84 Westy - Temporary lose of power when it is damp outside.

[phil]

Here is the deal. This has happened to me twice. I was driving my 84 Westy I get a couple of miles from my house and it starts to lose power. I step on the gas and it rev’s but when I put it in gear to go it just has no strength. This has happened twice now. The first time it was raining and the second time it had just finished raining and was very damp outside. This condition last for a while maybe ten to 15 minutes and then gets better and after a while it drives normal again. A friend who was with me the second time said it smelled like it was overheating but the gauge showed normal temperature and I have plenty of fluid in the reservoir.
Facts to know. I recently had to refill my coolant because I had to repair a leak I had on my way to West River Westies, yes, we purged the lines of air. Also, my oxygen sensor light has been on for a while.

[rmace]

Do the stupid stuff first, go too all contections unplug and plug back in. If the O2 sensor is bad replace it, its giveing the computer the wrong info! I`m going through the same problem with my Bay I get a bucking and cutting out for no reason. Mine is in the wiring too its just a process of elimination, one thing at a time. Hope this helps the Con Kid

[erdonline]

Just remember that the oxygen sensor light is a replacement reminder, not a light indicating whether it's working or not. It comes on every 60,000 miles (to remind you to replace it) and needs to be reset at the box by the driver's side front wheel.

Ed Duntz

[vanagonjohn]

check your grounds!

I would say check your grounds on the left side of the engine (driver side).  I had a ton of bad grounds.  My big problem was the ground that comes from the harness that plugs into the distrubtor(sp?).  This ground was just worn out from 20 some years of driving.  But do the simple stuff first and maybe you will luck out

Peace-
John

[phil]

Wow, I got a whole series of good suggestions. One of which made me remember something. Last year I replaced all my wires. I went out to start my van last year and I didn't have any spark. I pulled the wire from the ignition coil out from the center of the distributor cap and part of the wire remained in the hole. So I replaced all the wires. However, I didn't change the distributor cap. I think I should carry a spare with me. Especially since the second problem I had in driving to West River Westies was that my rotor in the distributor cap disintegrated. All these things seem to indicate a worn out cap.

[vanagonjohn]

Some people don't do this but I take just about everything with me in my van.  I keep everything under the back bench (I have the weekender so you know it's full sized) just in case you have to do some simple repair on the side of the road.  I keep stuff to do oil changes to replacing wires...and a AAA card in my pocket.  It's better to be safe then sorry

Peace
John

[Stanagon]

Let us know how things go after replacing the dist. cap.

They can get small cracks in them that can let moisture in.

I found that Bus Boys in Cali carries all the good Bosch components specific to Vanagons for reasonable prices.
http://www.bus-boys.com/index.htm

Lots of other places, including local sources should have the correct distributor cap. It's a good idea to do the cap and rotor together.

-Stan

[phil]

Today I bought the distributor cap from a local foreign parts dealer who has a good reputation. It is a Bosch cap. I think I'll keep it in the van and swap it out if I have that trouble again.