Well, my continuing quest to eliminate the stumbling on my 85 Vanagon GL
(270,000 mi) has led me this week to the idle stabilizer. A new round of
problems with intermittent stumbling has reoccurred after several weeks of
too-good-to-be-true driveability.

The latest is accompanied by wild jumps in the tach even when the engine
appears to be idling or running correctly. Also occurring are some brief
periods of unexplained refusals to start which then mysteriously and
suddenly end. When leaving work today, I had another episode of
not-starting and decided to bypass the idle stabilizer. Not only did the
vanagon start, it seems to run better than ever, except for a tendency to
want to stall if I don't nurse the gas a little at idle.

So, my questions are:

What is inside the idle stabilizer? Has anybody opened one or tried to
repair it? Seems to me a worthwhile diversion while waiting for a new one.
Any clues on how to proceed welcome. I am assuming it has a circuit board
which I can expose by cutting the top off around the base.

Is there any problem to just leave it off the vehicle while waiting for a
new one? I can live with the poor idle.

What is the right P/N? Mine says it is P/N 321 906 083, but the list
vendors show it as 251 906 083. (Could be they changed numbers. The one
currently on my vehicle was put on by the dealer circa 1985 under warranty).

Thanks in advance,
John Clavin