I finally had to have my head gaskets and heads replaced on both side of my
90 Vanagon Multivan 2.1L  Van was gone for about three weeks so I was very
glad to get it back.  I had it into a shop with a very good reputation for
work on VW's especially Vanagons.  However as fate would have it my van is
not running as smooth as when I took it in.

Symptoms are as follows:  Van starts fine when cold, it is very difficult
to start when hot.  When hot I have to start it by pressing the throttle to
the floor, let the starter spin the engine and then it will catch and
start.  Idle when cold and even when hot is a steady 1400RPM.  Before I had
all this work done the idle was always 800-900rpm and never hesitated from
a stop light.  Stomping on the throttle and releasing, the tach shoots up
to 2500-3000 RPM then drops down to about 500RPM, the engine then stumbles
around and either dies or goes back to 1400RPM.  At idle most of the time
there is considerable hesistation most of the time when I start to
accelerate, to get the van home I had "tickle" the throttle to keep the van
from stalling, once I was going 20mph or more the van ran fine.

Regrettably I did not turn around immediatley and go back to the shop who
worked on it.  There is no way they could of test drove this thing and not
notice this hesitation and high idle.

If anyone has any ideas please advise.  I will be taking it back to this
shop for sure next week but in the mean time any suggestions appreciated.
I also plan on ordering a Bentley next week.

One other question--can the idle speed be set on this van?  I'm just
wondering if they increased the idle speed when the van didnt run at the
proper idle.  Seems to me like the van is running rich and wont start
easily when warmed up because it is flooded.

Tim Marciniak
Muskego, WI
90 Multivan