Leo, pull the spark plugs and look at them.  I have had vans stall and
foul the plugs or someone overfills the van on oil and fouls the plugs.
If they are fouled you can either replace them or just clean them up and
put them back in.  While you have them out check for spark by grounding
one to a spot on the engine and having a helper crank the engine over.
If the plugs look fine then check for spark and if you have a spare ECU
from another 86-91 Vanagon try swapping that in.  These fail quite
often.  I have rebuilt ones for $250 if you find you need one.

Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com

Leo Lipert wrote:
>    A friend's 1988 Vanagon died while driving down the freeway, just quit.
> He had it towed home, and today he and I took a look at it. We disconnected
> the fuel line at the engine and the fuel pump is working, and it's getting
> spark. We changed the distributor cap and rotor just because they looked a
> little suspect.
>
>    It doesn't even act like it wants to try to start. Turns over but doesn't
> pop or do anything approaching wanting to start.
>
> Any suggestions of where to look?
>
> Thanks, Leo
>
>