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?

On Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:42:44 GMT, "george taylor"
> wrote:

>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?

George, no idea exactly why, but if you are in west NH, three places
that I've foudn that are good a

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).

On Mar 25, 5:42*pm, "george taylor" >
wrote:
> 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?

Done a compression test?

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

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.

On Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:42:44 GMT, "george taylor"
> wrote:

>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?

I see comments about clogged fuel tank.

On Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:17:21 -0400, Jim Behning
> wrote:

>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.
>
>On Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:42:44 GMT, "george taylor"
> wrote:
>
>>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?

Yep, know all of those guys, just trying to figure this out before I take it
to them for a 2 bit item.
"PeterD" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:42:44 GMT, "george taylor"
> > wrote:
>
>>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?
>
> George, no idea exactly why, but if you are in west NH, three places
> that I've foudn that are good a
>
> 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).

Yes That was one of the first things that I did, all good. At least that is
what I think they were around 130, been a while, did that last fall.
> wrote in message
...
On Mar 25, 5:42 pm, "george taylor" >
wrote:
> 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?

Done a compression test?

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:25:06 GMT, "george taylor"
> wrote:

> wrote in message
...
>>On Mar 25, 5:42 pm, "george taylor" >
>>wrote:
>>> 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?
>>
>>Done a compression test?
>>
>Yes That was one of the first things that I did, all good. At least that is
>what I think they were around 130, been a while, did that last fall.

(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.

On Mar 26, 9:48*am, PeterD > wrote:

> 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.

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