I'm sure you must realize the two wire connector is just for the oxygen
sensor heat element.
Normally not a lot of need to check that.

the single wire is the Signal of course.
A new german t-stat might not be a bad idea.
I use the 87 C one in winter.

I haven't seen that a lot myself - oil breather tower as a ground, but
always change that to solid metal, that ground.
the bare spade connector on the side of the distributor ...not used
these days.
Originally was to ground out a metal cover that fit over the distrubutor
cap - for radio noise/interference suppression.
Almost never see one anymore.  So disregard that spade terminal.

What keeps you from trying a new Temp Sensor II ?
Always gotta check for vacuum leaks for sure, they can be very illusive.
The only failures I see in AFM's are 'uneven' acceleration ..
or just plain crapping out and will barely go,
or a slight hiccup while driving steadily.
Eventually ..a good rebuilt one is the way to go.

Scott
www.turbovans.com

On 10/10/2012 2:19 PM, Marc Perdue wrote:
> Scott,
>
> Finally got a chance to look at a couple of things and don't have a
> solution yet . . .
>
> O2 sensor--I had forgotten that Keith had replaced this when I had a
> problem where the van stalled when it was raining hard. Keith siliconed the
> two-wire connector closed to keep water out of it, so I couldn't disconnect
> that to test . . . easily. Maybe later. I disconnected the single wire with
> the spade lug and that had no effect.
>
> Disconnected the idle control valve, no change.
>
> The temp needle on my instrument panel gauge seldom goes to midway; it
> usually gets to just below the red blinky light (no, it's not blinking now)
> when I've been driving for a while. As you pointed out, I'm driving such a
> short distance to work now, that it never really warms up completely, I
> don't think. The vent system gets warm air coming out about 2/3 of the way
> to work.
>
> While playing with stuff today, I disconnected the Hall sender and the
> connector that goes into it is partially broken . . . Also, I've heard
> people talk about the ground wire that goes from the base of the
> distributor to the oil breather tower; there isn't one on my van. There's a
> male spade lug connector on the distributor base, but no wire attached...
>
> The fact of it running differently when hot and cold sure is nagging at me
> and screaming Temp II sensor . . .
>
> Tonight, I think I'm going to play around with spraying some stuff looking
> for vacuum/air leaks and spraying water looking for other "fluid" leaks.
>
> I also still want to look more closely at the AFM too . . .
>
> To be continued...
> Marc
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 10:36 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
> scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>
>>   hi ..
>> Google 'shorted Oxygen sensor coax on Vanagon' ..
>> something like that.
>> As said, have not seen that myself actually ..
>> but I've seen that thick green coaxial cable replaced..
>> and it the center signal wire was shorted to ground ..that would cause all
>> kinds of havoc.
>>
>> Something obviously isn't right.
>> It 'should' ..start instantly and idle a little fast and  smoothly.
>> And drive with fine power immediately.
>> I always recommend against sitting with it idling cold, to 'warm it up.'
>> There's no load on the engine ....just bad for the oil and  the exhaust
>> system.
>>
>> Is it running fully up to Temp hot ? Very important.
>> You likely said Temp Sensor II .....and some are cheaper than others ..
>> I've seen them be OK cold , wonky hot.
>>
>> Longer or uphill route to work would be nice.
>> but it should run totally perfectly completely cold. Or medium warm ..in
>> all modes.
>> If it doesn't ..
>> 'It's a blockage or leakage of fluids or electrons' .
>>
>> It always is - - and often more than one blockage or leakage.
>> 'fluids' includes gases and vacuum of course,  not just liquids.
>>
>> scott
>> www.turbovans.com
>>
>>
>>   On 10/6/2012 7:01 PM, Marc Perdue wrote:
>>
>> Scott,
>>
>> You're absolutely right; the driving conditions are horrible for any car;
>> it never gets warmed up properly. Not sure what to do about that though. I
>> used to live 15 miles from town and the van ran pretty well then, but my
>> marriage didn't. So, now I live in town, happily.
>>
>> My modus transportati is this: I seldom drive the van as my new wife and I
>> commute together. I have a new son, as of three weeks ago. My wife stays
>> home for now and I'm driving the van every day again, but less than 10
>> miles a day. My other use for the van is driving it to festivals, 1.5 - 5
>> hours away, but that is infrequent and only during the summer.
>>
>> My wife would probably not like this used as justification for getting
>> another old BMW, but that's a possibility . . .
>>
>> I don't understand your comment about tapping in a new coax near the ECU .
>> . . Could you elaborate on that?
>>
>> Zero valve lash cold was Bob Donalds' spec for his big valve engine. I
>> don't know enough about the inner workings of the engine to be able to tell
>> you why.
>>
>> Regarding the work done in Staunton, Keith set the valves and said to bring
>> it back in 500 miles to have them rechecked. I did. That was about 1,000
>> miles ago. Having had that done, the van runs great on the highway, or did
>> for a while, but it seems to be getting worse the more I drive it the short
>> distances. Maybe I will consider a longer route to work . . . Still, the
>> biggest problem I'm having is at the end of the day and the van has to run
>> long enough to get to a higher speed route to go home. That's getting
>> harder to do.
>>
>> That Zetec engine is starting to look pretty good these days . . .
>> Marc
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 4:53 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>    Just want to comment , that only 3 miles to work is a very undisearable
>> mode to operate a vanagon in.
>>
>> Will try to keep this story short. College student woman calls me ...87 or
>> vanagon smoking badly.
>> I go check it out ....was concerned about possibly leaking injector/s fuel
>> in the cylinders so had it towed to me.
>>   I got it all running right without much more than inspecting, cleaning,
>> some adjusting ..
>> maybe an oil change .. This was wintertime too.
>>    When I called her to talk about what was going on with the van I said ..
>> " I bet you drive this van 7 blocks to the Food Co-op, shop, then drive
>> that same short distance back.'
>>
>> she said ..yep ..that's right.
>> I said, you can't do that successfully with a vanagon, particulairly in
>> the winter.  Or if it does tolearte that type of sue ...it sure shortens
>> the life of the engine.
>> Might be better to take a longer route to work.
>> Operating an engine so it never gets fully warmed up, or rarely gets fully
>> warmed up is really rough on it.
>>
>> re your symptoms ..
>> have not seen it myself but I read about shorted oxygen sensor signal
>> wires, and have seen a new coax tapped in near the ECU once or twice. Might
>> consider that.
>>
>> re the 'zero valve lash'  ..
>> that is backing the rocker arm screw out until the hydraulically lifter
>> 'cushion'part isn't doing anything ?
>>   In any case..
>> if it runs right after someone does that adjustment ...I would think
>> pretty hard abut why that is.  Might be a clue there.
>>
>> fwiw..I have seen waterboxer 2.1's run fairly well with the Idle Valve
>> and oxygen sensor disconnected .  Like not be all that bad .   I much
>> prefer to have those working though.
>> Have you tried it with oxygen sensor disconnected  ?
>>
>> It's not clear how you had it working fine once ...after Stauntun...
>> and then how long before it starting acting not right again ?
>>
>> good luck !
>> scott
>>
>>
>>   On 10/5/2012 3:44 PM, Marc Perdue wrote:
>>
>> I think I'm with everybody on the list in terms of having been chasing idle
>> issues from day one with my van. I just found the excellent post on BTDT
>> and am going to go through that process on my van this weekend.
>>
>> Here's what's up: I've an '87 Westy, auto, that I originally replaced the
>> tranny in due to PO putting gear oil in it. I've had this particular
>> problem since I've owned the van (2003 maybe?). I start the van in the
>> morning. It usually dies a few times before I can get it moving and then
>> once or twice more before it warms up. It's usually running okay by the
>> time I get to work, three miles away. In the evening, when I get off work,
>> it runs rough as a cob and will only smooth out if I can get the revs up
>> above 2500. Above that, it runs fine. Problem is, most of the streets
>> nearest work have a 25 mph or lower speed limit, so the revs don't get that
>> high. Once I get a mile or so from work, it seems to run better, though
>> still lacking in power until I get on the bypass (55 mph speed limit).
>>
>> Now, here are the things that I've done over the years, and any one of
>> these could be a problem yet again I suppose, save for the idle control
>> valve:
>> Cleaned all grounds, per y'all's recommendations
>> Replace Temp II sensor
>> Replace O2 sensor, several times
>> Replace exhaust, several times
>> Replace engine with Boston Bob (I miss him) big valve engine after throwing
>> a rod through the crankcase
>> Replace idle stabilizer module (NOT new)
>> Replace ECU (NOT new)
>> Cleaned idle control valve many times and just replaced it with a brand new
>> one
>> Checked and adjusted throttle switch
>> Replaced AFM (NOT new)
>> Replaced throttle body boot
>> Replaced distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs and wires
>> Checked timing somewhere along the way
>>
>> Incidentally, my van was running its best when I took it to a shop and
>> insisted that they adjust the valves to zero lash cold, per Bob Donalds.
>> I've since had the same done by Keith (last name escaping me) in Staunton,
>> VA, and it's usually run quite well after that, getting up to 18 mpg and
>> gobs of power (relatively speaking, of course). But I haven't done the work
>> commute after that to test this particular idle problem.
>>
>> As I said, I'm going to clean all the grounds again per the BTDT post, but
>> do you all have any other ideas? This is darn frustrating.
>>
>> Thanks much! And it's good to "see" many familiar faces are still here.
>> Marc Perdue
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>