Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 10:20:58 -0400
Reply-To: samc <samc@SURFGLOBAL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: samc <samc@SURFGLOBAL.NET>
Subject: Re: Vanagon stalling problem
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Its a bit embarrassing to admit, by my 84 Westy did that for several years -
and no mechanic seemed able to figure it out. parts were pulled and
evaluated as fine, some were replaced...The engine would quit and dog down
at interstate and/or local speeds ... The only ways I could restart the
engine was to turn the ignition off, continue rolling at whatever speed I
was driving, turn the ignition back on and it would start and run fine for
several miles ... sometimes a hundred or more ...
If I stopped entirely, the engine would turn over, start and run too.
This occurred at elevations from sea level in Panama to the tops of Rocky
Mounty passes to the North Slope when I took my mid-life walkabout and lived
in the vehicle for 6-7 months, in New England (where I live) to the hills of
Tennessee and elswhere. The odometer at the time went from 25k to
approximately 100k - and my current mechanic and I never figured out what
the real problem was. For some reason, the problem went away, and hasn't
reoccurred. I've chalked it up to just one of the many life's puzzlements
... and continue to chuckle at the memories of various friends and family
members looking worried as we rode the highways with me swearing and doing
the on-off ignition "think" with no power steering, etc ...
SamC
> Hello Group,
>
> I need help. My '85 vanagon gl keeps stalling while i'm driving and then
> becomes very hard to start once stalled. My mechanic wasn't able to find
> anything wrong.
>
> The symptoms:
> while driving, often when slowing down for a stop in neutral, my van with
> stall causing the power steering and brakes to go out. when this happens
it
> will often take 15-20 minutes before the car will start again. the engine
> will "turn over" and crank normally but it just won't start until
suddenly,
> out of the blue, it starts again. when i'm turning the key, everything
> seems fine. the engine turns over and sounds normal. the engine behaves
> fine once started and i don't detect anything abnormal prior to it
stalling
> out. i'm not sure if it's related but it seems to happen only when i am
> slowing down and still in motion, never when i'm in idle. a couple of
times
> this happened while i was making a hard left.
>
> as you can imagine, this is a real pain. i live in downtown los angeles
and
> a couple of times i had the car stall in the middle of a busy street
during
> rush hour traffic. another time i had it stall in the middle of the night
> in skid row! each time i had to wait approx. 15 minutes before the car
> would start again. if anyone has any advice i would greatly appreciate
it.
> Thanks!
>
> Steve Kim
> 85 vanagon gl
> los angeles, ca
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