[jyl]

I finally figured out why the Zetec in the Vanagon has been stumbling, stalling, refusing to restart. I think it was various problems and then one key problem. The various problems were addressed by the time honored methods of randomly replacing stuff. New coil, ignition wires, plugs, fuel pump, fuel filter, check fuel pressure, check ignition wiring. Some of that helped, none fixed it. Finally I got the van to where it would start and run but the idle was unstable and weak. That turned out to be two ****ty quality Chinese rubber caps on two nipples on the plastic thingy attached to the intake manifold. They had fallen off. Place finger over nipples, idle great. Remove finger, van barely idles. Replaced with a loop of rubber vacuum hose secured with clamps. The samba guys told me to simply plug the nipples with RTV but I figure maybe those nipples could get used for something someday.

Then tried to figure out why van's brakes are so bad, like pedal goes almost to floor. Turned out to be very low brake fluid in M/C reservoir. Filled reservoir, bled brakes, much better. But still not great. These brakes have never been great. I'm taking it to a shop to do the brakes right, probably including a new M/C since this one has now been stroked past normal range. I am greatly sick of working on the van so want to pay someone.

Lastly I replaced gas struts on the 911 hood and decklid, and figured out why the turbo tail has been loose. Turns out that if you use the tail to lift the deck lid, you can eventually break the fiberglass mount points in the tail. Other thread explains.

Time for a shower.