My 1986 vanagon has developed an interesting problem over the weekend - it
either is very hard to start requiring alot of cranking or quits once
started.  Initially the problem was a refusal to start despite good cranking
- at the time I am pretty sure that I heard the fuel pump come on when I
initially turned the key to the run position.  Subsequently, it has started
and run after a normal amount of cranking, started and run after a lot of
cranking, refused to start after cranking forever, and died once started.

While trying to troubleshoot the problem yesterday, I turned the key to run
and noticed the fuel pump ran for a bit.  Turning it off and back to run
resulted in the characterisitc short whine.  It then started with no
problem.  After running a while, I shut it off and tryed to restart.  Now
turning the key resulted in no whine and no start.  After sitting overnight
I get the same result.

Should the fuel pump ALWAYS run when the key is turned to run?  Does the ECU
have logic to sometimes run the pump and sometimes not when the vehicle is
first fired up?  If so, what sensors is this dependent on?  Also, is a
properly working fuel pump/relay unusually voltage sensitive?  I would hope
that if there is enough battery voltage to crank the starter there should be
enough to run the fuel pump/relay/ECU signal chain.

One other thing I noticed (which brings up the voltage question) is that the
headlights were alternately dimming and brightening (as might happen with a
flakey regulator) just before the onset of this problem.  This has stopped
happening but between this and all the cranking I am thinking the battery is
a bit low.

I will put the battery on the charger tonight and start trying to do some
real troubleshooting tomorrow, but any insights to the operation of this
stuff would be appreciated!

                                        Art Beutler