Hi Bernie,

I did have some issues like that with my 85 a long time ago, and then again recently…

Here’s what I did that gave me an immediate fix- I ran a direct ground wire- heavyish gauge from the negative battery cable to the starter- this additional ground IMMEDIATELY improved the situation- that said- obviously grounding is a big deal on these beasts… I don’t think enough can be said about cleaning and fixing grounds…my bandaid ground wire is just that, a bandaid...

The second time this happened recently by an odd chance I decided to check the coil- to my surprise the connection was literally filled with water and the terminal had corroded- the boot showed no indication of a breach, but it got in there some how… Not saying this is your issue- just saying to not leave any stone unturned when it comes to connections that could create this type of intermittent issue…

Pull connections, clean, reseat….it’s a start- the danger component exists in all of these things when we don’t have multiple backup systems….we are pushing the limits on them with age alone… and I agree- it’s terrible when you lose power when you absolutely need it. Some of us don’t have the luxury of a shoulder…

Dave

> On Aug 4, 2017, at 11:21 AM, bernie <1234bjs@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> I have owned a 1985 Westy for 15 years and early on
> it showed symptoms of vanagon syndrome. Symptoms ranged from the more
> frequent mild to the less frequent more severe. When more severe simply
> restarting it seemed to solve the issue. As these symptoms were infrequent
> I simply never got around to solving the issue. The symptoms would range
> from a simple miss or hiccup to lose of power and bucking. It has been very
> manageable for about 200,000 miles. Coming home from desert last year I
> noticed frequent "missing" for want of a better term. I seemed to notice
> less power but was able to maintain speed but seemed to be more laboured.
> On one occasion when holding speed at 60 miles per hour speed simply
> dropped to 50. I dropped into third and it seemed to respond normally. I
> recently purchased a rebuilt air flow meter and had that put in and took my
> first trip this past week. I put about 500 miles on it and it preformed
> like a champ until it didn't. I felt a couple of misses and then real and
> sudden loss of power coupled with sputtering. I was on a two lane highway
> with no shoulder and it was very dangerous! I think I flooded it trying to
> keep it going. At any rate got it started and it performed great all the
> way. This is now clearly a danger and I don't wish to drive it like this.
> This incident was worse than previous incident with old AFM. The shops I
> have available to me do not seem to have any interest in a intermittent
> problem. They say it has to be exhibiting the problem when I bring it to
> them. I am perplexed. This is now a significant safety issue. Any help and
> suggestions appreciated. Thank you.
> 
> Bernie