I think you might be on to something Stuart.

Here's what I've done as of now...

Replaced the forward fuel filter. I noticed a tiny piece of cardboard in
the inlet side of the filter, noted this to my wife who called the van a
money pit. The nerve!

Cleaned with QD electrical cleaner:

ECU connection
Coolant temp connection
AFM connection
O2 connection

I tried to pull off the distributor connection only to have the plastic
disintegrate in my hands. Insert colorful French here.

All connections received a little dose of dielectric grease and were
wiggled to ensure tightness.

I tried to stabilize the distributor connection as much as possible so that
it shouldn't be an issue as I drive home.

No noises or odd happenings as I restarted her up and listened. No long
driving today so I can't be sure that it won't happen again before I get
back home.

On Saturday, April 16, 2016, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:

> Tyler has the single wire '85 1.9 O2 sensor according to his first post.
> Any short would be directly to that wire, easy to check at the harness
> connection with an ohm meter. That also means he has two throttle position
> switches, one closed throttle and one full throttle. Misadjusted closed
> switch will give bucking when crusing around 35 mph but it will clear
> beyond that.
>
> My money is on a clogged fuel pick up in the tank.  I've heard of
> cardboard getting into improperly packaged tanks and causing this. :-(
>
> Stuart
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
> <javascript:;>] On Behalf Of Dennis Haynes
> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2016 11:18 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <javascript:;>
> Subject: Re: Engine stalling at high speed
>
> 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
> <javascript:;>] On Behalf Of Tyler Hardison
> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2016 1:12 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <javascript:;>
> 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?
>
>
>