I have what's become an increasingly worn and greasy Bentley manual, with
all of the proper stains on the appropriate pages (brake fluid in Brakes,
gear lube in Transmission, and motor oil just about everywhere else).  My
current challenge is the electrical/electronic side of things, however.
While I can wrench with the best of 'em, I'm just learning the Ways of the
Multi-tester, including its limitations.  Up until about 3 weeks ago I had
no (that's NO) understanding of volts, ohms, and amps.  But I'm gittin 'er.

The reason I'm looking at the TPS first is because it's the last thing I
did, so I'm thinking I did something wrong.  Maybe I didn't, but I haven't
confirmed that yet.  Then it's on to the AFM, the Temp II Sensor, and the O2
Sensor.

Cecil

  _____

From: Greg Potts [mailto:greg@pottsfamily.ca]
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 9:53 AM
To: Eastman, Cecil @ ELM
Cc: Vanagon List
Subject: Re: Running rich.....me too

Hi Cecil,

Unfortunately, you are dealing with technicians who are trained to replace
modules rather than repair your van. The FI system in the vanagon is not
rocket science, most faults can be diagnosed with a fuel pressure gauge,
vacuum gauge and trouble light. You need to have the Bentley manual, and be
willing to invest the time to read and understand it.

And that's the problem: The vanagon is not a "normal" car as a modern
mechanic understands it. The engine is at the wrong end, for crying out
loud!

Throwing parts at a problem is a good way to waste hundreds of dollars and
many hours of time without coming any closer to the problem. The best
solution will come from reading the manual and working your way through the
symptom charts to come to a resolution in a quick and cost-effective manner.

Your throttle position switch (TPS) might be bad, but it won't prevent the
van from starting. That is MUCH more likely to be a result of a vacuum leak
or a wiring problem inadvertently caused by the work on the TPS. The rich
running condition initially detected is more likely due to a bad O2 sensor
or a bad fuel pressure regulator than to the TPS.

A lot of mechanics won't want to take the time and invest the effort to
learn how to work on a vanagon; their business is already profitable as-is
and the return on investment just isn't there. You may want to start
shopping around for a seasoned vanagon mechanic to avoid paying someone to
learn on your van in the future. There's a great list of shop reviews on
Larry Chase's website at http://www.roadhaus.com/shops.php
<http://www.roadhaus.com/shops.php>

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts

1973/74/77/79 Westfakia "Bob The Tomato

www.pottsfamily.ca

www.busesofthecorn.com

On 18-Oct-07, at 8:41 AM, Eastman, Cecil @ ELM wrote:

You're right: they chose the

low-hanging fruit, but at least it was cheap stuff and they didn't do any

harm by going into stuff for which they had no experience.  I use these guys

for our "normal" car and they do well enough.