Date:         Mon, 24 Nov 2003 16:13:43 -0800
Reply-To:     Skip Emmert-Keaton <skip@SKIPEMMERT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Skip Emmert-Keaton <skip@SKIPEMMERT.COM>
Subject:      Underpowered?  Can't be this bad.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Well, we never made it to Phoenix this weekend.  After about 100 miles into
a 20mph head wind, we gave up and turned around.  Driving into the wind we
never got over 50 mph and 4th gear couldn't sustain forward speed.  I'm
getting what sounds to me to be a regular miss at idle (to my untrained
ear).  Is this performance level normal for the Luftboxers or am I running
on three cylinders?  I almost hope that's the case.  I did find one cracked
plug cap, but replacing the wires and caps didn't fix the irregular idle.
What's the next likely culprit?

Upon arriving at the house, I also noticed the fuel pump seems to keep
running after I turn the key off.  Not a huge problem since we keep the
batteries turned off, but what are the thoughts on this?  Do Westy's do this
to keep pressure in the system or do I have a bad relay somewhere?

Finally, still fighting the hot start problem.  I was going to add the
starter relay to the van, but I discovered the PO had already added it.  So
much for that fix.  Just a recap, when the van is hot, the starter will not
turn at all.  I tried to check the starter solenoid to see if it was getting
power, but I must not understand it as well as I thought.  I placed a
voltmeter across the two large terminals and it read just over 12 v...the
catch is that the key was in the 'off' position, not 'on' or 'start'.  Can
anyone give me a quick primer on which terminals should show power under the
various key positions?


Thanks for any help,

Skip Emmert-Keaton
1980 Westy <unnamed>