Thanks for the help. I suppose you could test it by clamping off the return
line while it sits and seeing if that fixes the problem. But I will be going
on a cross-Canada, 25,000 kilometer roadtrip next spring, so I was planning
in replacing regulator and fuel pump anyway. On another forum there was a
lengthy discussion about this problem and the solution was cleaning a
sticking distributor advance mechanism.

Nathaniel

On 10/15/06 5:17 PM, "Mike Collum" <collum@verizon.net> wrote:

> I really think your starting problem is a bad fuel pressure regulator.
>
> On two different Vanagons I experienced "Starts easy cold ... or right
> away after being shut off but not if it sits for 10 minutes".  When it
> happened on the 2nd van I didn't even troubleshoot.  I just replaced the
> pressure regulator and all was back to normal.
>
> Mike
>
>
> Nathaniel Poole wrote:
>> Hi All, I'm new to this list as I've recently acquired a 1980 Riviera camper
>> Vanagon. I've been following suggestions as they have cropped up (although
>> most seem directed to the water-cooled models), and replacing things and
>> doing upgrades. But what is happening is that when the van is warm and is
>> left sitting for 10-20 minutes, it can be hard to start. But it has to sit
>> for a bit; shutting it of and starting right away it works fine. When it
>> sits for a bit, you have to crank and pump, and it sputters a fair bit
>> before starting, after which it runs fine. Cold it starts great. My wife was
>> just left stranded because she didn't know to keep it turning over while
>> pumping the gas.
>> Is this a common problem? What is really interesting is that my daughter has
>> an '89 Cabriolet, which does the exact same thing, but with a completely
>> different drivetrain. I've never bothered finding the problem and fixing
>> hers because she got used to it and doesn't complain about it :)
>>
>> Also, when the heat is turned on the hot air smells like old engine. Is this
>> just how these things work and you get used to it? There is no oil leaking
>> onto the heat exchangers. I followed the air path and it looks like the air
>> intake to the heater fan is outside the vehicle so I don't know why it
>> should smell like that. There are a few oil leaks that I'm going to get to
>> soon.
>> Nathaniel
>>