Date:         Wed, 18 Mar 1998 10:52:03 -0800
Reply-To:     Mark McCulley <raven@HALCYON.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Mark McCulley <raven@HALCYON.COM>
Subject:      Re: "Hunting Idle"
Comments: To: Dana Tessler <dane714@worldnet.att.net>, Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

This not an electronic sensor--it is a simple mechanical switch. Your
mechanic is a bozo. Now your ECU doesn't know when you're idling or stomping
on the gas to prepare to make that next hill. You should remove the throttle
body, clean it up, lubricate the throttle plate a bit so that it travels
smoothly and test the switch as specified in the Bentley manual pp 24.58.

Don't ever listen to a mechanic that tells you to disconnect something to
fix it.

-Mark McCulley

At 12:58 PM 3/18/98 -0800, Dana Tessler wrote:
>I have a 1987 Vanagon GL Camper.
>There is an electronic sensor hookup at the throttle linkage on the engine.
>I had a problem with the van idling at high rpm until I tickled the gas
>pedal,  then it would go back down.  A real pain in the butt in town.  My
>local VW mechanic said it was a faulty sensor and recommended disconnecting
>it, which I did.  Now,  the idle problem is gone,  but unless the van is
>really warmed up,  it will stall out when I come to a light.  It even does
>this occasionally when the van is completly warmed up,  but rarely.
>
>Any comments appreciated
>
>Dane Tessler
>-----Original Message-----
>
>
>.>One cause of the hunting idle can be a sticking throttle switch. The
>>throttle switch is supposed to sense two conditions: idle and wide-open
>>throttle. Next time this happens, try tapping on the accelerator pedal a
>>couple of times. If the idle becomes steady, you have a sticking throttle
>>switch which you can clean and lubricate (but don't try to adjust it!).
>>
>>-Mark McCulley
>>
>
>
>