Your mechanic is right that there is a provision for heating the throttle
body.  There are connections to run coolant lines to the throttle body
keeping it warm.  This has nothing to do with warm-up driveablilty though,
it's to prevent ice buildup in the throttle body in arctic conditions.
Mine's not connected and our TiiCo ran fine last winter in the northeastern
US.  I would be checking the setup of the ECU.  Did your mechanic connect
the ECU to the VAG 1552 and set it up as the manual suggests? Seems alot of
people without access to a 1552 or similar just skip this step.  It's
CRITICAL.  I would also check to see that all engine grounds, and ECU
grounds are clean and solid.

Gary

----- Original Message -----
From: "James Adams" <james_adams@YAHOO.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 6:16 PM
Subject: TiiCo - poor performance on cold start up, any tips ?

> I have recently had a TiiCo engine put into my 90
> Vanagon GL.  It has quite a problem with hesitating
> and stalling when the engine is cold.  I have to drive
> 10-15 minutes for this to really stop being a problem.
> If it is performing so poorly now in the summer I
> expect that I won't be able to drive it in the winter.
>
> I was told by a mechanic that there is a place on the
> engine for a "preheat intake" - something which would
> help atomize the fuel when the engine is cold.  He
> said that there was a place for something like this
> but nothing was actually hooked up on my engine.  Does
> anyone know anything about this ?  Or any other
> suggestions which would help alleviate the
> hesitation/choking at cold temps and low gears that
> I'm experiencing ?
>
> Thanks in advance for any information or feedback.
>
>
> -James
>
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