Date:         Thu, 06 Apr 95 22:04:18 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: 85 Vanagon starts hard

On Thu, 6 Apr 95 18:51:14 CDT Chris Getschow said:
>My '85 Vanagon has trouble getting started.  Here's the scenario:
<snip>
>depressing the accelerator when the engine catches and then driving away
>immediately.  The engine runs rough for a couple minutes while I'm driving
>(in a low gear) but then runs smoothly thereafter. I can smell gas when I'm
>backing out of the driveway.
>first or second try.  The second is that there's something screwed up in the
>FI system that's causing the starting mixture to be richer the colder it gets

i think you are onto the culprit, but have some "facts" wrong ... imho it's
the coolant temp sensor gone bad or the wiring/ground associated with it.
it sounds to me like the computer is NOT adding the necessary extra gas to
"choke" the car when cold ... so the engine runs, but dies. then you have to
literally flood the car to get it running. that's the gas you smell when you
get it running. it's about a $10 part (be sure to get a new gasket as well)
... and don't try to replace it from underneath: you'll get coolant in your
face. :(  check the connections first ... it might just be a loose wire.

joel