Ken,

I'm going to try that. While I was waiting for an answer from list (and
thank you very much by the way) I went out and looked around at the
general condition of the wiring to see if anything was loose or
improperly connected. I found that the brown wire that comes up from
under the engine and past the distributor (Temp II?) was crushed under
a corner of the AC bracket and so was shorted to the block. I yanked
the AC bracket, repaired the wire, and started up. The poor running
symptoms reappeared after a minute or two.

What do you think? I'm going out to unplug the O2 sensor now.

Thanks,

Jim

On Jan 22, 2005, at 11:17 AM, Ken Wilford wrote:

> Unplug your oxygen sensor and see if it helps.  Also you can trick the
> computer into thinking that the tempII sensor is good by unplugging it
> and using a short piece of wire to bridge the two prongs that are
> inside the plug to each other.  If you do this then the computer will
> think that the van is warmed up and it will run well without the
> sensor.  You may have to hold your foot on the gas when the van is
> cold until it warms up but after that it will run fine.  If it runs
> better when you unplug the oxygen sensor then that is bad.  Or if it
> runs better after you bypass the Temp II sensor (blue plug on
> thermostat housing) then the TempII sensor is bad.  Darrell Boehler
> gave me the TempII trick and it worked like a charm for me.  As always
> we have oxygen sensors and tempII sensors in stock if you need them.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
>
> Jim Felder wrote:
>
>> I know this problem has been discussed recently on this list, and as I
>> remember it has to do with one of the temp sensors.
>>
>> I just installed new head gaskets. So far no leaks, started right up,
>> system bled and the loud clatter from the lifters has gone away. But I
>> can't drive the car (very far) because through it runs sweet on
>> startup, it starts emitting dark exhuast, runs rough, and soon the
>> RPMs
>> slow to a stall. I can pull the throttle to keep it running as long as
>> I want, but if I don't keep the revs above 2000 or so it chugs to a
>> stop.
>>
>> Turning the key "resets" it to run fine for a minute or two, then the
>> symptoms return. It doesn't matter where the engine is in the temp
>> range, it seems time-related.
>>
>> Any help will be appreciated, of course.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>
>
>