Check with Jim at the http://www.oldvolkshome.com and/or give him a call at
530-221-5342.

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Bill
'85 GL [*Magic*Bus*]
'82 Westy [FreeBird] ...cause I'm as free as a bird now...
Big Sky Country                                 ---Ronnie Van Zant
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-----Original Message-----
From: John Clavin <jjc@BGA.COM>
To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM <Vanagon@VANAGON.COM>
Date: Thursday, October 08, 1998 8:06 PM
Subject: Stumbling problem solved

>I have been plagued with the infamous stumbling problem for several years
>and believe I finally cured it. I tried all of the various suggestions
>regarding temperature sensors, fuel injector cleaning, reseating
>connectors, etc. Here's what finally isolated the problem and worked for
me.
>
>I was suspicious of distributor/hall sensor/coil for some time because the
>problem seemed to disappear for a while when I replaced the hall sensor
>last year. However, it soon returned. Also, I noticed that it was
>associated with various degrees of erractic behavior of the tach. I finally
>discovered some corrosion on the plug which connects at the side of the
>distributor to the hall sensor. This plug has three tension contacts which
>are not one of VW's engineering triumphs. Each contact is a u-shaped jaw
>shaped and tensioned to be a tight fit when the opposing pin slides into
>it. The pins in the opposing socket do not enter it longitudinally, but are
>positioned so that the contacts fit over then sideways. My description may
>not be clear, but you will see what I mean by taking a look at the
connector.
>
>The problem was that the tensioned contact was corroded and stressed,
>thereby not making good contact. I cleaned the contact area with some 600
>emery paper and retensioned it by carefully persuading it with a dental
>probe. This fix lasted from last fall until a few months ago when the
>humidity here increased after being dry for most of the summer. The
>stumbling problem returned in spades, but disappeared immediately upon
>application of another treatment. I suspect that the emery paper has
>removed any plating remaining on the contact making it more susceptable to
>corrosion in the future.
>
>And, of course, this is a connector which cannot be obtained from the
>dealer without being attached to a mega-dollar cable harness. If anyone has
>any sources for this part, I would appreciate hearing. Thanks.
>
>**********  John Clavin  |  jjc@bga.com  |  Austin, TX  **********