Date:         Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:19:56 -0400
Reply-To:     Jeff Stewart <fonman4277@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeff Stewart <fonman4277@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: unexplained power loss - help! & My EB Breakdown
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

<The other possibility is a wiring issue... Check the connections at
the ECU and the coil. A bad coil can cause power loss under high
load conditions but still work fine at idle and lower speeds.>

Yes it can, how quickly we forget! A few years ago my '77 Westy acted up on
the way to EB, bucking and jerking at high RPM's right before up
shifting-as soon as I shifted up it would be fine until I got to the upper
range of that gear. Everyone thought it was a FI problem, turned out to be
a bad coil. It was recalling that that pointed me in a new direction with
the trouble I had with my '84 on the way home from EB last Sunday. I
*thought* I had gotten bad gas in Lynchburg, since the trouble appeared
within 20 miles of filling up. Now, here is where I'm a bit confused.
Bentley shows on plug and coil wires a "new" and an "old" style connector.
When I put in the 2.1 engine last fall, I also added new wires, cap, rotor,
etc. The wires are the "new" style. Recalling my coil problem with the '77,
yesterday I pulled the wire from the coil to the distributor cap-center
connector of the distributor cap is full of greenish crud. Looking at the
coil end of the wire, I see now it is not fully seating down into the
coil-though it would appear that it is-the end of the wire is actually to
thick to fully insert into the coil. The coil is a Bosch "green label". Now
if the coil wire wasn't making good contact, I don't know why it would have
run fine for nearly 1,100 miles then act up halfway home from Everybus. But
my problem Sunday with the '84 was almost the same as with the '77. Both
idled fine and would run OK on flatland, but struggled at the slightest
grade. Anyone else have a problem with these new & old sttle connectors?
Jeff

PS-Tested the coil last night, it is OK.

Jeff Stewart
fonman4277@earthlink.net
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/vwcampersmidatlantic/
http://home.earthlink.net/~fonman4277/vanagon%5b1%5d?200712