Definitely an O2 sensor or wiring issue.  Ultimate test! Cycle power to the
ignition and if the problem goes away for 30 seconds to a minute than it is
definite.

Typical wiring problem is a bad ground connection for the O2 sensor
reference, (the brown wire in the distributor harness) or the sensor
connection is shorted to the outer shield of that green wire. Yes that green
wire is a coaxial and I see many times someone replaces the crimp connector
not knowing the inner signal wire and outer shield have to be separated.

Dennis

From: Phil Menchions [mailto:pwmenchions@hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 31, 2011 2:15 PM
To: d23haynes57@hotmail.com; vanagon
Subject: RE: Bus Depot AFM?

He has loss of power/blowing black smoke out the tailpipe once the engine is
warmed up. An experienced VW mechanic diagnosed it. I was skeptical so we
put my AFM in and everything ran perfectly. But not with the reconditioned
AFM from the Bus Depot.

Phil

> From: d23haynes57@hotmail.com
> To: pwmenchions@HOTMAIL.COM; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: RE: Bus Depot AFM?
> Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 12:32:44 -0400
>
> In all the years I've been working on Vanagons I have only replaced three
> Air Flow meters. One on a 1.9 and two on the 2.1L. All three were tampered
> with. They rarely go bad and are usually miss diagnosed. Maybe your AFM
has
> been tampered with and covering something that also really wrong with your
> van. What are the symptoms that are making anyone think you have an AFM
> problem?
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Phil Menchions
> Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2011 7:48 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Bus Depot AFM?
>
> A friend with an '86 was diagnosed with a faulty AFM. We confirmed that by
> putting the AFM from my '89 into his. It ran perfectly, so since they were
> NLA from all the usual vendors he ordered one of the reconditioned AFMs
from
> the BusDepot.
>
> But his van runs poorly as before. He doesn't seem to be getting any
> satisfaction from BD. Has anyone had any experience with these
reconditioned
> AFMs? Under the circumstances he's considering selling. I can see a lot of
> owners finally throwing up their hands when vital parts become NLA. I can
> see why many do the engine transplants. Cheers,Phil Menchions'89 Westy
>
>
>