David,

With the exception of stubborn fasteners - replacing your cat converter and
O2 sensor shouldn't be too hard at all. I've done both and it wasn't too
bad. Again, some of the fasteners were tricky because of corrosion and we
had to apply a bit of heat to the O2 sensor to get it loose - but nothing
to be afraid of.

I've never done injectors but I have removed them to check for spray
pattern. I think there are some good write ups on this here on Ben's site:
http://www.benplace.com/ and probably some other places too. Having no
experience in actually doing this job - I wouldn't be afraid to handle it
myself (with help of the resources out there). I'd certainly try it myself
before spending $1000 for any of the jobs you mentioned.

Other's wiser tham me may chime in differently.

Good Luck!

Thanks,

Jeff
'85 GL (Gertie)
'78 Bus (Melissa) Patty's Bus

On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 10:36 AM, David M <covrambles@yahoo.com> wrote:

> My bus has been running fine for years (I admit with minimal maintenance,
> except to pass emissions). The other day I pulled up to a light and when it
> turned green, I pressed the gas pedal and I barely moved. After crawling
> for about 20-30 yards it picked up and ran normally but it felt strange the
> first 2 or 3 times I had to slow down. I made it to my destination and then
> came back home without further incident.
> Any ideas what might cause this? I did have my gas pedal cable replaced a
> while back but I don't think it was that. My van did recently fail
> emissions which I have not had time to get looked at yet - so it is
> probably out of tune. But I'm wondering if this could be a warning of
> something more serious.
>
> On another note, how easy is it to replace the fuel injectors? Can I do it
> myself? And how easy is it to replace a catalytic converter and oxygen
> sensor, can I do that myself? The last time I took my van in for emissions
> work, it cost me over $1000 so I hope to avoid that again.
>
> -David (1987 Wolfsburg)
>