Date:         Mon, 15 Jul 1996 11:46:51 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Shawn Wright" <SW@smus.bc.ca>
Subject:      Re: joys of new ownership?

On 14 Jul 96 at 16:29, bomhag@hg.uleth.ca wrote:

> Hello watercoolers,
> 1) Because it was new to me, I had the van "tuned" up by my mechanic who does
> most work on my 1986 Volvo DL.  It runs smoothly but I noticed that while
> riding really slow in 1st or 2nd gear, around a campground lets say, the van was
> really "herky jerky" or bouncy.  It was really sensitive when I gave it a 
> little gas or let it off. I didn't really notice this before the "tune up".  
> Can anyone identify with this?  Is there a solution? 
Not sure about the 83-85 engines, but on mine this symptom was caused 
mainly by a sticking throttle position switch. It is a small switch 
under the throttle body which should close at idle and full throttle. 
Check the Bentley manual for the exact description on your '84. 

> 2) My fridge.  Me and fridges don't get along.  I had it serviced 
by an RV
> outfit.  They got it going on 110V and propane, and said everything was okay.
> You bet, on Thursday I got it going on 110V and things were nice and cold in
> the morning.  Before we left I got it going on propane.  Took a some doing
> which was a little disconcerting.  I had been told not to run it on 12V while
> riding because it still draws a lot of current.  "Turn on the propane and
> forget about it until you get home" was the advise I got from more than one
> person.  When I got set up at camp fridge wasn't on.  I wasn't out of propane
> because I got the stove going.  I then went through the whole procedure of 
> getting the fridge going again and sure enough it lit and stayed on all night. 
> I discovered that the fridge would turn off when I was *driving* because when we
> got to the trail head of our hike it was off again!  Obviously the pilot light 
> was being snuffed out.  Again, can anyone identify with this?  Is
> there a solution?
Yes, don't run the propane on. My Dad does this with his truck & 
camper, but I prefer not to risk a gas leak. I've run for 2 weeks 
straight using gas at night, and 12v while driving with *no* 
problems. (just make sure the van is level when you light the gas). 
If the 12v isn't working check the fuse behind driver's seat on the 
floor. I found that if the fridge was already cold, 12v could 
maintain the frost on the fins while driving, even when 80-90 outside. 

Shawn
'88 Westy 332k (Kyra)
'85 Jetta TD 350k (Jenni)