Hi Pat,
if it's a US model for 87 jetta, it will have electronic ignition for sure.

you have lots of shiny braided fuel hoses running all over the place ( CIS
fuel injection ) right ?

Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pat Sloan" <pmsloan@SHAW.CA>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: Engine Interrupted. Any Ideas, Please?

> My engine is a 1.8 87 US Jetta model also.
> Not sure about electronics vs distributer, but will check. Even I can
> recognize a distributor if its there.
> I will keep your coil/points/distributer ideas in mind when I see the new
> mechanic.
> Thnx, Pat
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans [mailto:scottdaniel@turbovans.com]
> Sent: March 14, 2010 4:26 PM
> To: Pat Sloan; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Engine Interrupted. Any Ideas, Please?
>
> Is it CIS type fuel injection ?
> I believe in that year it is.
> My 87 jetta  ( US model ) 1.8 16 valve engine has CIS-E fuel injection.
>
> if your problem it is fuel injection related ....those are trickier to fix
> sometimes.
> I thnk a lot of techs avoid that system.
> I havn't got mine running  in my vanagon yet, and  I may run it on
> Digifant
> instead of CIS.
>
> Check everywhere for air leaks ...
> cracked air intake boot , vacuum hoses etc.
>
> if it has points ignition instead of pure electronic ...
> look into the points and the distrubutor itself carefully.
> I had one...customer's van .
> and it would just 'shut off' ...
> that was a 1.8 8 vavle engine with CIS and a points distributor.
> Watching it idle it would just 'shut off' , like someone turned off the
> key.
>
> It occured to me that it could be a bad coil - and it was.
> New coil fixed that one.
> it also had slightly pitted points, and a bit much side shaft play in the
> distributor shaft.
>
> I would retro fit electrnoic igntion to any points distributor car
> always...
> much stronger and better igntion, It can just 'wake up' a car that has
> points for igntion -converting to electronic igntion.
>
> Igntion switches of vanagons are always suspect- an underbuilt part that
> gets many years service on it, and can cause weird problems.
>
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pat Sloan" <pmsloan@SHAW.CA>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 5:14 PM
> Subject: Engine Interrupted. Any Ideas, Please?
>
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> The Otter is having digestive problems. We're talking 1982 Westy -
>> originally diesel but now converted to 1987 1.8 L Jetta gas engine.
>> Watercooled.
>>
>> As I'm driving it suddenly loses power and then recovers again and again.
>> Sometimes it just loses power and doesn't recover until I stop and then
>> start it again.
>>
>> Fuel lines, fuel pump and battery have been replaced. All seems good, but
>> the problem persists.
>>
>> Now it turns out that my great vanagon repair guy (Ed @ the Bug Shop in
>> Delta, BC) doesn't work on Jetta engines, so I will have to move on to
>> someone else. Does anyone on the list have any ideas re:
>>
>> 1.      good and reasonable Jetta mechanics in the Vancouver area?
>> 2.      what could be causing this? (BCAA guy suggested alternator but
>> what
>> do I know?)
>>
>> Thanks everyone. It's such a great resource to be able to call on so much
>> experience in times of trouble.
>>
>> Hopefully, Pat
>>
>> (whowantstogetcampingsoon!)