Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:50:47 -0230
Reply-To: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject: engine dying while driving
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
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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