HI all,
I own a '90 Vanagon GL, with 110,000+ miles. I've recently run into some trouble. Let me break down the situation for you. In December I replaced the plugs, wires, dist. cap, & rotor. Afterwards I experienced a strange "pulse" power loss (almost like a miss) and the van stalled a couple of times. Once while driving, and once while stopped. The van sat for the weekend and then on my why home, it gradually lost power and died on the side of the road. I had it towed to a local garage and they determined it was a faulty distributor, so they replaced it, and the van STILL wouldn't run right. It would blow black smoke and run very rough, and somedays not even start. They worked with it for a few weeks and couldn't find the problem. (they were not a "vw" shop, but they were close to my house, and an honest shop) they gave me the option of towing the car to where ever I wanted, and not charging me for any of the work they had done (feeling bad about not being able to repair the van). So, I had it towed to a local VW dealer, where they determined the "new" distributor was also bad, so it was replaced. But, my poor van would STILL not run right. It was still lacking power and stalling, so they checked it over and suggested maybe it was the O2 sensor, or Air Flow Sensor. I ran low on money, so I was unable to have them replace the pricey O2 sensor and continue their diagnosis. I brought my van home, and took out the Air Flow Sensor and cleaned it and checked it over, it appears to be working. I also ordered a new O2 sensor from The Bus Depot, and am awaiting it's arrival. Does anyone have any more suggestions on what the problem may be?  PLEASE HELP!!!
 
P.S. before the changing of the plugs, wires, dist. cap, rotor, and a state inspection, the van was running great.
~Jeremy Sager