At 03:40 PM 8/3/2008 -0700, Mike Elliott wrote:
>But the good thing is: now I know what a Vanagon runs like when the O2
>sensor is disconnected. Not very well at all. Nossir, it's pretty, pretty
>poor.

BINGO!

A Vanagon *in proper working order* runs just great without the O2
sensor.  That's why the first thing you do in troubleshooting is
unhook the bloody thing!  The sensor is there because the CAT needs a
very specific mixture to operate properly.  In Europe the WBX had no
sensor (and US-spec vehicles delivered in Europe, like mine, had a
straight pipe instead of a CAT -- the CAT would be supplied and
installed by VW when the vehicle came to the states).

Now it's just possible that when you unhooked the sensor and left the
circuit with a long antenna hooked up, that it went nuts instead of
going open-loop.  That would be good news, cause otherwise you've got
a big mixture problem.

David

--
David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage," '85 GL "Poor Relation"