Hi Vanagon Types

I have a question about the idle stabilizer.  My '85 starts and runs fine, including idle at about 900 rpm, with one exception.  After running down the road and coming to a stop the idle bounces around until the engine stalls.  When I restart it starts and idles fine, as though turning the ignition off and on reset something.  I tested the idle stabilizer using the procedure in Bentley (disconnect the unit and plug the connectors together) and it did not idle at all without the idle stabilizer.  I read up on it in Samba and the archive, but the problems people report with the stabilizer are poor or high idle and not exactly what I am experiencing.  Should it still idle without the stabilizer, and if so, does that suggest what to look at?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Dave B
Boise