Hi all,

I'm finding Matilda (my 1989 Westy) is losing power and not running as
smoothly as I'm used to.  On the highway she can maintain maybe 55 in 4th
gear at 3000 rpm on flat ground, instead of 70 before.  Less going uphill,
more going downhill.  I can't really get her above around 3000 rpm.  If I
give her more gas she goes slower and runs more roughly.  If I let up on the
gas she seems to have more power and runs smoother.  I find I'm pumping
(gently) on the gas to keep getting her power up.  In third she's pretty
feeble too.  Sometimes it feels like she's gently hesitating and then
jumping ahead, though it's a bit subtle.

She's not overheating at all.  No signs of leaks.  I haven't checked oil and
coolant since just now driving a hundred or so miles and observing the
problems (which I'd noticed a bit of a week ago, too), as she's still hot.

Is this a sign that my engine is dying?  That one cylinder might be
misfiring (the hesitating and jumping)?

What does this sound like to you experienced folks?

I'm leaving the country tomorrow (for Egypt) and coming back August 8, so
Matilda is going to be sitting in my friend's driveway till then.  I wish I
had realized this was happening a lot earlier, so I might have been able to
leave her with someone who could fix her while I'm away, if this is serious!
But that's not feasible, alas.  I suppose if this is the beginning of
needing a new engine, I have time to read all the archives about the options
and where to get them!

And since I can't deal with 100 emails a day from Cairo, I'd like to switch
to digest so I can see the replies to this query.  Could someone please
email me off-line to tell me how to do that?

Thank you!

Joy

p.s.  To everyone who sent suggestions on leaving Matilda for the summer,
thank you for that as well!

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Joy Hecht
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon

For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://users.rcn.com/jhecht/gypsy

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