On my 87 the idle won't go down past 2 grand. with the idle stabilizer relay
hooked up). I pried open the relay and found one huge resistor burned. My son
replaced that and one of those black rectangular things that looks like an IC.
(came from an old Caddie pile of electrical stuff he had). Anyway, my westie
idles beautifully and the a/c doesn't pull down the idle any more. Great kid!
dan

William Wedenoja wrote:

> I regret to say that I've been off the list for more than a year.  Simply
> couldn't keep up with it.  And I haven't had any van-related problems. Until
> now.
>
> I left the house one morning.  About half a mile down the road, in third, I
> discovered if I took my foot off the accelerator that the engine kept
> revving at about 3000 rpm.  Stuck.  I took it home and abandoned it for the
> Saab.  The next day I tried the westy again and it worked normally.  Then,
> of course, the next day the accelerator stuck again.
>
> A shop replaced the idle stabilizer valve ($190 plus labor).  But that
> didn't help.  I thought I should consult listees before letting the shop
> replace more parts.  There's no one around here who's really savvy about
> vanagons.
>
> Sometimes I can get it back to normal by turning the key off, then
> restarting.  Yesterday it ran fine all day, today it was out of control most
> of the time.
>
> Is this common?  Is there a clear-cut reason?  Or a good diagnostic
> procedure to follow?
>
> Thanks,
> Bill
> 88 westy (hoppin' john)
> Springfield, MO