Hi Volks,

I have an 87 Syncro Westie (digifant) that has been giving me hell lately
with stalling/power issues.   I've read through the archives about the
dreaded 'Vanagon Syndrom'  and am aware of the auxilliary wiring harness
(PN 025906302) for the AFM that is supposed to remedy similar situations.
I ordered the harness about 10 days ago from the dealer (it took a while to
get here cause of some other special order stuff) and it turns out they
gave me the wrong part.

So while I wait for the correct part, I wanted to post out my symptoms to
you all and see if I could get some further feedback as to what other
conditions might be causing my poor performance.  Heres the history:

1.  About a year ago I was having stalling problems that ended up in a
blown catalytic converter.  Upon installation of a new Cat, the problems
went away entirely for over a year.

2.  Last November I had stalling problems at altitude that seemed to clear
up by disconnecting/reconnecting the O2 sensor.  On the way out of the
mountains, I would stall again (completely) and reconnect the 02.  The van
would go for a ways, then stall, and I would redisconnect the 02 and be on
my way.  Once I got down to sea level all was fine.

3. I had a complete tune up with all new parts, filters etc in December.
Mechanic said O2 sensor was 'lazy' and he 'cleaned' it  and said that it
was ok now.  Also installed brand new AFM.

4.  Mechanic Installed new engine in March.

5.  Noticed power began to lag a bit on hills..this got worse and I started
to experience the jerking etc that happened two years ago (see #1 above).
Soon it became difficult to keep highway speeds (55 top) and any grades
were a disaster.

6.  Catalytic blew again.  I installed a new Cat and a new O2 sensor...so
now I have a new AFM, new Cat, new O2, new ENGINE, and recently new tune-up
parts.  I still dont have the wiring harness as stated above.

7.  Van starts fine, drives ok till warmed up...but will have one RPM surge
just after starting.  Once hot, it craps out.  If I let it stall, it starts
right back up.

8.  Gas mileage is horrendous, about 6-8 miles per gallon.

Any suggestions as to what might be causing this besides the wiring harness
for the AFM?  Dont want to believe I need a new ECU, as new engine in march
and new tranny in December coupled with wedding in June are killing me
financialy.  Could it be Hal unit? distributor?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff