I had this problem and it turned out to be a defective Hall sender in
the distributor as well ('85 Vanagon here). This was about five years
ago that I replaced the entire distributor and it resolved the
problem.  I've noticed the problem recurring again in the last couple
of years--very sporadically.  It's been a year since I've noticed it
but I'm anticipating another distributor someday.

I don't think '85s generally suffered from Vanagon syndrome.

DB

On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 07:59:57 -0400, John Brigstocke <jbrig@attglobal.net> wrote:
> Have 86 Vanagon.
> Similar problem to yours.  Cutouts in my case have been caused by faulty
> Hall sender in distributor - when this happens tach goes to zero.  Other
> cutouts caused by faulty AFM - tach does not go to zero.  Any ECU problems
> on my van have been caused by faulty inputs or bad grounds - not ECU itself.
>
> John Brigstocke
> Elora, Ontario, Can
> jbrig@attglobal.net
>
>
>

---------------------------------------------
Donald Baxter
316 Ridgeview Avenue
University Heights, Iowa 52246
http://www.mindspring.com/~onanov