This is my 1st post on the forum. I've read many posts regarding issues I've also experienced with my van & have learned soo much from here. It's amazing how helpful people are!
I have a bit of mechanical aptitude and enjoy learning whilst I tinker but I'm stumped on this one so I thought I'd try my luck on the forums.
I bought a 1986 converted caravelle with a 1.9 wbx back in June called Betty Blue. Not a fan of the name but superstitious about changing it! I've always loved the 'brick' and wanted one for years so was well chuffed to have finally got one in good nick that didn't need much attention bodywork wise.
After many trips & festivals over the summer with few minor running problems she has now decided to give up
It all started coming back from Wales in the rain on our first trip! I'd done 50 miles on country roads when she started to run rough at idle with revs fluctuating (not excessively) & would cut out approaching junction etc. Pressing the accelerator would also give a massive loss of power for a couple of seconds. I pulled over, made a cup of tea and pondered what I'd bought
I let the engine go cold and started her up again and she ran fine for the next 80 miles home. On other trips she would run fine for hundreds of miles with no problems at all so I thought it may have been a one off. I thought I'd tidy up the engine a bit and put a new set of plugs & leads and also changed the ignition coil. The dizzy cap and rotor arm were 6 months old when I bought the van. This gave an improvement but highlighted some potential problems with the carb. On start up she was fine for say 20 miles or 20 minutes (Yes - I drive 60 mph everywhwere!) but more often than not she was now Idling rough, kangarooing, power loss on acceleration & general misbehavior once she was up to temperature. On the way back from skegvegas (pouring rain again) she was almost impossible to drive. I had to dip the clutch and keep my foot on the accelerator to keep her alive (a right ball-ache in traffic). It was so bad that I wanted to find someone to have a look at it before I got on the motorway home. Luckily I wasn't too far from campershack in Grantham so contacted Andrew & he checked the timing, gave the carb & jets a quick blast with air gun & cleaner and fiddled with the ignition coil. This seemed to fix the problem & he suggested an air leak could be the cause with advice to rebuild the carb. The van ran okay for a few weeks after Andrew had had a look at it but in the last couple of weeks the problems came back with vengeance! She was erratically idling, stalling at every junction and finally would not idle at all. She would fire up and stay running with my foot halfway to the floor but as soon as I released the gas peddle she cut out. The breakdown man plugged one of the vacuum hoses to the airbox and adjusted the idle speed to get me home and suggested I sort the carb out...I'm now sitting at home rebuilding the carb (pierburg 2e3). Its looking like new apart from I've noticed the choke pull down unit does not hold a vacuum. In fact sucking or blowing in it doesn't do anything.
So my questions are - Is that normal? Should the plastic spindle move when suction is applied? Would this alone cause the poor running?
While I have the carb off I want to make sure there is nothing else I can do that might solve these problems before I put it all back together. I have the carb rebuild kit from Brickwerks on order and have replaced the vac pipes. All the other carb functions seem to be okay e.g 2nd throttle diaphragm, cable linkage & springs, inlet filter & no blockages in jets.
Sorry to blab on for ages with such a simple question!
Hope someone can help.
Cheers
Adrian
. Van back to life! Runs like a dream now. A good clean of the carb, replaced choke pull down & vacuum pipes. Just need to get her on a gas analyser and set the timing correctly. That was a job well worth doing and not so difficult thanks to all the info on here. 
