Date:         Mon, 20 Dec 1999 08:18:50 -0500
Reply-To:     Gina <GG811@SENTRYMICRO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Gina <GG811@SENTRYMICRO.COM>
Subject:      Now What Do I Do???
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi,

I recently acquired a 1985 Vanagon GL in lieu of a debt owed to me...Not
a bad deal, considering the guy only owed me $800 and well hey, I needed
transportation.  Never did I imagine I would become so attached...love
at first drive?...would go to any lengths for her.

My goal...erasing her brutal abuse memories of the past, parked and used
as a storage shed, lent to children as a playhouse...poor thing, these
were only three years of her life.

Before that, it appears that someone bypassed the secondary heating
system (cold air, gee that fan works great but no heat being supplied to
it).  I found a one-foot straight hose replacing where I figure there
really oughta be T-fittings of some sort.  I need to acquire a schematic
of what that all should look like...if anyone has a scanner and could
share that with me (it's getting c-c-cold here in the mountains of NH).
My front heater blower seems to want to come on only once in a while,
and sounds like its thrown a bearing maybe...not sure as it probably
hasnt been working in years.  Turning the switch from 1-2-or 3 doesnt
seem to make it come on, but it seems that first thing in the morning it
tries it's darndest to defrost my windshield, then sounds like it's
'winding down' and doesnt come back on again til another morning!  Could
it be the switch? the fan motor? I've tried to pull the motor, but CANT
find it (bowing my head in shame)  Input on this is greatly appreciated
as all I am getting now is heat from momentum...and hard as I try there
is Always another traffic light I just Have to stop at.

Finally, my biggest problem (until she decides to get tempermental with
something else, poor girl I dont blame her).  Last month my gas mileage
dropped to about 10mpg.  I searched, I gassed up, i searched some more,
I gassed up again (oh boy, did i do that quite a few times).  Finally I
got a tip to replace the o2 sensor and yippee...my 18mpg gas mileage
returned...for about 4 days that is...when driving on the highway
Thanksgiving Day, she flooded out at 60mph.  Having done nothing else
new, I decided to pull wire to the o2 sensor, lo-and-behold she ran
again for me...dumping all kinds of fuel from the exhaust of course, but
managed to get myself and my family home.  I changed out the o2 sensor
the next day (Bosch Universal) thinking that maybe it was defective.
What I didn't realize was that it was RAINING that day, and my problems,
although maybe associated,  were not going to be solved.  Any humidity,
any rain, amplifies the problem, but in general and most always I get
hesitation, surging, flooding out while driving (all gears and speeds),
irradic idle (bouncing from 12-1400rpms), stalling out when downshifting
and idling.  Most times, a quick 'restart on the fly' seems to 'reset'
things and it runs fine for a while, and then back to the same problem.
And as the days go by, my gas mileage is getting poorer and poorer. (I
had the van and it ran fine, beautiful in fact, for the first two
months...changing out the exhaust was the milestone for when all my
troubles started)

Please, if anyone can help me with suggestions for any of this
(something tells me its all controlled by one sensor or another) I would
greatly appreciate it...Along with any schematics of the suspected
problem area.  I have tried to acquire a service manual but have yet to
find one at a cost I can handle these days.

In total, I have done the following to this 1.9l waterboxer:

replaced the exhaust pipes (not the muffler or cat, and the cat is
empty)

cleaned and reharnassed all of the grounding wires on the engine.

replaced the fuel filter, distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs (what a
mess),

changed the oil and filter (10/30)

adjusted the idle and timing (not that its done me much good, although
done with the engine off)

Also while driving, idle or even when she's shut off, i hear this faint
crying from her....Help me....Help me...Help me...

Thanks for your time and attention in my tale of whoas.

Best Regards

Gina
Born-Again Hippy Chick