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Date:         Tue, 27 Sep 2005 23:14:21 -0700
Reply-To:     Eric Unrau <eunrau@YAHOO.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Eric Unrau <eunrau@YAHOO.CA>
Subject:      Re: Losing power...update
Comments: To: Ken Lewis <kdlewis_wating_time@allvantage.com>
In-Reply-To:  <007501c5c3d2$fb4fb2e0$23b594ce@korky>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Ken and list. Thanks for the responses. I'm almost ready to give up and take the van to a mechanic...new baby, new house, renos, leaky roof, and now I'm overdue for a mandatory gov't pollution test which means I have to solve this prob ASAP. Anyway...

Do you think that blockage in the cat could be causing this problem? I'd think that a cat blockage would either be there or not, and didn't think that it could cause an intermittent problem like this - especially one that disappears (temporarily) after restarting. I'm a novice at this stuff, so if you could explain I'd appreciate it.

Thanks Eric

-----Original Message----- From: Ken Lewis [mailto:kdlewis_wating_time@allvantage.com] Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 7:19 PM To: Eric Unrau Subject: Re: Re: [VANAGON] Losing power...update

Eric, It certainly could. Ken Lewis http://neksiwel.20m.com/

----- Original Message ----- ...So far I have tried the following: 1) disconnected O2 sensor and did test drive - power dropped off 5 minutes into drive - restart engine - everything ok for 2-3 minutes - repeat... 2) removed distributor cap and rotor, wrapped electrical tape around the Hall sender's wires and connectors to eliminate any possibility of shorting - reassembled and test drove with same results as in attempt #1. 3) picked up a 22uF x 15V capacitor and installed in the AFM per instructions on Harold and Nancy's website. Test drive - same symptoms.

So, I have a couple of questions: 1) does my O2 sensor test prove that it is not at fault? 2) any other thoughts on the cause of this problem?...

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Eric Unrau Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 10:33 AM

Hello all, For the last week I have been experiencing a random loss of power in my '89 Westy. Everything will seem normal as I am driving along, and then suddenly the power will drop off to about 40-50%. [edit: more like 25%]

The first time it happened, I pulled over the side of the road, shut the engine off and checked all the connectors at the plugs, coil, distributor, Hall sender, etc. I didn't find anything that was noticeably loose but when I got back in the van it started up fine, so I though I might have pushed a wire into place that wasn't obviously loose.

I continued driving and 10 minutes later the power drops off again. This time I pulled over and left the engine running/sputtering; checked the wires again and when I gently jiggled the connector on the Hall sender (it hangs somewhat loosely off the side of the distributor) I heard a buzzing sound (short cct?) and the engine stalled. Started it up again, sounded fine so I drove off - again all seemed normal. This happened a couple more times over the next 30 minutes of driving (did I mention my unhappy passenger/wife is 9 months + 2days pregnant?) and I continued to look for loose wires each time - and managed to stall the engine each time I wiggled the connection to the hall sender.

Assuming that the loose hall sender connection was the problem, the following day I wrapped 14 gauge wire around the distributor to immobilize the hall sender connector and then took it out for a test drive. All seemed good for the first five minutes or so until the power dropped off - apparently my brilliant fix wasn't so smart. This time I was rolling along on a quiet street an it dawned on me that normal power always seems to be there when the engine is started, so I gave it a try. I shut the ignition off for 2 seconds and restarted as I was rolling along the street and sure enough the engine seemed to be running normally again. As I continued driving I experienced a couple more power loss cycles that were corrected immediately be turning the ignition off and restarting the engine.

Any and all suggestions on a diagnosis of this problem are welcome. The Hall sender connector has been hanging off the side of the distributor since I purchased the van from the PO but has never caused this problem in the past. Probably should replace it to eliminate it as a possibility, but if it is something else.

Thanks

Eric


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