John,

Had the problem on my 88GL.  On top of the engine there is a hose
between the crankcase vent tower - and the Air Flow meter (AFM). That
hose tends to rot out on the under side. the hose on top looks OK - but
underneath it's rotten and prone to leak. Easy fix with a piece of hose
from your FLAPS.

Even if the hose appears good - if it is soft at all, it should be replaced.

Check to see that your O2 sensor is connected.  The idle stabilizer
valve should be humming as well. The idle stabilizer control is a box
just forward of the right hand tail light. These three elements -
including the Hall Sender generate signals that fee to the ECU which in
turns controls engine rpm, and ignition firing.

On 4/23/2014 2:58 PM, John Graham wrote:
> I have an '88 Vanagon totally stock 2.1 engine that has served me well for
> the past 203,000 miles.  Most recent engine repair was to refurbish the
> heads about 10,000 miles ago and had been running fine since.
>
> My recent problem that started this winter is a poor idle condition when
> started first thing (i.e. engine is at ambient temp).  The engine starts
> fine, with idle a little over 1K and idles there for about 20 seconds and
> then want to die unless I give it some throttle.  If I let it die, it
> restarts just fine and runs for the 20 seconds and dies.
>
> I can drive off at this point without problems because the RPMs are up.  My
> first stoplight is about a half mile from my house and by the time I reach
> that point, the engine will idle - though a little roughly at about 900
> RPMs and by the time I've gone say another mile, it has pretty much settled
> down to a normal idle when stopped at a light.
>
> If I make a quick stop at a store after the engine is warmed up, it
> restarts with no startup idle issues.
>
> So - I suspect something related to a 'cold idle' system.  I've recently
> changed sparkplugs and airfilter and rotor and cap have less than 5000
> miles; Ignition wires are about a year old.
>
> I'm open to suggestion for what to try next.  I'm fairly handy and of
> course have a Bentley manual.
>
> John Graham
> 88 Westy - Charlotte, NC
>
> --
> <http://johntakesgreatpictures.com>
> .
>