Date:         Sun, 1 Nov 1998 22:24:21 -0800
Reply-To:     Randolph Feuerriegel <RFeuerriegel@BC.SYMPATICO.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Randolph Feuerriegel <RFeuerriegel@BC.SYMPATICO.CA>
Subject:      100 Mile House: Hesitation & more(longish)
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Greetings all.

Well I got home from 100 Mile House to Vancouver Island without any
problems, except for a loud and crappy idle. Saturday morning I drove
from Williams Lake to 100 Mile House, complete with hesitations and all.
I had checked my oil as Gary Thaxter suggested, and yes, the rag smelled
of gas. Thanks for the tip Gary. Not having the means to replace or
check the regulator, I speculated that some other problem as in no spark
could result in fuel just washing past the rings. I noticed that the
hesitation only happened when I backed off the throttle then
accelerated. If while cruising I just accelerated and not back off the
throttle first, all was fine. So I concluded that maybe the throttle
switch would get stuck and leave the ECU confused. I don't know, just a
guess. Anyway I sprayed some penetrating oil around the switch and hoped
some would get at the cam. The problem never reappeared, but then again,
maybe I got lucky.
A note here to David Marshall. I did this little fix just after our
phone conversation. If this motor keeps giving me any more grief, I'll
be calling you about the 2.0L swap sooner than I thought! For all of you
interested in David's setup, I thought it looked pretty good. Nice and
neat. Compact. It will however, sit a couple of inches above the deck on
a van. For me thats not a big concern.
This morning presented new problems. The van would fire up, but stall
immediatedly unless I held the throttle down until the motor was warm. I
have not been able to test anything today, its pouring rain and I have
no garage to work in. Here then is a list of problems that occurred on
this 2000 Km trip.

1) First sign of hesitsion as described above.
2) Next morning after the above problem, no start. Fuel pump clicked on,
but no crank. Opened deck lid and tapped pressure regulator, relays,
alternator and wiggled wires and connections. Engine starts, crappy
idle.
3) This morning, start but will not hold idle until warm.

Thanks for enduring this longish posting, anymore suggestions welcome.

R.Feuerriegel
88 syncro
Victoria BC