Good Afternoon,

In 11 days, I'm leaving for a road trip to the Keys with my 87 Westy. In preparation, I've been doing various repairs, etc. One of the things I did was to put in a new O2 sensor. The previous one had its wires cut by the "mechanic" who worked on it a couple of years ago. Periodically, when the previous O2 sensor got wet, the engine would loose power, wouldn't idle and ran rich. I could cure it by shutting off the ignition and turn it back on quickly. It would clear the problem for a while. Eventually I disconnected the wires to the sensor.

Yesterday, the new 02 was installed and connected, and within 5 minutes, the old symptoms (loss of power, etc) returned. Turned off the ignition and turned it back on, and it cleared the problem for a couple of minutes. Drove home and then disconnected the wires to the O2 sensor. Took the van for a drive. Ran like a champ for about 5 minutes, and the loss of power, rich running, etc. started up again. This is the first time its run this way with the O2 sensor disconnected.

When it "idles" its runs roughly at 300 rpm and puffs out black smoke. I've blown through 1/2 a tank in 80 miles.

HELP? Any ideas?

Thanks,

Ric