Date:         Tue, 12 Apr 94 09:14:21 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Hunting idle on Vanagons

On Tue, 12 Apr 94 09:04:25 CDT Richard Eager said:
>Jim & Dean, I'm also very interrested in everyone's responses as I have a 1987
>that exhibits a similar behavior (I think).  That is, when idling, the
>RPMs will increase to about 2000 momentarily and then return to proper
>idle speed.  Really weird the first time this happened while driving ...
>I also have another problem that may or may not be related.  When I
>first start the car in the morning, the idle is very rough and slow
>(about 500 or so).  Sometimes the engine will stall, so I press the
>accelerator slightly to keep the speed up. After a minute or two of
>running, it's OK.  If it stalls though, it is very hard to restart and
>sometimes there is the faint smell of gas.  Is it possible for it to be
>choked too much ??!!

Now THAT's the behavior of a bad temp coolant sensor! and if you drive off,
it will stall/die at stop signs and red lights.  that's just about exactly     t
>> > hurt) and the Van now has gone into it's idle hunt mode twice on Saturday,
>> > and twice today (Monday).  It seems to be running better (when it runs
>> > right).
>
>Yea, BIG bucks here.  Doesn't the dealer have the diagnostic equipment to
>determine if the ECU is bad or not?
>
>> > you by replacing the whole wiring harness?!?
>
>If the dealer suggested to me a complete harness replacement I'd think
>it very unprofessional and would interpret it as their way of telling
>me they can't fix it.
>
>DickE
>Richard Eager