Date:         Sat, 27 Apr 1996 15:04:15 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         DHaynes57@aol.com
Subject:      Re: loss of power on hills

In a message dated 96-04-26 23:06:12 EDT, Grannegeer@aol.com writes:

>  there is a noticeable
>loss of power when driving up hills.  We need to downshift to keep up our
>speed.  It doesn't run rough, it doesn't smoke, and on level roads we can
>maintain 65 (we may just be paranoid, but there may also be less power on
the
>highway also.). We know that we are talking about a VW Vanagon, but this is
a
>new problem, as we said, it is noticeably different from driving it when we
>first bought it.  The timing is right on, it's not burning oil, it idles and
>runs smoothly, just loses power on hills.

Check out the catalytic converter.  It may be clogged or it started to melt
down.  Even a Syncro Westy should be able to travel at 70 to 75+ on level
road.  Check out the fuel system to make sure the O2 sensor circuit is
working properly.  Hope this helps,

Dennis.