Date: Sun, 21 May 2017 04:47:15 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Intermittent Power Loss - '91 Westy
In-Reply-To: <5920817f.c3ae370a.41e18.2d75SMTPIN_ADDED_BROKEN@mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
check the gas. water? in it?
On May 20, 2017 10:48 AM, "Wes Neuenschwander" <
wes.neuenschwander@comcast.net> wrote:
> While preparing our 'trusty' '91 Westy for a trip to the remote (and
> supremely lovely) Okanogan region of Eastern Washington, I experienced a
> sudden loss of power, with the rpm's dropping from 3,000 to around 800,
> even
> with the throttle depressed. Still on my local Seattle neighborhood
> streets, I pulled over and after a minute or so was able to nurse the
> engine
> back up to 3,000 rpm, restoring power and driving back home. Took it
> directly to my regular (and every excellent) local VW shop, Fine Tuning in
> N. Seattle, without any power loss or other problems. The car repeated
> the
> power loss during a test drive, this time losing power completely and
> engine
> dying. The owner, Chris, was able to restart the engine after a couple of
> minutes and got it back to the shop, where they went over the obvious
> stuff,
> not finding anything. Next day, they started the vehicle and left it
> idling
> for an hour or so, without problems. Subsequent test drives also went
> without problems.
>
>
>
> On Chris' suggestion we disconnected the O2 sensor and I've been driving
> it,
> mainly on short, local drives now for several days without incident.
>
>
>
> Haven't encountered anything similar in the 26 years we've owned the van
> (bought it new in '91), though have barely driven it for the last couple of
> years (like 700 miles over 2 years!) with the van sitting in the garage,
> idle, for the last several months or so.
>
>
>
> In addition to the O2 sensor / sensor wiring possibility, Chris has also
> suggested it could also be a faulty ECU. The ECU is original, and I know
> these tend to have solder joint corrosion problems over time. I'm not sure
> how old the O2 sensor might be, though it's probably not original (but I
> suspect it's pretty old). Ditto, I guess to a degree, various other
> sensors, as well as sensor wiring. Ignition components, including spark
> plug wiring, distributor, etc. have been fairly recently been replaced.
>
>
>
> The engine is a GoWesty 2.2L engine, installed nearly 10 years/25,000 miles
> ago, and aside from the recent loss of power problems, has run beautifully
> since it was installed.
>
>
>
> I've done a lot of searching of the Vanagon List archives for information
> about similar loss of power problems, so realize the O2 sensor and ECU
> issues are commonly involved in such situations, but would be most grateful
> for any/all ideas or suggestions for other things to check. At this point
> I'm more than willing to invest in a replacement O2 sensor and even (if it
> seems indicated) a rebuilt ECU. However until something is found that
> reasonably explains these random power loss events I'm very reluctant to
> drive the van very far and certainly not into remote areas.
>
>
>
> Many thanks (as always)!
>
>
>
> -Wes
>
> ___________________
>
> Wes Neuenschwander
>
> wes.neuenschwander@comcast.net
>
> C. 206.498.8787
>
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