Try disconnecting the O2 sensor and let the FI run in open loop mode.
Double-check your throttle switches--they should click just off of idle and
at wide-open throttle.

                                                            Jay

Joe <mejoe_subs@OCO.NET>@gerry.vanagon.com> on 04/04/2002 04:20:58 PM

Please respond to Joe <mejoe_subs@OCO.NET>

Sent by:    Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>

To:    vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
cc:
Subject:    Selling 83.5 Westy Norfolk Virginia

This message may be a little weird and perhaps a touch incoherent but
please
bear with me. Some time ago I  developed a medical condition that is not
Alzheimer's but has effects on memory and cognition similar enough to  make
the word serve as a rough one-word descriptor. My short term memory is
about
shot which effects about  everything because I often have a hard time
remembering what I was thinking, reading, saying or doing a few  minutes or
even seconds ago. Some days are better than others but days when I am in
good enough shape to pick up a  wrench are increasingly fewer and further
between. Since I cannot care for the old girl any longer I think it  best,
for her sake, that I place her in the hands of someone who can.

        When I got my 83.5 Westy back in 1993 It only had 29k miles on it
(yep,
29k). While I got it for all the  usual reasons one buys a camper its
primary use has been as a second car which is why it now has only 78k. It
has  been very reliable. Such work as has been needed I have done myself.
The "standard" head gasket leaks being the  only major faults that have
occurred.

        Last December another fault showed up. A copy of the message I sent
to the
list trying to track down the  cause is reprinted below. In spite of all
the
help the good folks on the list provided my condition has prevented  me
from
either diagnosing or fixing the problem. I have tried replacing the vacuum
lines and made some adjustments  but she has been sitting in my driveway
since December. In that time the state inspection expired but, once the
stalling trouble is fixed getting inspected would be no trouble.
       Hoping for a stretch of "good days" that would permit me to work on
it about all I have been able to do  since December is to start and run it
once in a while to keep the lifters full. Cold starts are fine and it runs
great until it warms up, then it stalls.

        The body is in good shape but a paint is heavily oxidized. There is
a
little seam rust. I have a Por-15  kit to take care of that but have not
been able to do it.

        I have no idea what price to put on it. I don't think the stalling
problem
is serious but I am not certain.  IF there is anyone in the
Norfolk/Virginia
Beach, Va. area who would like to take a look please email me. Any
suggestion appreciated.
        If anyone does send an email please make the title ****BIG LONG AND
OBVIOUS**** so I don't miss it.

Thanks

I sent the below message to the list back in December.

 ===========================================================================

======================================
==========================================
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Sing: All I want for Christmas is my Westy back!!
>Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001 12:31:18 -0500
>
>         After running fine for the longest time my 83.5 (Water Cooled)
>Westy is
>suddenly sick. The troubles came on quickly and without any warning signs
I
>could detect. One day fine, the next BLOOOOEY!! I was going on a  short
>trip
>and was just pulling away from the house 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. 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. For about a
>minute or so from the "dead cold start" it ran fine and "rev'ed" without
>complaint, then came the troubles. 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. There was also an occasional muffled back-fire that came, not
from
>the tailpipe, but from the area of the air cleaner. 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 above mentioned  "stumbling" was running fine.  I decided to take
>it
>out for a short drive to check symptoms with the engine 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 to begin the push
I
>tried one last time to start it, this time it did. I drove it to the end
of
>the block, turned around and headed for the driveway while I still could.
>My
>baby was obvously struggling but she made it.
>
>         Pulling back into the driveway I put it in neutral and worked the
>throttle
>as before. That same "stumbling" slightly above idle speed showed up along
>with occasional muffled "backfire" that seemingly came from the area of
the
>air filter. She has been in the driveway ever since.
>
>         Since then I have replaced the fuel filter, plug wires, rotor,
>cap, temp
>sensor II (the one in the thermostat housing) reset the idle speed and
>timeing. I also replaced every "thin" vacuum lines I could see (Any
>"obscure" vac lines hidden deep that amatures usually miss?); all without
>decernable effect. I have noticed that from a dead cold start (first of
the
>day) she will seemingly run fine and will "rev" without complaint but a
>couple of minutes into the warm-up and the troubles arrive.
>
>         Rather than continuing to throw parts (and money) at her I appeal
>to the
>collective wisdom of the list for help.
>
>         Any hints/help/advice is MUCH appreciated. It's a drag having
sick
>"kids" at Christmas.

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