Sounds like the old "stumbling" problem....search the archives for 1998
with that word and you'll find all the cures explained in detail.  They
include a special $100  wire harness that attaches to the Air Flow Meter
(or a $1 capacitor to do same thing if you can solder), replace the O2
sensor, clear the carbon track on the air flow meter, replace coolant
temp. sensor by the thermostat.  You may also want to check the fuel
filter and the hall sender .    With the exception of the wiring harnes,
these are all wear items that eventually need to be replaced/maintained
so there is some logic to going in and taking care of all of them.

If you use the list vendors (Jim or Ron or Kyle) and do all the work
yourself, you could do all of the above for under $100 in 2 or 3 hours,
more or less, depending on your speed and skill level.  If you took it
to a dealer, well, they would not clean the AFM carbon track, but would
sell you a new one (assuming that is part of the problem with your van),
and they would charge you full dealer price for all parts.  Not only
that, but they would probably start with replacing just the little wire
harness first, which often does not permanently cure the problem.  If
the dealer ended up having to do all of the above, instead of $100, it
would cost closer to $1000. (Hence the value of the list.)  The other
alternative is to buy the parts, find a good VW mechanic and tell him
what you want done.

Calle Fallberg wrote:

> Hi there , Vanagon'ners!
> I have a kind of veird problem that I wonder if anyone else has been
> suffering, and may have a solution to :-\
> I have a -88 vanagon with the 2.1 digifant engine.
> Its normally running like a champ but every now and then it�ll get
> hiccups!
> The weirdest thing of it all is that it�s almost always happening when
>
> I�m out for a little longer drive and the thing that happens is that
> after a couple of hours driving at app. 55 mph the engine starts
> stalling for about a microsec. at the time.
> This could go on for about a minute or two and sometimes it is
> followed
> by a big black exhaust cloud which is cured by restarting the engine a
>
> couple of times but the most common thing is that the "hiccups" stops
> and the car runs on like if nothing ever happened.
> The Vanagon  has never stopped permanently so it�s only a minor
> problem
> but nevertheless a f******g anoying one!
> Any ideas ????
> Calle Fallberg, Mullhyttan Sweden
> -88 Vanagon, -79 Saab 99, four Belgian Shepherd dogs and a wife