate seems to be more around the $500-$650 range. The problems I was experiencing were idle surging, high idle speed, and stalling at idle, not the typical VS issues you are describing. Incedentally, my AFM had the factory VW wiring piece installed which supposedly cures VS. I wasted countless hours checking for vacuum leaks, replacing Idle Stablizer parts, looking for shorts, testing injectors, etc. Anyway, I replaced the AFM and idle problems were cured. Now the wife wants to drive the van all the time!

Chad Morris '89 Carat Salt Lake City

----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Keezer" <warmerwagen@HOTMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 11:11 PM Subject: Re: The "Other" Vanagon Syndrome, Part II

> Aha!! Harald, this is the same thing that plagued my Vanagon on a 45 day > road trip to the east coast and back. You have a bad air flow meter. That's > my guess. > > I thought it was all the things you are going thru-- fuel pump, fuel > quality, a clogged tank. > > When I got back to Seattle, I bought a good used AFM and the problem was > gone. > > This bucking, cutting out,and stalling is very classic AFM syndrome. It > isn't likely that it fuel supply related or even qualiity. > > Most if not all underground fuel storage tanks have been replaced but I > wonder where all the dirt in mine came from. > > I had my gas tank out yesterday and no matter how many gallons of gas I > rinsed it out with, dirt was always present. > So a new one is on order soon. > > I had a cutting out problem before I changed my fuel injection system to a > newer version. > > Well guess what- the cutting out and stumbling is still present- so I am now > pretty sure it was the dirt in the 18 year old tank. > > > Turning off the engine and then restarting resets everything -this is > typical of AFM syndrome. > > And I seem to remember you have a new AFM and the capicitor, so waht gives? > > Well when the AFM goes out, the capacitor does nothing to help -my > experience . > > For this reason I changed to the FI system that has no moving parts. > Unfortunately not available for the WBX, only '93 and later VW's. All it has > is a little wire that gets hot, and the ECU increases injector time as the > wire cools from increased air volume of acceleration. > > So , instead of a flap and a wiper, the changing restistance of the wire > cooling is the signal the ECU reads . > > Also this is not affected by air density like a mechanical flap is. Better > high altitude compensation. > > I should'nt have mentioned it since you are a WBX guy but unless somone > revisions the WBX fuel injection system, it is becoming a obsolete , > without on-board diagnosis which may have been nice to have right about now. > > I did'nt know about the Vanagon list in '97 when I had the AFM problems- it > sure would have saved me the trouble of changing three fuel pumps. > I read about the bucking syndrome in the archives. > > Try changing the AFM at a shop or junkyard . > > Robert > > 1982 Westfalia > > > > > > > > > > > > ----Original Message Follows---- > From: Harald Rust <harald_nancy_vw@YAHOO.COM> > Reply-To: Harald Rust <harald_nancy_vw@YAHOO.COM> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: The "Other" Vanagon Syndrome, Part II > Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 16:48:33 -0700 > > >From http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/vw-camping/ > After spending many days touring the Yellowstone > geysers, wildlife viewing, photographing the Grand > Tetons, and driving hundreds of miles in the parks at > 8,000 feet, it's time to go back home to Washington. > In the parks, the vanagon runs perfect, and > our confidence has returned. > We exit Yellowstone at the north entrance, and > proceed on to Livingston, Montana, and there top > off with Exxon premium and get back on I-90 west. > After 50 miles on the highway, it starts all over > again, bucking, backfiring, loss of power, as > if someone back in the engine compartment cut > the fuel supply off. > We are 800 miles from home, and there are some big > mountain passes in front of us, and it's > becoming very nerve-wracking. > We pull over once again, move all the things onto > the camper floor, and open up the engine compartment. > Start up the waterboxer, and now it confounds us > by idling really nicely again. > Back on the freeway, after another 60 miles or so, > it starts stumbling again. After a very long day > of slow driving, we limp into Butte, Montana > with 35 mph and the emergency flashers blinking. > Camp at the KOA. In the morning we buy a new fuel > filter at a store, and replace the old one > at the KOA. > (for good measure, also put in the spare coil.) > I cut open the old fuel filter, which > is also fairly new. Hardly any dirt in it. > The paper element looks just fine. > There are a few water droplets in the fuel, > but nothing that should make the vanagon stop running. > People blame a lot of problems on bad gas. > I was always skeptical of that, because the other > cars seem to run ok on the same gas. > The vanagon isn't that different, or is it? > So if it's not bad gas, what is it then? > The symptoms are always a leaning out of the fuel. > So finally we realize it could be clogged fuel > injectors. Maybe clogged or worn fuel injectors > are more sensitive to reformulated gas containing > ethanol(?) > Maybe that's the reason some vanagons seem to > run better on certain brands of gas. > In Western Washington our vanagon always > ran great on the cheapest regular gas. > Maybe the heat of all-day freeway driving makes the > varnish deposits in the fuel injectors stick(?) > Stuck fuel injectors is something that we hadn't > thought of up until that point. > Our injectors have been replaced once, but are > about 9 years old with 110,000 miles on them. > Never really added much detergent to clean them > on a regular basis. > So we drive down to the gas station mart, and > stock up on 5 bottles of Techron additive. > The guy behind the counter comments on how > expensive the stuff is, and that's why he rides > a bicycle. > So we start by pouring 2 bottles of Techron in > the fuel tank. Get back on the freeway, a little > later the vanagon starts bucking once again. > Another 100 miles later, the bucking becomes > less severe, and sometimes I'm even able to > keep up with traffic on a uphill grade. > At the next fill up, add more Techron. > By the time we reach Idaho, the vanagon runs > really great again, and the stumbling totally > disappears. We drive all the way back home > without any problems. > Still with all this, we don't consider the > problem fixed. It's probably time to replace > the fuel injectors, or at least, take them out, > and send them in for ultrasound cleaning or something. > Some research shows that European car fuel injectors > are more sensitive to sticking than domestic. > So it looks like we'll be replacing the fuel > injectors soon, even though the vanagon is > running really well again right now. > Harald > '90 westy > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search > http://shopping.yahoo.com > > > Robert > 1982 Westfalia 1987 Wolfsburg > > _________________________________________________________________ > Instant message with integrated webcam using MSN Messenger 6.0. Try it now > FREE! http://msnmessenger-download.com >


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