Clog[ging] fuel filter?

> From: Joe <mejoe@EMAIL.TOAST.NET>
> Reply-To: Joe <mejoe@EMAIL.TOAST.NET>
> Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 14:28:59 -0500
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Help Doctor's, My baby is sick!
>
> After operating normally for the longest time my trusty old 83.5 Westy
> (Water Cooled) is suddenly sick. I was going on a  short trip and was just
> pulling away from the curb and accelerating through the gears when, without
> warning, the  engine bogged down and quit. Thankfully it quit at the end of
> my block so no tow was needed but I did have to push  it back to the front
> of my house because it simply refused to start.
>
> The next day I went out to try to see what was wrong. The first thing I did
> was crank it over, it started  right off. With the transmission in neutral I
> worked the gas pedal to see if I could detect anything unusual in the  way
> the engine sounded or ran. There was some new "bogging down" or "stumbling"
> at the very beginning of the  throttle travel just above idle. This "bogging
> down" did not occur every time but often enough to let me know that  it was
> not a "fluke" and that "something", "somewhere" was wrong with my baby.
>
> With the engine running I took a quick look in the engine compartment to
> see if there was anything obviously  wrong like a disconnected  vacuum line.
> It was just a quick once-over but I saw nothing.
>
> At this point the engine had been running for about 15 minutes and, except
> for the abov
> e mentioned  "stumbling" was running fine.  I decided to take it out for a
> short drive to see if anything had changed when the  engine was under load.
> Pulling out from the curb, as soon as I put it in second the engine "bogged
> down" and quit.  While coasting to the side of the road I tried a restart.
> It started, ran rough for a couple of seconds and again  quit. I tried a few
> restarts but during these the engine refused to start at all.
>
> I sat on the side of the road for maybe 5 minutes working up the ambition
> to push it back to the house. Just  before climbing out and pushing I tried
> one last time to start it. It fired up fine. I drove it to the end of the
> block to turn around and head for the driveway while I still could. During
> this 50 yard trip it ran without  complaint so I decided to push my luck and
> drove it up and down the block a few times. All seemed fine.
>
> Pulling back into the driveway I put it in neutral and worked the gas pedal
> as before. That same occasional  "stumbling" showed up. I went into the
> engine compartment and worked the throttle by hand. Doing this I got the
> same  "normally ok but occasional stumbling just above idle" I got from the
> driver's seat. **ONE TIME** during one of  these "stumbles" there was a
> single muffled "backfire" that seemingly came from the area of the air
> filter (front  right of engine).
>
> Further messing around as above yealded no further symptoms so it seems my
> baby is not going to tell me  anything more about where it hurts until I can
> get some advice from the good folks on the list as to what I should  do or
> look at next.
>
> Any hints/help/advice from the list Doctor's is MUCH appreciated.
>