When opening the throttle makes things worse it is usually a fuel delivery problem, too lean or too rich can have a similar feel. Try resetting the ignition switch while still rolling. The steering should not lock until the key is turned all the way off and then lifted as when being removed so there should not be a fear of that. If it clears and goes for a while than most likely you have an O2 sensor circuit problem. Could be bad sensor or a wiring problem. A simple wiring test if you have ammeter handy is as follows. Disconnect the sensor and strip back the outer jacket on that green wire to get to the outer braid. With the ignition on (engine not running) check the voltage from the O2 sensor connection to the chassis. Should be ~.5 to .6 volt. Now check the outer braid to chassis. Must be real close to "0". Start engine and check again. Should be the same. If the outer braid is getting stray voltages you have a grounding problem. Anything near or .2 or above can put the ECU into a runaway rich condition.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Tyler Hardison
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2016 1:12 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Engine stalling at high speed

The engine behaves like it has a very extreme rev limiter in place. If I press in the clutch it dies. From there I can restart the engine like nothing happened.

The AFM was replaced June of last year.

O2 sensor around the same time.

Coolant temp sensor in July of last year.

Cleaned and tested the auxiliary air valve last month.

New throttle body gasket last month.

New fuel filters last month.

New fuel tank two weeks ago.

This problem feels electrical to me. Fuel starvation should cause poor running like a lean condition. Right?

On Saturday, April 16, 2016, Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com> wrote:

> ​RE: Engine Stalls
> Tyler, could you give us a little more details about how the engine 
> stalls.  Just quits dead?  Or stumbles but keeps running?  If the 
> later then you may be dealing with 'Vanagon Syndrome'.
> BTW, what engine.  Stock 2.1L or 1.9L?
>