Date:         Fri, 2 May 2008 12:00:01 -0700
Reply-To:     Robert Keezer <warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Keezer <warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: lurching engine
In-Reply-To:  <07cc01c8ac80$31402d60$6601a8c0@OFFICE>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

When I read the title the first time I was
reminded of the Adams Family.

Then I remembered how I was plagued with lurching
on a roadtrip to the East coast in 1997.
In my case, it was a bad airflow meter.

Just one more thing to consider .

Bucking as it is commonly called. 3,000 miles of
it!!
And when I got home, I joined the Vanagon list
and you gave me the answer to this .
I replaced the AFM and added the capacitor
harness.

Robert
1982 Westfalia







--- Bob Donalds <donalds1@VERIZON.NET> wrote:

> Lurching could be many things and could be as
> simple as bad motor mounts
> at part throttle on and off the gas the engine
> will give and take enough for
> the cable to be to tight and lurch
> down hill in forth gear sounds right for this
> condition
>
> Bob
> Boston Engine
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Drew" <john.p.drew@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 5:15 PM
> Subject: lurching engine
>
>
> > Hi All:Border Stories has made it out of
> Texas, through New Mexico and
> > into
> > Arizona, but there are now some concerns
> about our vanagon's ability to
> > reach California without a total and
> potentially dangerous breakdown (we
> > might be passing through some "rough" areas
> on the Mexican side).
> >
> > The reasons for concern are the following:
> >
> > After driving 150 miles or so (yesterday), we
> reached a slightly higher
> > altitude along the southern state line
> between N. Mexico and Arizona (at
> > one
> > point I think we nearly hit 6000 feet), the
> car started to occasionally
> > lurch, as if it were running out of gas (the
> tank was full and there were
> > no
> > gas leaks however). At first I noticed that
> this only happened going down
> > hills in the highest gear (4th), but after a
> bit it actually happened
> > going
> > up hill too and eventually, in all gears.
> Fortunately, our gradual ascent
> > leveled off and for the most part, the
> lurching went away but my feeling
> > is
> > that after another long drive and any more
> significant descents or
> > ascents,
> > it will come back. Any idea what might be
> causing this and how we might be
> > able to fix it?
> >
> > In addition to this lurching phenomenon, we
> also experienced a scare this
> > morning when I noticed that the temp gauge
> had risen above the light in
> > the
> > dashboard. I stopped before the light went on
> and checked the coolant tank
> > to see what was happening. Sure enough,
> coolant was coming out the side of
> > it (but not the top where the cap sits). It
> did not look as if the tank
> > had
> > pulled any coolant over from the reserve tank
> though because the coolant
> > level in there was where it should be. I made
> sure the screws that appear
> > to
> > keep the top half of the tank fastened to the
> bottom half were secure and
> > then started driving again, watching the
> gauge carefully. I also turned on
> > the heater, as stop-gap measure. As it turns
> out, the gauge never rose
> > above
> > the light bulb again and we were able to
> reach the southeast corner of the
> > Arizona/Mexico border safely and without
> losing anymore coolant from the
> > tank or reserve tank. The only thing I can
> think of is that I might have
> > driven out of last night's camping spot in a
> low gear, pushing the rpms a
> > bit, but other than that, the car seemed
> normal until I noticed the temp.
> > gauge going up a few miles down the highway.
> We had not driven for more
> > than
> > 5 miles when this happened but the problem
> did not come back after we
> > settled into  highway driving at 50 mph with
> the heater on.
> >
> > My rather naive opinion is that these two
> incidents are not related, and
> > may
> > not transpire again, assuming we stick to
> level terrain and I regularly
> > watch the gauge. Given the fact that some of
> our next border stories are
> > going to be shot in some remote, hot and
> potentially dangerous areas, I
> > thought I would send these concerns out to
> the group for feedback however.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for your input-
> > the borderstories team
> > www.borderstories.org
>



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