If you're talking about a manual-shift Vanagon, the reason for it feeling
like third gear instead of first is being in third gear instead of
first.  Could be misadjusted linkage, or could be shifting technique.  When
my wife was first driving ours, she often got third for first, though I
never did figure out just how.  Maybe ours is misadjusted... <g> ...but
neither of us have trouble with it now.

david
ps -- In looking for context I ran across your earlier post where you said
that CMOS used to run 12v but now is 5v so it will work with TTL.  One of
the many desirable features of CMOS is that a given chip can run at a wide
range of supply voltages, typically about 5-18 volts I think.  If it's
hooked to TTL stuff you'd run it at 5v, but the CMOS itself doesn't
care.  Or maybe I misunderstood and that's what you were saying.

At 08:54 5/25/2000, Greenamyer, William L wrote:
>For the most part, the van is working pretty good right now.  It does have
>one condition that pops up from time to time and that is when you put it in
>first gear, it seems to think that it is (I would guess) third gear and thus
>it has no power because it can't get the RPMs up.  If I pop it out of gear
>and then pop it back into first, it is fine.  I am guessing that there is
>some switch that tells the computer what gear it is in but have not had time
>to hunt through the schematics to see if I can find it.  Has anyone else had
>this problem?
>
>William

David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"