Thanks for all the responses.  I had a few minutes today to check out a
few things on the van.  Hope these observations might provide some clues
to narrow down the possibilities.

1) At first engine wouldn�t start.  Flooding?  Pulled the plugs - they
are BLACK.  Changed the plugs, rotor & cap (overdue anyway)

2) Engine starts.  Runs rough.  Exhaust smells like fuel.

3) Plenty of exhaust pressure at the tailpipe.  Does this rule out a
plugged cat?

4) unplugged the O2 sensor - no change - still rich and rough

5) Maybe a bad injector?  Decided I'd unplug injector wires one at a
time to see what would happen:
Unplug wires at cylinder #3 - idles much rougher, plug back in
Unplug wires at cylinder #4 - no change to idle, plug back in
Unplug wires at cylinder #1 - idles much rougher, plug back in
Unplug wires at cylinder #2 - no change to idle, plug back in
Does this mean that injectors #2 & #4 have failed???

If the rain stops for a while tomorrow I might be able to pull the
injectors to see if they are spraying.  Any other comments, answers or
suggestions before then would really be appreciated.

~Eric~
'89 Westy
Vancouver, BC

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
Behalf Of
> Eric Unrau
> Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2002 11:45 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Loss of power - super hot muffler
> 
> Hi folks.  I drove my Westy today for the first time in a couple of
> weeks.  Oil level was ok, coolant level was ok - started up fine.  As
we
> drove to the airport, about 10km, the engine seemed to lose some
power,
> but I wasn't too concerned - just thought it might be time to swap in
a
> new set of ignition wires.  On the way home from the airport the power
> loss worsened until we were barely able to hold 40kph.  Noticed that
the
> muffler was really hot, in fact so hot that the body coloured shield
> below the rear bumper has discoloured from the heat.
> 
> In my search through the archives I've found a few possible
explanations
> for these conditions:
> 
> 1) plugged cat
> 2) slipped timing
> 3) failed O2 sensor
> 
> Any other possibilities or thoughts on steps toward determining the
> actual problem??
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> ~Eric~
> '89 Westy
> Vancouver, BC