This sounds like an identical problem to the one I am having... at times my
van seems to be flooding itself... usually when warm tho... at the moment
tho being cold... I crank it just for a few seconds, and can smell gas from
exhaust... as if it weren't getting fire...

At 11:21 PM 10/25/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello,
>
>I am new to the list, a friend suggested getting on to get some help.
>
>The local VW dealer seems unable to diagnose/fix my current problem.
>The van irregularly has a rich fuel mixture - misfiring
>spell. Something is causing the fuel-air mix to be too
>rich, at least that is my take on the dark smoke out the
>exhaust, the exhaust smell, and the big drop in gas
>mileage. While this is happening and I am driving, the van
>loses power and runs rough; pulled up to a stop or coasting
>in neutral, it is apt to stall. If you turn off the
>ignition and restart during one of these spells, the
>problem temporarily is abated. The irregular aspect is that
>when the van has just started up or when the weather is
>cooler the symptoms may not show up for awhile. These
>symptoms show up more quickly driving in town than on the
>highway but they always show up eventually.
>
>The first dealer effort to fix this was replacing vacuum lines
>and sparkplugs. The second try was some type of wiring
>harness. To the dealer's credit they took the harness off
>and refunded my money when this did not make a difference
>and it has been hard to diagnose when the symptoms are
>irregular. Third trip to the dealer, left the van several
>days so they could drive it enough to detect the problem.
>They then replaced the air-flow meter ? (the two parts
>listed on the bill were 025-906-301-C AIRCONT and
>025-906-457-A CONTRVA).  The problem continues. Since I
>live in a somewhat rural part of Virginia, it is hard to
>find a good VW mechanic; obviously I am not one. The dealer
>is 30 miles away and seemingly stumped. I know they can
>continue to replace different parts but I want my kids to
>be able to go to college. Any and all suggestions on what
>to do would be appreciated. Does anyone know how to
>diagnose this problem?
>
>Thanks,
>Bruce
>
>71 van, rust never sleeps
>87 vanagon, too young to die
>--
>Bruce Brunton
>Harrisonburg, VA 22807
>bruntobg@jmu.edu
>(540) 568-3211

TieDye
( E-Mail - boomin@epix.net or tiedye@webtrek.org)
1984 VW Vanagon (1.9l) Owner

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