Have you checked your coolant level?
Does the van run ok after it has warmed up?
How many miles are on the van?

I don't want to get you alarmed but I had a similar problem with my 84'
It turned out to be leaking coolant into the combustion chamber.  I
started noticing that it always blew white smoke particularly on cold
mornings, once warmed up whatever gap there was would shrink and the van
would run fine.

 Dan

On Tue, 30 Sep 1997, Michael Delessio wrote:

> hello all,
>
> My '84 westy just developed an idle/stalling problem.  when I start the
> van it
> begins to backfire, run rough, and knock, then stalls.  if I give it some
> gas it get slightly better but begins to blow white smoke.  It has run
> fine upto this point, it started this just after a 4 hour trip on which
> it performed fine.
> I've checked all the wires and every thing seems to be fine.
> any help would be great, I need to get my van running again!
>
> Thanks,
> Mike D.
>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> Michael Delessio                                        Sonalysts, Inc.
> Email: delessio@sonalysts.com                        215 Parkway North
> Work: (203)442-4355                                 Waterford CT 06385
> ***********************************************************************
>