Howdy:

You might be right about the gas tank leaking and then admitting water.
However, you might also just be suffering from the infamous "vanagon
syndrome"--chronic hesitation/loss of power--in which case you could just
purchase the "wiring harness upgrade" that VW prescribed for this problem
and that you can buy at the dealer for about $125.  It's easy to install
and absolutely cured my '85 Westfalia's recurrent and maddening
van.-syndrome symptoms such as hesitation and power loss, etc.  That said,
and I know this might sound like guesswork upon guesswork, what I really
suspect you might need is a new oxygen sensor.  My gas tank has a leak too
(has had it for eons), but I would experience power loss that was very
similar to what you've described under VERY similar circumstances.  In my
case, the triggering circumstances weren't exactly rain, but rather a
rain-slush mix that the wheels would throw up onto my oxygen sensor, making
it go haywire and eventually dysfunctional.  Everything was hunky dory
after my mechanic replaced it.

Just a thought (or two),

Joe

7:40 PM 11/12/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I've recently sent messages about my leaking gas tank and my fairly mild
>idle problems.  Today, something different came up and I suspect it's
>related.  We got 4 inches of rain today, three of which came down before
>I went to work.  This is a good thing because of our drought situation
>and on-going water restrictions, but perhaps not for my automatic '87
>Westy.  After driving 15 miles into town, I was pulling away from a stop
>light and the van started losing power.  I was frantically putting on
>the hazard lights and finding a safe place to pull over and didn't
>notice the two red lights that had come on on the dash.  When I realized
>that the lights were on (hmm, which ones were they?  The ones on the
>left.  Is that helpful enough?), I put the transmission in neutral and
>restarted the van.  It started right up and I drove up to the next
>traffic light where it did the same thing when I started to come to a
>stop.  I restarted again, drove through the green light, turning left,
>and headed up a small hill, where it did it a third time.  Got it
>started, drove a block to the parking lot where I normally park, and it
>happened a fourth time.  I coasted into a parking space and shut it
>down.
>
>Here's my suspicion as to what happened and please correct me if I'm
>wrong.  Clearly I have a leak on the top of my gas tank (which was
>mostly full, BTW).  I figured that water had gotten splashed up onto the
>tank and into it and was causing my problem.  Does this sound like what
>happened to you?  After work, I got some gas tank de-icer, poured it in
>and drove home.  It stalled once, a block after I started out.  Question
>is, will it run right tomorrow?
>
>Thanks for any and all advice and/or suggestions,
>Marc Perdue
>
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Joseph Volpe
University of Rhode Island
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