My '85 had this problem... in my case, it was gunk inside the throttle body
preventing the throttle plate from closing far enough to engage the idle
switch.

It's fairly easy to pull the throttle body, and carb cleaner solved the
problem. Vacuum leaks and bad grounds can also cause idle strangeness.
Check all this out before springing for new parts, or doing the full-length
under-van crawl to replace the accelerator cable.

Tim

At 09:24 PM 12/30/2006 -0500, mordo wrote:
>I have a not-so-much-annoying-but still puzzling issue with my 90 Carat,
>2.1l wbx with AT:
>
>It generally idles a bit high - at about 1000rpm. I haven't gotten around to
>adjusting it down. But, when I put the trans in neutral or in park, the
>engine is turning at about1600-1700 rpm. If I tap the accelerator pedal, it
>will drop back down to its typical 1k rpm idle. When I come to a stop at a
>light or stop sign, the engine pushes hard against the brake and the idle
>holds at about 1100 rpm.
>
>The pedal requires above-average pressure to hold speed while highway
>cruising but does not otherwise seem unreasonably stiff for a linkage that
>runs such a long distance. I've never driven another Vanagon enough to know
>what normal feels like.
>
>Engine idles and runs well, good acceleration, easy cold start, easy hot
>start.
>
>So, do we think the problem lies with the mechanical linkage anywhere from
>pedal to throttle body or do we think vacuum-related or do we think
>something else entirely?
>
>--
>mordo
>1990 Carat