Have you changed out the distributor cap, rotor, and high tension wires?
Are the seals around oil filler tube and dipstick okay?  When you put a
timing light on and have the idle stabilizer bypassed, where are you and
what RPM is it running?

John Lauterbach
Macon, GA
'84 7-passenger

----- Original Message -----
From: "George Ciolfi" <Gtciolfi@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 7:43 PM
Subject: Rough Idle on 84 Vanagon 1.9L - Help

> Hi,
>
>      New to this list.. Hope someone can help.  I've got a rough Idle
problem
> with my 84 vanagon.  I have replaced/checked/swapped out with spare parts
the
> following items with no change in idle quality:  Rebuilt injectors, new
fuel
> pressure regulator, new air flow meter, new coil, control unit (swapped
with
> junk yard one - no change).  I checked all of the voltages/resistances at
the
> connector for the ECU they look ok.  I sanded all of the eyelets for the
> grounds in the wiring harness.  I checked for vacuum leaks by wiggling
hoses
> and also spraying ether at all aconnections to look for increase in idle.
>
> I have not set the co after replacing the engine (from Boston Engine)  but
a
> slow turning of the air adjustment screw all throught the range doesn't
> smooth it out.
>
> Here's the part I'm wondering about - When I try to time the thing, the
> timing bounces constantly varying around an average of 5 deg, and
sometimes
> jumps a bit more.  I did have the idle stabilizer plugs connected
together.
> I am wondering if it could be the hall control unit.  My understanding is
> that this and the idle stabilizer are the only things that set timing,
based
> on engine speed as measured by the hall effect wheel in the distributor
(well
> there is also vac advance and retard, now that I think about it I should
> check stability of timing with these disconected).
>
> Any thoughts?  What should I do to diagnose this stuff.
>
> Any help is much appreciated.
>
> George
>