I had a ECU go bad on a 87 WESTY.  I had the rear heater core box on full
time even in summer.  (This should be turned off in summer, moving lever
aft).  I also had junk piled inside the bench seat around the ECU unit.  It
needs some airspace around it.  The symptoms on mine were after driving for
about an hour the ECU would overheat and begin to double fire causing power
loss in the engine, and the tachometer needle would swing wildly toward
redline.  New ECU solved the problem.
Daniel D. Eubank
daniel.d.eubank@boeing.com
Voice (562) 496-7175
FAX   (562) 982-8267

> -----Original Message-----
> From: EMZ [SMTP:vw4x4@FYI.NET]
> Sent: Friday, October 29, 1999 4:30 AM
> To:   vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject:      Re: ECU problems? '87 Westy
>
>   Your right the problem is your mechanic. ECU's almost never
> go bad.
>
>             Eric                   86-VW4x4
>             vw4x4@fyi.net          72-240z
>             Pittsburgh, PA USA     1936-Chrysler
>
>
> On Thu, 28 Oct 1999, Neil Wigley wrote:
>
> > I had some trouble with low power and occasional stuttering.
> >
> > My mechanic said new ECU. Sent it to Darrell instead, who performed
> > some marvels on it and tested it.
> >
> > Now my local mechanic put in the ECU and ran his scope on it and says
> > there's a bad ground somewhere. He replaced it with another, and
> > there was no problem.
> >
> > Might the problem be with the mechanic or his scope? Or should I
> > trust the scope?
> >
> > Having gone the Darrell route, and recognizing that the alternatives
> > are do nothing or get a rebuilt for $400, I think I know what I'm
> > going to do, but I don't really want to learn the hard way (that
> > would be another three hours in Barstow and two in Needles).
> >
> > All free advice is welcome!
> >
> > TIA,
> >
> > Neil in '87 Westy which runs fine for the first hour, haven't tried
> > the second yet.
> >