Listees,

Help! We have a stranded couple with a 1.9L '85 westy who stopped by my shop after seeing my '86 outside. I know little enough about the 2.1, but have never looked at a 1.9. The symptoms are: Sounds like its running on 3 cylinders. Exhaust is sooty and does smell of gas. Plugs look like it has been running a bit rich. Cap, rotor and leads seem okay. The first "switch" on the throttle (from idle) doesn't seem to work, but the full throttle is okay. The symptoms they felt when driving (Up Vail Pass from about 7,000' to 11,000') under load seemed to pull fine. From 11,000' down to 9,000' the motor started "sputtering", gets worse then revs drop and motor stalls. After a few minutes you can restart but within a few minutes back to the sputtering and stall.
Some similar symptoms experienced a few weeks ago in Michigan, where the fuel pump, and then the fuel pressure regulator were changed.
We are in Summit County with no VW shops/suppliers or mechanics within a 70 mile radius, but we do have my 2.1 '86 if we can swap out any parts to check things out...
Any suggestions gratefully accepted.

Paul Connelly