Rico,

I know this is random, but have you checked you throttle cable and gas
pedal...?  The reason I ask is I had idle issues with my subie conversion.
Last week the bottom of the pedal gave way, the rivets holding it in place
were dust...I think the pedal was going for a while, thus not allowing the
throttle cable to work properly...

I fixed it, idle issues gone...

I may be way off, but I figured I'd share

Good luck,
Jim
Wilmington, NC

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 7:14 PM, Rico Dagastino <Dagbear@aol.com> wrote:

> Yesterday, I was backing out of the driveway in my 87 Vanagon and got to
> the end of the driveway.  When I started to drive down the street the van
> suddenly began to run died.  I was able to restart the van only by holding
> the accelerator pedal to the floor and cranking for about 20 seconds.  The
> van ran only about 400 rpm and had very little power.  I checked the usual
> easy fixes.  The spark plugs were old and I replaced them, the distributor
> cap, and the rotor.  I was able to restart the van but now the idle is
>  about
> 3500 rpm.
>
> I checked:
>
>    the temp II sensor, the resistance measurements  were at the
> specifications at the temperature ranges specified in the Bentley  manual.
>  I checked
> the temperature of the sensor with my nifty new VOM that  has a temperature
> probe so I was sure of the temperature at which the  measurements were
> taken,
>
>    the idle stabilizer control valve. I cleaned the  valve and get the
> appropriate humming and opening and closing of the  valve,
>
>    the fuel pressure (the pressure at was about 32  psi),
>
>    I disconnected the oxygen sensor in order to reset  the ECU to the
> default mode,
>
>    I cleaned and tightened the grounds in the engine  compartment, at the
> transmission and frame ground attachment,
>
>    I set the timing with a timing light per Bentley  with the temp II
> sensor disconnected and the idle stabilizer control valve  disconnected,
>
>    I used some metaphorical language,
>
>    I checked the vacuum and it was about 22 on the  vac. gauge at the 3000
> rpm level,
>
>    I cleaned the connections on the idle stabilizer  control unit as well
> as soldering a joint that had a small crack in the where  one if the pins
> from the plug attaches to the board,
>
>    I used a little more metaphorical language.
>
> The van still idles around 3500 rpm.  Any suggestions would be
>  appreciated.
>
>
> Rico Dagastino
> Memphis, TN
>