re 'gassy' smell out the tail pipe .....
there are two kinds.  One is unbrunt fuel, if you smell that, you'll know
it.
the other one is running rick smell, far more common.

temp sesnor is always a good candidate.
I wish vanagons ran lousier with a dead or tired oxygen sensor - they run
'too well' with a bad one.  They are easy to test on the engine, to see how
well they are functioning.
This one for sure - idle switch adjustment.  I find those not adjusted
properly fairly often, though the symtom is more about how it runs, than
fuel mixture or rickness.

Tired injectors.
I usually don't find injector issues, but I had an opportunity to test the
spray pattern on 10 used ones ( that was for a 2.1 in an 83 Westy running
the Digijet earlier fuel injection, like yours might be ) .   I went through
10 used injectors to find 4 really good ones with a nice spray pattern, and
no dripping.
  After putting in those, the van ran better than ever, and passed a smog
test A +.
That van also had a fuel filter that was semi-restricted with dirt.  If you
haven't checked yours in a long time .........might want to do that.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Palmer" <jpalmer@MTS.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 2:14 PM
Subject: symptoms of running rich?

> Hi all,
>
> 85 Westfalia GL, auto, 5k km on my pretty new Boston Bob 2.1.
>
> When hot, needs to crank for a few seconds before firing.  It helps if
> I let the fuel pump fully cycle before hitting the ignition.
>
> Also my coolant light has a mind of its own, often flashing for a
> minute or so upon startup.
>
> Poorer mileage than my 1.9 that i wasn't really expecting.
>
> Last but not least the exhaust smells a bit gassy ...
>
> Reading the archives suggests maybe a temp II sensor or 02 sensor?
> Any advice is appreciated so i can discuss with my mechanic (who lets
> me bring my own parts - he's fantastic) without sounding like the
> capital A Amateur that I am.
>
> Thanks
> Jeff in Winnipeg (summer has finally arrived!)