slugish vanagon

The problem I am having is this. If I am going up a hill, I live in NH, the van has a hard time staying above 25. I have changed the fuel pump, filter and plugs. I have also checked the air flow meter and it looks ok. It is an

85 with auto trans. Any ideas?
Reply to
george taylor
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George, no idea exactly why, but if you are in west NH, three places that I've foudn that are good are:

  1. Autex in Keene.
  2. Gordie Davis (if he's still around, not seen him in years) in Marlow.
  3. John's in Vermont (not sure the town, but I do know John is still working on 'em).

Where are you located? (I'm in the Monadnock region).

Reply to
PeterD

Done a compression test?

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

Clogged exhaust system?

Clean air filter? Some cars have junk screens before the air filter. If your van has a screen make sure it is not clogged.

Reply to
Jim Behning

Reply to
Jim Behning

Reply to
george taylor

Done a compression test?

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
george taylor

(please don't top post... )

130 sounds good. Is it running smoothly? I had a lot of problems with an 88 Cabbie which I eventually traced to bad plug wires. Was really odd, ran find some times, had problems other times.

Also you might want to check your injectors too.

Reply to
PeterD

Given good compression, in rank order I would check (with no reference to previous suggestions, so please forgive any repetitions):

a) Fuel Pressure - invest in or borrow a gauge for the purpose. They are invaluable diagnostic tools. NOTE: A FI pressure gauge is a serious bit of equipment, not the typical vacuum/pressure gauge of carburetor days. This gets you a good filter and clear supply and return lines when complete. b) Spark plugs, wires, distributor, cap, rotor and so forth. Leaky wires, carbon-tracks on the distributor cap poor connections, cracked connections, wrong gap, worn electrode(s) and so forth. c) Coil - Nice blue spark? Is the problem heat-related? Many VW coils had heat-failure problems. d) Check injectors. And run a few cans of Techron through the system on general principles anyway. e) Timing advance. Not sure how this is managed on that model, but it may take a timing light to verify.

My bet is fuel or spark related. Were I to place odds they would go as follows:

Fuel Related (clogged line or injector(s): 50% Spark/ignition related (wires, connectors, distribution): 25% Coil: 10% Injectors (if vehicle generally properly maintained): 10% All others: 5%

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

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