Madski:  Something else to look at that's cheap is the ignition
switch in the dash, especially if you use a heavy key  ring.  The new
switches are like $10 and are used on a ton of VW's, so access in
semi remot places may not be too much of a problem.  I'm thinking
that the O2 sensor could be the problem too though.  I have
experienced your identical problem, but don't recall what I did to
fix it.  When the tach would drip to zero, I'd coast until the van
either got to the top of a hill or at lest to a safe place to
park.  Wait five minutes and start it up again and everything was
fine for a few hundred miles.  Sometimes it would las6t for a week or two.

DM&FS

At 09:30 AM 7/24/2007, John Rodgers wrote:

>Dear Mad,
>
>My ignition problem experience has  not been with the blue temp sensor -
>never there - but with  the O2 sensor and the Idle Stabilizer System.
>Dennis Haynes has said more than once that it is a rare thing for there
>to be problems with that sensor.( but not impossible.) Therefore, You
>might try these steps to see if they are involved in your troubles.
>
>O2 sensor - just  disconnect it right there in the engine bay. Follow
>the wire from the sensor to it's connector in the engine bay and simply
>disconnect it. Then drive a while and see if the problem is still there
>or goes away. The engine will run just fine with the O2 sensor
>disconnected. The system is designed that way just to ensure you can get
>home for repairs in the event of a failure on th road. You will suffer a
>small fuel economy loss while running disconnected, but it is of small
>consequence short term. Enjoy your trip, then fix it.
>
>Idle Stabilizer Valve/Control - sometimes this system goes bad and will
>cause the engine to run funny. It can be either the vale or the control
>box that goes bad, or both. Usually when one gailes the other follows.
>Crank the engine, warm it up, shut it down, disconnect the clip at the
>end of the valve - the valve being that little round cylindrical device
>that sits right on top of the 2.1L engine with a tube going to the AFM.
>With the clip disconnected, start the engine and run on the highway for
>a while. Won't hurt a thing. See how your engine performs. At idle you
>may need to turn off your AC, because the Idle Stabilizer System kicks
>up your engine speed to ensure the AC load doesn't stall your engine at
>idle. Same is true for the Power Steering. If you turn from lock to lock
>on the steering the load on the pump may stall the engine when the Idle
>Stabilizer System is disabled.
>
>I would drive a good distance in either of these configurations to be
>sure and give the engine time to displays it's faults. In each case, if
>the faults don't display, then you have isolated the problem to the
>system involved and can easily remedy it.
>
>Good luck. Enjoy your trip.
>
>Regards,
>
>John Rodgers
>
>mad madeline wrote:
>>We launched a trip from Phoenix to No. Calif.
>>   At 450 miles into the trip our 87 engine, that has been running
>> really good for the last 3K miles, began to stumble.  We've been
>> using Chevron all along the way, the problem started 100 miles
>> after a fill up with Chevron.  Talked to our mechanic... but not
>> being at the shop we haven't come up with an answer.
>>
>>   The symptoms are that it feels like it is cutting out
>> intermittently.  We don't know if its ignition or fuel.  At first
>> the cutting out was radical and we hardly made to our
>> destination.  Then at our mechanic's advice, we checked  the blue
>> plug connecton that goes to the thermostat housing and wiggled the
>> spark plug wires to see if they were loose... this may have helped
>> it some... not sure, but afterward it seemed to not be as radical.
>> We can actually drive it at high speed now and it cuts out only
>> once in awhile.  Doesn't seem like it will die and we'll get
>> there, just a bit obnoxious!
>>
>>   Sometimes it caughs several times, sometimes only once.  The
>> tach drops each time, but not all the way to 0.  The fuel pump
>> does not sound loud.  We had a new ox sys 2K ago and everything
>> else was replaced  within the last 3K.  We don't find it related
>> to hills or high temp or low.  No overheating issues.  No head leaking.
>>
>>   We are in Carpenteria right now.  Tomorrow heading up 101 toward
>> SLO and then San Jose.  Any ideas would be much appreciated... or
>> a shop along the way that would pay to stop at.  I don't look
>> forward to this for another two thousand miles.  Mad Madeline
>>
>>
>>---------------------------------
>>Yahoo! oneSearch: Finally,  mobile search that gives answers, not web links.
>>
>>