>The van ran flawlessly except for a bout of engine missing 30 miles 
>into the trip!  As Joel and Jerry have explained, this is normal 
>behavior as the van is simply letting its 'owner' [hah!] know who 
>REALLY is in control.  

Sounds like an incident I had in Oregon a few years ago.  I was out in the
middle of nowhere when this occured, and as is this was the first time it
ever happened to me, was rather concerned.  I called the local dealer and
told him of my problem, he was quite sympathetic but sadly informed me that
he didn't have an engine currently in stock.  I thought his solution was
just a BIT drastic, until I realized that when I said my engine was missing,
he assumed that the engine was gone, as in stolen or no longer in the engine
compartment...

Ryan