1999 Eurovan Camper - Severe Hesitation

Apr 30, 2011 7 Replies

History:



Vehicle sat in garage drained of water and waste, and clean, stabilized gasoline (full tank) and w/o batteries from November 30 to April 27. Batteries added and it started without difficulty.



Out of gear and sitting, engine will track smoothly up to red-line and down again without any roughness. In gear and under load when the engine hits ~2,500 rpm it is like hitting a wall - the power drops to 0. Let the RPM drop, bring it back up slowly, it engages again. Same at any speed. By feathering the throttle, I can get it to any reasonable speed, but not hold it at that speed without continuing to feather.



And, the second time it was run (after sitting overnight), the Check Engine light came on and remains on.



No undue smells, no smell of unburnt gasoline. No rough idle, no rough running.



~97,000 miles on it. Always synthetic oil, always changed regularly (at least) once per year at the beginning of the driving season. Averages less than 5,000 miles per year, however.



My first guess is Oxygen Sensor. I do not have a OBD II tool, but if advised to get one. And any other helpful suggestions are welcome.



Thanks in advance.



Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA


If you suspect the o2 sensor just disconnect it and try again. Could also be clogged injectors, fuel filter etc. Are you sure it's obd2 compliant?

SFC

Yes.

The fuel filter might be a good idea - it is about 35K old and kinda- sorta due anyway.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Not the fuel filter.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

OK - problem solved. I took it to my mechanic who has the Snap-On OBD system and who has been servicing the vehicle for the last five years. He set up the sensor and it told him essentially that the ECM had failed and the system was in "limp home" mode.

After grumbling a few moments to the effect that "this does not happen with *THIS* VW", he removed both batteries (a camper, remember) shorted the engine battery hot and ground together for about ten minutes, re-connected the two batteries and _everything was fine_. No codes, no Check Engine and just for kicks he asked me to run it up the highway a while and bring it back - put the emissions probe in - clean.

His statement afterward was "Sometimes these computers need a hard reboot if they have been sitting a while".

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Sounds like you have a great mechanic, who is smart enough to not just start replacing stuff!

It is amazing how doing that procedure can fix some of the wierdest things.

Yep, and not just with VWs too... Most cars will eventually need to have this done to them. The failure of the mechanic is never known, they replace an ECM/PCM but disconnect the battery before replacing, and never realized the ECM/PCM was in fact good!

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