Fellow listees !
Maybe some of you could shine a little light on a weird experience of mine that has puzzeled me the last 24 hours 
(No it's not the butt mark issue ;) ) 
But
My silencer broke down the other day - one of the endcaps fell off - and I decided to get a new .
In order to determine what parts I needed I took it all apart before going the 20 miles to the VW dealer - No not in the Vanagon, I have a constant need of repair vehicle (F.O.R.D.) too.
But - here comes the weird part - I had to move the Vanagon in order to close the garage door and even if it was LOUD with only pipes and the cat. I found out that for the first time since I bought the Van, the idle was a steady 800 rpm!
And this is even more spooky - with the new silencer on it�s back to it�s 1100 - 1600 rpm variable idling speed !
WHY ??
I�ve noticed earlier with both cars and motorcycles that the lack of counterpressure will rise the idling but I doubt that the pressure is lower within the silencer than in the air :o
I must add that nothing else has been touched in the engine compartement and that on or off ramps made no difference ....
Please oh please explain this !!

Calle
-88 Vanagon
Mullhyttan, Sweden