Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 22:42:33 -0400
Reply-To: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Organization: Bulley-Hewlett
Subject: Re: HELP NEEDED ON THE ROAD
In-Reply-To: <DD9173D6726DAA4E850D16D7F509E5FC178392@main.bqmlaw.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Get to a dealer.
Get an OEM (Bosch) O2 sensor. Install it. If the van doesn't run right,
have the dealer sort out the problem while you sip coffee and watch
Dubya beat the war drum. Then pay the bill, and enjoy the rest of your
vacation.
Driving with the O2 sensor worn out/disconnected forces the ECU into the
'limp home' program, which causes all grades of malady. Hang in there.
Developing business and guiding change since 1996,
G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Marketing & Communications
Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
AIM = IExplain4u
Phone: +1.919.658.1278
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Cooper Jonathan
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 10:37 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: HELP NEEDED ON THE ROAD
I am Nomail and on the road, so please reply to
JonathanRCooper@directvinternet.com
My 85 is acting up. It has a miss or hesitation at load and higher rpm
in all gears. It smoothes out if I floor it. The gas mileage was not as
horrible as when I have had an O2 sensor go bad, and I had more high
speed and climbing "oomph". It started last night in the rain as a
slight and occasional high speed miss.
Here is the history:
A week ago we had a cracked collector pipe. I noticed a miss and a lack
of power and bad gas mileage. I disconnected the O2 sensor and drove on
about 100 miles. The van ran well but a little rich and gas mileage was
about 15 mpg. When we got to a town we stopped for a better look. I
could hear an exhaust leak. At first I thought it was the O2 sensor
malfunctioning due to a loose exhaust pipe. I tightened the exhaust and
the problem went away for 100 miles. Then it came back. So I figured the
O2 sensor was bad Stopped in Wall SD and bought a NAPA version (all
there was). Problem seemed fixed for another couple hundred miles. At
Badlands, I heard more air leak. I figured that the pipe was loose - but
no. The collector pipe was cracked, right below the O2 sensor. Bus Depot
to the rescue. UPS delivered a pipe to the camp site. I tried to put it
on with the old bolts - ugh. Drove 150 Mi. to a garage with the O2
sensor disconnected. It fried. I bought bolts and put things together in
the Wal-Mart Parking lot. I put in the original O2 sensor. Things went
pretty well from there. Until one of the long coolant pipes cracked. I
had a spare large hose, so with a piece of pipe and some hose and clamps
I got that back together and bled it. It was after that that my wife
noticed a high speed miss.
I noticed several things:
The connection of the rubber housing to the AFM was loose. The grounds
looked cruddy. My other fixes were holding.
Here is what I have done.
(I have a New temp 2 sensor 1 month old. Same with Dist cap. Wires,
rotor, Injector seals fuel lines)
I first put in a new NAPA O2 sensor (again, all there was).
I tightened all grounds and all air and vacuum connections.
The fuel pump was whining and the problem seemed to get better once when
I loosened the "Zip tie" I had used to hold the pump in place) this
"cured things for a while. It acted up again and things got better when
I just "massaged the pump" - its whine decreased several octaves - so I
changed it for my spare. No more whine but the problem was the same.
I put in, successively, my spare ECU and AFM, with no improvement.
I pulled the plugs and replaced them - prior plugs were about at the 2/3
life point and when pulled were black - looks like running rich. Went
for a test drive - problem still n acceleration and climbing - stumbles
but okay (no stumble when floored. So on a long hill in Lead SD, I
disconnected the O2 sensor again (NAPA no 2). Ands shaazam - things felt
better. But I didn't drive too far. Could it be???? Ideas???? Help. By
the way, it is raining and 40degrees, so working on it is a joy.
Finally, No I have not changed the fuel filter because in the many
stores I have been to, nobody has one
Jonathan R. Cooper
Brzytwa, Quick & McCrystal
900 Skylight Office Tower
Cleveland, OH 44113
216-664-6900 (voice)
216-664-6901 (fax)
Cooper@BQMlaw.com
JonathanRCooper@directvinternet.com
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the [guts] to
live in the real world."
-Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden
