Date:         Tue, 22 Mar 2005 19:40:36 -0500
Reply-To:     Marc Perdue <marcperdue@ADELPHIA.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Marc Perdue <marcperdue@ADELPHIA.NET>
Subject:      No update, just curious about idle/reset
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Okay, don't know about the rest of you, but I've about had enough of the
several hundred posts on tire sizes, offsets, and GVWR . . . :-)   Now
for something a bit different . . . NOT!

My last update on my losing power issue was all I've done, just about,
since then.  Dealing with an '87 Westy here, AT . . .  At any rate, with
the timing set properly and the throttle switch seeming to be working
properly, I decided to disconnect the O2 sensor and drive the van for a
few hundred miles and see if I can't burn out some of the soot in the
exhaust.  Haven't had a chance to check all the sensors as I said I was
going to, and I haven't been able to find Darrell Boehler's article with
all the settings for all the sensors.  Nor has he responded to my email
requests for such.  Oh well.  I did manage to at least change the oil
and filter over this past weekend.  So, without having done any of the
proper troubleshooting, I am still trying to understand the Vanagon a
little better and just have a couple of questions about what happened
today.  Here's the scoop:

Started the van this morning, temp. in the upper 40s.  It was idling
low, stalled once, and almost stalled a couple more times.  Drove the 15
miles to work and did experience the low power thing on the way there.
The engine temp. needle never got all the way off of the white mark.
Generally I would expect it to get to the middle of the gauge by that
time.  Parked the car at work and the idle was smooth at about 900
RPMs.  Okay.  Left work this evening and drove home.  Outside temp. in
the 60s.  Started losing power the closer to home I got.  The temp.
needle was a little bit above the white mark.  When I pulled in the
driveway and put it in Park, it was "idling" at 500-600 RPMs and sounded
like it was only running on three cylinders.  I turned it off and back
on.  The idle jumped up to about 1400 RPMs for a few seconds, then
dropped down to a smooth idle at 900.  Now for the questions:  What is
getting reset when you turn the engine off and back on?  The ECU?  If
so, then that would indicate that any one of the devices that the ECU
monitors, or the harness itself, could very easily be causing my
problem, yes?  Probably not the fuel pressure though, right?  I think
this is what Bob Donalds has been trying to tell me all along . . .
Don't get frustrated with me, Bob, I'm just trying to get a better
handle on this system so that I can be better at fixing it.

Regarding the settings for all the sensors and such that the ECU
measures, can that information be found in ONE place in the Bentley, or
do you just have to dig through all of it?

Thanks for any light you all can shed on this curious beast.
Marc Perdue, really enjoying the coming of Spring and looking forward to
festival season . . .