Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:52:32 -0700
Reply-To: Thomas Kitts <thokitts@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Thomas Kitts <thokitts@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: '85 Engine hesitation help
In-Reply-To: <77F98377-5745-4C34-AEDB-6331EE70C331@gmail.com>
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Aaron:
Let me know what you find out. I had the exact same experience,
precisely as you describe, last Saturday coming back from a trip. Was
driving at freeway speeds, a little more than an hour into the drive,
and my '84 Westy did the same thing. Fade and surge. Fade and surge.
Never died, just fade and surge. Didn't matter what gear, or how fast
I was going. The power seemed to fade without audible loss of engine
noise and it would try to briefly bring itself back to full power with
the pedal to the floor, yet never make it. Limped home eventually.
My Westy had been acting somewhat quirky prior to that and perhaps it
is related, perhaps not. On three separate occasions in the last two
months I turned the ignition key on, got solid electrical cranking,
but no ignition of the engine, as if fuel wasn't making it into the
fuel injector. (My speculation, not confirmed fact.) The first time it
happened I had to push start the Westy downhill and yes, the engine
fired right up. The other two times the engine eventually turned over
after cranking it more than should be necessary.
The '84 is going into a good VW shop later this week. Until yesterday
I was thinking clogged fuel line, or filter, or a faulty air/fuel
mixture doohickey I had replaced in June. Or maybe something else
having to do with the fuel line. Now, I'm not so sure. I don't know.
Let me know what you find out. I'll share too. If I can't depend on
this Westy to get me home I'm going to sell it. The last thing I need
right now is a project car.
Thomas
On Sep 10, 2008, at 7:42AM, Aaron wrote:
> Hello all.
>
> I have an '85 westy that I have been having some issues with and the
> wife is becoming less happy by the day. It's been the daily driver
> lately as our subaru is in the shop.
>
> When it is running OK, it runs fine. Then it seems to hesitate/bog
> down and will sometimes die at idle. It seems to only occur when warm
> (intermittently). At freeway speeds, it will run, but feels like it's
> missing power - perhaps 30%, then it will slowly surge a bit, then
> lose power, then surge a bit etc. It's drivable as long as things are
> flat...hills are slow. When I come off of road speeds to a stop, the
> idle is very rough and it idles pooly, I (sometimes) loose all
> throttle response and then it dies. It's usually hard to restart, no
> rich smell at the tailpipe. It always restarts, it's just how much
> time one has to wait.
>
> I've been doing some maintenance on it (cap/rotor/plugs/plug wires/Oil
> change/cleaning grounds/flush coolant/etc) recently. Any thoughts on
> an easy fix on this one? Temp2 sender? O2 sender? Bad connection/
> wire? Other??
>
> Thanks!
> Aaron
> '85 Westy
> '85 Sunroof (w/subaru)
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