Rick:  (and listmembers)

[This is a continuation of a private e-mail exchange, which I have opend
up in case anyone else has input.  Problem:  power loss after 1 hour of
driving on highway.]

Unfortunately (especially in summer) we don't have A/C.  The engine
doesn't shut off entirely, it just runs bad except-- that after exiting
from the highway (where the problem _always_ pops up) and stopping at the
first stop sign, the engine will want to stall when the clutch is thrown
in.  This is followed by very poor (almost non-existent) power pulling
away from said stop-sign.  This sounds like a fuel-starved engine to me,
because in my other life I coach rowing, usually from an outboard-powered
tin boat:  If my rowers, in setting up the motor and fuel tank, have
failed to open the vent on the tank, the engine dies after about 15
minutes, only to be revived after opening the vent and much pumping of the
bulb on the gas hose.

I recognize that being a thousand miles away from a test-drive, this is
pure theory for you, but is there any chance that this could be a problem
other than fuel delivery?  I remember reading someone's submission
regarding the expansion of differently-composed engine parts, i.e. block
and heads:  He wrote that it could take an hour for the engine to be
thoroughly hot, at which point a gasket might no longer make a good seal.
The person was talking about coolant getting into the cylinders; could
this be happening with oil?  After these 1-hour episodes there is a
noticeable drop in oil level on the dipstick, but no coolant loss.  I
don't have a oil pressure gauge, and the idiot light does not go on.

The engine runs great up until that point, with ample power and
acceleration.  My mechanic has said that if this was a injector or a valve
problem, it would be felt all the time, at 5km/h or 50km/h.

Hoping there's a pearl of wisdom waiting to drop--

Marcus Elia
'84 Westy (Dela)