In a message dated 03/05/2005 2:43:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

I have  an 87 Vanagon Wolfsburg named "Vera" with 4-sp manual that is
doing  something strange. Well it does a lot of strange things, but
we'll talk  about those later.

Zeitgeist's post about the throttle hesitation made  me think of this.

When I slow the van down, and come to a stop at an  intersection, the
engine revs up to about 2000 rpm and sits there. I've not  been able to
find any rhyme or reason to it so far. It will do this if it's  in gear
and the clutch depressed, or if it's just sitting there in  neutral.
The second that the clutch is let out the rpms drop back to idle  and
the van starts moving.

If I'm going to be sitting at a light for  any length of time, I'll
bring the rpm back down by doing one of two  things. One, is to quickly
stomp on the gas pedal and immediately release  it. The engine revs up
to 3k and then returns to a normal idle speed (1k or  so). This trick
works 60 percent of the time. The other way I slow the rpm  back to
idle speed is to get into first gear and ease the clutch out a  bit
with a firm foot on the brake. This is very effective, but I'm  sure
it's destroying my clutch.

Matt, this is another common problem with  more than one cause.  First you
need to check the throttle position switch  and make sure it's working properly.
 Then check to see if the throttle  valve is sticking due to cable problems
or valve sticking in the throat of  the throttle body.  The bottom of the valve
is the bearing surface and  tends to wear into the throat.  I fix this
problem by shimming the shaft at  the top so that the valve stays in the centre of
the throat at all times.   Next on the list is the idle control valve and idle
control unit.  Both of  these need to be checked according to the Bentley
workshop manual.

Cheers,

Frank  Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm)  a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 09 ~ 12, 2005
'87 Westy, '90 Carat &  Lionel Trains
Member: _Vanagon List_ (http://www.vanagon.com/) , _LiMBO_
(http://www.bcn.net/~limbo/) , _IWCCC_ (http://www.westfalia.qc.ca/)  & _CCVWC_
(http://www.ccvwc.ca/)
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in  the Ottawa Valley
_STEBRO/Vanagon Stainless Steel  Mufflers_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm)
_Frank Condelli &  Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
or  http://frankcondelli.com