tom,

i hope this is the info your looking for. there is a gremlin with the
air flow
meter in these models which causes the meter to send a "no load" signal
to the
cpu after driving highway speeds for 1.5 to 2 hours which results in the
exact
same symptoms that you are describing. this problem will not occur in
the city,
and will not always occur on the highway, but my experience has been
that once
the problem surfaces, it will become more and more common. bosch does
sell a
"harness upgrade" to correct the problem, which is essentially a plug
adaptor of
sorts that plugs in between the original wire harness, and the air-flow
meter
(the box on top of the air filter). it's idiot proof to install, but
costs about
100-150 dollars from the dealer. there is a 50cent radioshack fix that
does the
same thing as the harness upgrade, but requires that you do a little
soldering
inside the harness itself.

there is a lot of information on both options in the archives, (part
number for
the bosch upgrade, and or instructions for the radioshack fix) check '87
and '88
archives. otherwise, i have the part number (not handy at the moment)
and have
actually installed the cheap fix on my own van (worked beautifully by
the way),
and i would be happy to walk you through it if you need me to. its not
too
complicated, but takes some time to explain. get back to me if you need
more
info.

matt greenwell
matt-greenwell@utc.edu
chattanooga, tn
87 vanagon gl