Blowby from your engine (usually caused by
bad rings or a plugged breather system) is
prbably where the oil came from in your
breather tube. Eventually there was enough
oil re-entering the airbox to allow the engine to
run on its own.

Good thing you got it stopped; if the van had been put in
neutral the engine likely would have kept revving until it flew
apart. YIKES!

VH
84 Westy

-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Lynch <Chgolynch@AOL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: 07 September, 2000 11:38 AM
Subject: Runaway Dieselbox!

>Well, I had a rather hair-raising experience yesterday. My diesel Vanagon
>decided to start accelerating by itself, would not switch off by the key,
and
>was stopped only by jamming it into 4th and standing on the brakes until it
>stalled. Fortunately, this all happened in a matter of seconds. Nothing
seems
>to have blown up, but I noticed copious amounts of oil down the breather
tube
>that runs from the valve cover to the intake manifold. I suspect it started
>siphoning oil, and running on straight engine oil. The oil level wasn't
low,
>the temp was fine, and the engine gave no prior warnings befor doing this.
No
>leaks or drips, just a lot of smoke when it started running straight oil. I
>notice the breather in the valve cover is kinda clogged, but what else
could
>cause this condition? After cooling off for a while, I drove it home
safely,
>and since it didn't repeat the scenario, I think it's safe to say it hasn't
>eaten any rings. It has a plastic splashguard under the valve cover, too.
I'm
>at a loss though, and so is my buddy who runs a VW shop. Dieselheads
beware!
>However, the acceleration curve is pretty nice...;)
>
>                                     -Sean L.
>
>                                              '82 GL Diesel "Donder"
>                                              '86 GL "Blitzen"
>                                              '86 GL Weekender "no name"
>                        coming soon!   '80 L