Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 20:36:15 -0500
Reply-To: Scarlett Semko <damosem@MAIL.MCO.BELLSOUTH.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scarlett Semko <damosem@MAIL.MCO.BELLSOUTH.NET>
Organization: Pre-installed Company
Subject: Re: Advice needed: engine speed jumping abruptly
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Something else to check:
I have a 1984 1.9 and recently had a problem with surging and stalling. I
fixed three things.
1.) did the capacitor fix, and replaced the O2 sensor
2.) found that the plastic/rubber gasket between the throttle body and
the air plenium was shot and allowing air to leak in/out. also found that
the little holes in the throttle body that the vacume lines to the
distributor hook up to were pluged from gunk so I cleaned them out.
3.) reset the switches on the throttle body. I recently had the tranny
out for a rebuild, and I had not adjusted the accelerator cable right,
which threw the stops on the switches off.
In my case I believe that the throttle switches fixed my problem. The
other things I found needed fixing, so it was a good time to fix them,
all were very simple fixes.BTW I found water inside the AFM, alot of
water, I assume the DPO had opened it up, and failed to seal it (I
attached the capacitor inside the AFM, a much cleaner application), and I
reset the wiper arm to sweep over a different path, the original path was
indead worn.
Don't be afraid to fix things, you'll be surprised how easy most things
are to fix.
Hope this helps.
Ron Semko
1984 Vanagon w/weekender pkg and 200,000 plus miles
1978 300 D with 300,000 plus miles
S Sittservl wrote:
> My thanks to all who sent advice on my problems with
> my engine repeatedly losing speed and then surging after
> a few hours of highway driving. I thought I'd summarize
> the suggestions I got, for the benefit of others who might
> run into the same problem.
>
> Roughly in descending order of popularity:
>
> (1) The air flow meter harness "capacitor fix" - a 22 mfd 35 volt
> capacitor between pins 2 (+) and 4 (-) on the AFM harness, to
> smooth out electrical jumps that confuse the computer when
> vibration causes the AFM wiper arm to lose contact. If needed,
> adjust wiper arm a bit to make better contact.
> (2) Replace the fuel filter.
> (3) Replace the O2 sensor (particularly since it's time to replace it
> in any case).
> (4) Replace coolant temperature sensor.
> (5) Check for weak battery.
> (6) Check engine electrical connections for loose wires, etc (always
> a good idea).
>
> It's time for a new O2 sensor anyway, and probably time for a new
> fuel filter. The capacitor fix is inexpensive (about 79 cents) and
> easy, and harmless even if it's not the problem. So, I'll go ahead
> and do everything but the coolant sensor (since that's $20-30).
> If the problem doesn't go away, I'll try the coolant sensor too.
>
> Now to go get my Bentley and find out where the AFM is...
> (yes, I'm engine-illiterate). (But I *do* know where my fuel
> filter is. I found it one day when the gas line came
> disconnected from it while I was driving down the highway,
> and I lost the whole tank in about 15 minutes.)
>
> -Steven Sittser
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