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Date:         Mon, 28 Mar 2011 08:59:58 -0400
Reply-To:     Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: engine dying while driving
Comments: To: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
In-Reply-To:  <AANLkTikO3FGf9OinXL1+Hy4-D6xMTgSkgOWNYxY8+O2y@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Joy, long time no speak. Glad your van is still doing well and going down the road (except for this problem).

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be the hall sensor in the distributor. It would be very intermittent and it took me over a year of dealing with it to finally figure it out. It would die and then always restart. Then it got to the point where you had to let the van cool down for it to restart. In my case I had a good used distributor that I could swap in and that was how I trouble shot it. There is a hall sensor test in the Bentley but I have never been able to use it as an actual "this is good/this is bad" rule. I guess that is because the problem is intermittent. So if you are at a shop that specializes in Vanagons maybe they would have a good used 2.1l distributor on the shelf and they could loan it to you for this test.

The other problem that I have had lately that could possibly be this problem is with some wiring. If you take out the air filter you will see a double plug at the firewall of the van (white plug). This is the ground and power to the fuel pump. I would unplug this plug and look inside the connector. If it looks corroded you can either clean it up or cut the plug out of the system completely and just splice the wiring together here with two crimp splices. My Dad was have this problem with his van although his was more like, driving somewhere, get out and do whatever, then get back in a few minutes later and the van would not start. When it wouldn't start you could turn the key and not hear the fuel pump come on. If you hit the fuel pump relay box with your hand, you could get the relay to kick on and the van would start. I thought it was a relay at first, but after I changed that with a couple of new ones I tracked it down to the bad connector.

Finally, inspect your coil. If the coils are failing, many times they will excrete black tar from the inside. Check the wires going to the coil to be sure they are tight and have a clean connection. Sometimes all it is, is one of the black wires has a bad end.

Of course you have already checked your grounds and ground strap. If not do that first.

Hope this helps. If you decide to go with a new distributor or hall sensor just let me know. I can ship it right up there no problem.

PS all of this advice applies to an 85 or newer Vanagon.

Ken Wilford John 3:16 www.vanagain.com

Joy Hecht wrote: > Hi folks, > > Got a vanagon question! No halogen lights, no list-language discussions, > all vanagon. > > My engine has an intermittent problem. It dies while driving. This has > been going on for a long time (since last fall). I'm driving along, usually > (but not always) at fairly slow speed, in suburban or urban driving, and it > just loses power and then dies. Sometimes it loses power and if I give it > more gas, it bucks and coughs (choose your metaphor) - then sometimes it > dies, and other times it feels like something catches in the cough and it > starts going normally again. Feels very weird. > > This seems to happen more predictably when I'm going up a hill, or have to > shift in urban driving. I find myself giving it more gas than I usually > would, and sometimes revving it too high without shifting, in order to > prevent it from dying. I'm afraid to go up really steep hills (MANY of them > in St. John's) because I'm sure it will die, and I'll not be able to start > it up again, and then I'll be in a mess, having to back down the hill > coasting or something. (This happened once. Not good.) > > When it dies, I put flashers on, stop, turn the engine off, turn it back on, > and almost always it starts up and behaves properly. Canadians are > extremely polite, but I imagine the people behind me do NOT appreciate > this. > > One time it did this at high speed, on the Trans-Canada. Not good. It > wouldn't start up again - well, it did, but then died promptly again. I > pulled over, called a tow truck, waited around ten minutes. Then started it > and it worked fine. I ended up canceling the tow truck, and didn't have any > more problems for the next 400 or so miles till I got home. > > I've taken it to two mechanics. Before heading back to Newfoundland in > February, I took it to my mechanic in NJ. He said "sounds like an > electrical problem." He searched all over, and drove it around, but it > didn't act up when he was driving it, and he said he couldn't figure out the > problem unless he saw it happen. Incidentally, this same mechanic replaced > my alternator in October, and I drove a fair bit (up to Westies at Watkins > and back, maybe 600 miles) after that with no problems at all. So > presumably it's not the alternator. > > So reluctantly I headed back to Newfoundland (long drive, cold weather, not > nice to take risks with uppity van when Propex heater still doesn't work > despite Karl M's repairing it last fall). I got as far as those 400 miles > from St. John's, that's when it died on the Trans-Canada. After it started > up again, I drove into Corner Brook, which wasn't far, and took it to a > mechanic who someone had told me was the best one around for electrical > work. They said that it sounded electrical, but if they didn't see it > happen, they couldn't fix it. He said something electrical is getting hot > and then cutting out. When I stop it cools down, and then it works okay > again. If this were the case, though, why would I have been able to drive > from New Jersey to Newfoundland, all highway driving, without it happening > once? And why does it more reliably happen when driving around town, often > when I've just started and the engine is cold? > > So anyway, I came back to St. John's, got here fine. Now I only drive to do > errands around town that I can't do on foot. Pretty much every time I > drive, it cuts out at least once, then starts up again and seems okay. It > seems to happen often when going slowly - pulling out of a parking space, > starting up at a traffic light, parallel parking. > > My neighbor (not a car mechanic) said he thinks it's a clutch problem, > because I told him it happens more when I have to shift. > > What do you all think? BTW, Matilda (my van) is an '89 with a manual > transmission. > > I'm planning to take her to my mechanic here (who specializes in old VWs), > but I'm almost waiting until I'm sure she'll act up when he drives it, since > I suppose he'll also say that if he doesn't see it happen, he can't figure > out what's wrong. So I figured I'd ask for your opinions. > > What do you think? > > > > > > Joy > >


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