Good that you notice the tach = (rpm gauge) problem. It is an excellent indication of what = is happening at the coil primary circuit. Check for = loose connections on the coil and the grounds on the van body = near the coil and left head. The digifant system (86 - 91) use = the ground on the fuel injection cable near the ecu (brown wire going to body under the rear seat) for the ground for the coil driver = transistor which is inside the ecu . So check the ground under the rear = seat.

Your problem could well be = the ecu (black box under the rear seat) tap on it will often = make the problem come and go. The digifant ecu is very prone to bad = solder connections, especially in hot climates.

----- Original Message -----

From: Frank Assinck

Sent: Saturday, October 14, = 2000 10:24 PM

Subject: Ignition = problem?

Our Vanagon GL Camper from 86 is = giving us some serious troubles lately. I'm not very technical and English is not my motherlanguage so I will try to explain what's happening. When the Van = is running, the rpm gauge is flipping up and down while the car starts to = shock. So it looks to me that the ignition is cut off = randomly. This problem comes and goes but when it acts up its no fun to drive in = the car. The problem does not act up when the car is idle-ing, which makes = it very hard to track down the problem in a garage. It's not the = coil and not the distributor because they were exchanged and the problem = still acted up. The mechanics couldn't find anything and only cleaned the = whole circuit/connections. Since then the Van ran fine for a 1000 mile but = today the problem was back. From two different sides I heard that this problem = has to do with the grounding of the electrical circuit and that other = electrical device ( like power windows or maybe the fridge) can disturb the = ignition circuit.

Is there somebody who recognizes this = problem and has an idea about the cause and how to solve it?? We really like our = Van and we want to keep it on the road for another 1.5 year to see something = of the States, but at the moment we feel like riding a time = bomb.

Jacksonville, Florida