Date:         Sun, 17 Feb 2008 09:19:57 -0500
Reply-To:     Matt Sutton <msutts@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Matt Sutton <msutts@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Rich running incident puzzle
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hello folks,

Last Monday, after driving on the highway for a 1/2 hr in cold weather, I
had a sudden loss of power accompanied by the unmistakable smell of a rich
running engine. I'd had the front and rear heater blowers going, and for
lack of anything else to try I turned them off. The engine's power returned
almost immediately.

Things have been fine since, but I haven't  had the occasion to run the heat
full blast either. I've been wondering what happened and came up with a
couple ideas:

#1: I'd overcooled the engine somehow, throwing off the air/fuel mixture.

#2: Since everything (wiring, blower motors, etc) is old, running the
blowers caused a voltage drop across the whole electrical system. With all
the FI sensors giving info to the ECU by resistance to a specific voltage,
perhaps the voltage drop creates misinformation. Or even effects the ECU's
functioning.

No crisis, but anything that helps with understanding how these things work
is good for me.

Best,

Matt Sutton
88 GL 4sp
Brooklyn NY