I do not see a differnce between a delayed throttle response and a
hesitation. I have a 1989 GL Westy camper with a 2.1. It does heitate for a
fraction of a second in first gear from a dead stop. Other List members
describe similar experience with Vanagons. I no longer notice although I
remeber adjusting my driving to take into account this delayed response from
the motor. I make this adjustment in my driving but no longer have to think
about it.

Maybe yours is a longer delay for reasons I couldn't explain. Otherwise I'm
guessing you will no longer consider this delay as much of a problem after
you've driven your van for several weeks. Good luck and welcome to the List.
Dan
89 Westy 4 speed

Hi, I'm new to the list, but not to VWs or Vanagons.  I'm a bit rusty
with Digifant diagnostics, so I hope someone can save me a bit of time
and direct my attention to potential sources of my problem.

The problem is with my wife's '89 van (manual trans), which is
experiencing a slight throttle delay when taking off from a dead stop
(engine at operating temp).  This only happens when under load (won't
delay if you blip the throttle with the clutch disengaged), and it's
not a miss, hesitation or stumble--it's really just a delayed throttle
response.  The engine runs great otherwise and I recently R&R'd the
plugs, cap/rotor, plugwires.  It's a little frightening to pull into a
busy street, stomp down on the throttle and nothing happens for what
seems to be an eternity.  Anyone know what might be causing this
phenomena?

TIA

Bonus:
Not sure if others are already hip to this trick, but I just thought
it up last weekend, so I'll share.  While trolling the local
Pick-a-Part, I remembered the time delay dome light in our old '86
Jetta, so I purchased the unit out of a wrecked Jetta in the yard.
Went home and with a slight bit of re-wiring of the plug, was able to
easily mount the unit in our van--same size light opening.  It's
really nice to have that delayed lighting while fumbling with keys and
kid paraphrenalia at night--enjoy!

Casey
Biodiesel:
'87 300TD intercooler (205k)
'84 300D (200k)
Gas Huffer:
'89 Vanagon Wolfsburg Edition (183k)
Olympia, WA