I think the flames are raising the temperature of the coolant in the hoses
to the point that the temp 2 sensor is changing the air/fuel mixture and
causing the symptoms you have seen. I would route your rear heater hoses in
front of the AC evaporator, and before you get to the fire, turn the AC and
rear heater fan up full blast to compensate for the increase in coolant
temperature.

Tim Hannink
Winter Park, Florida
1987 Wolfsburg Edition Westfalia Camper - "Goldibox"
http://hanninkt.home.netcom.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Jeff Warner
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2001 11:46 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Doesn't run well through fire.

Fellow listees,

I've been noticing recently that whenever I drive my '87 Vanagon GL through
flames it tends to start running rough.  I'm wondering if what I'm
experiencing
might be due to oxygen deprivation.  Personally I've noticed a certain
shortness of breath every time this happens.  There doesn't seem to be a
fuel
delivery problem as the top of the motor tends to light up pretty quickly.
I
would imagine though, that if left alone, the flames on top of the engine
would
start to rob fuel from the cylinders after a while.

Usually after I've driven on for another 100 yards or so and my fire
suppression system has kicked in it starts to run better.  Sometimes I have
to
stop to replace melted wiring but since I'm well practiced in carrying 2 of
every possible replacement part I might need and a complete tool set this
usually isn't too much of an inconvenience.  After every 4th or 5th fire I
usually replace all of the fuel lines even if they haven't yet shown any bad
signs of wear.

So what do you think fellow listees, any thoughts on what I might be able to
do
to prevent this problem in the future?  If so, please enlighten me.

Jeff Warner

Galloway, Ohio
http://www.netwalk.com/~jwarner    http://www.BENGALCharger.com
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