Date:         08 May 96 10:50:14 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Linda J. Bartnik" <76065.3075@CompuServe.COM>
Subject:      weird happening

Hey all,
Something weird happened with my '78 today and I want to see if anybody knows
what might have caused it.

Today I went out with my mom (Linda) to take the dog to the vet and run a couple
errands.  The bus was running great.  On the way home, I was driving down the
road about 30 or so and lost power.  The engine had cut out.  I pushed in the
clutch and the lights on the dash came on and I tried to pop the clutch while we
were still rolling but it didn't start again.  Pulled over, put the flashers on,
tried to start it, it cranked fine but no start.  Waited a couple minutes, tried
again and it started right up.  Turned off the flashers and drove home with
absolutely no problems.

When it cut out, it was like the engine wasn't getting spark.  I dont' think
it's fuel-related as there was no hesitation or bucking, just instant cutoff.
It is raining today but when I got home I couldnt' find anything in the engine
compartment that was wet, like the coil or distributor cap.  It's a mystery.

My mom said something similar happened to her years ago in a Plymouth we used to
have.  It turned out to be the ballast resistor.  Now, does the series
resistance block in my '78 do basically the same thing?  could that be the
problem?

How about it folks?  Any ideas?  What would have caused what just happened?

Weird.

Sean