Date:         Wed, 9 Oct 1996 13:32:59 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         HLPinc@aol.com
Subject:      1987 Wolfs Computer problem

Hey Folks--

A friend of mine has this Vanagon and was having some problems.  He's not on
the list and asked if I could post it.  I'm on the Type 2 list, so if you
could post any relevant ideas directly back to me I would appreciate it.  My
email is HLPINC@aol.com

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Ned
________________________________________________

1987 Wolfsburg edition Vanagon. Fuel injected.

Has anyone encountered the following:

When I purchased this vehicle, within two weeks, it manifested a cutting out
and extreme loss of power at highway speeds. Once shut off, It restarts
immediately.  I complained and the dealer installed a new "engine brain".
Seemed to cure the problem except for a minor miss-firing at highway speeds.

That winter, It started again. At 65mph after 15 or so miles, the engine
would sputter and eventually quit.  It would re-start immediately and most
often be fine.  Sometimes it takes two re-starts before it coughs up and runs
well.

This seems to happen during wet periods.  All other electrical equipment
operates well except for the usual VW accessories becoming defunct over the
five years that I've owed this van.

The problem,  I thought, might be water in the gas line.  Giving the tank a
dose of dry gas seems to correct some of this.  As I have said, this does
help, but I've now decided this is a minor additional problem inherent in the
tank design especially here in New England.  The other night, I barely made
it home from a 30 mile trip.  I found after dying at least 12 times, then
pulling off the road, waiting, and then re-starting, that I can keep it going
by turning off the engine at speed and then turning it back on with the key
quickly.

Do I have to replace the engine brain again $985.00, or is there an injector
controller or sensor that is wacko?  Or just a part of the engine brain?