The van hesitates at half throttle. This only happens when it is fully warmed up, worse on warm days. It clears up if you floor it, and also if you back off the throttle.
The first place to start troubleshooting is with th regular wear items that, after investigation, I am sure are original. I replaced the plugs, wires, distributor cap, and distributor rotor.
I must say this job was a bit of a bear. It was time consuming but more importantly it was physically demanding.
Six of the eight plugs were no big deal. The 7th was tough. The 8th was a nightmare. That plug is not visible from any direction. You have do loosen it by feel alone, reaching through the small opening between the floorpan and engine.
There are no real tricks. its just difficult. The best way to get the plug out is from the hood side, reaching behind and under the alternator to reach the plug. Its a bear and you will be up to your shoulder. Additionally you will have to remove any extra layers so you are in a t shirt, which was annoying for me in the middle of the winter.
See the whole story below.
While I am sure it was good to replace all these parts, it didn;t fix the hesitation. Sadly I think I will still need to replace the ignition control unit. Thankfully it is a quick replacement as it is in the engine compartment, left side, near the battery. Pictures
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| engine is accessed from inside the van | | | excellent design on the clips | | | | wow, so you really are nearly sitting on top of the engine | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | looks like #1, 2, and 5 are a little lean | | | | | | | thankfully old wires were labeled so I reverse engineered these diagrams | | | new cap, rotor, and wires | | | | | | | | | closer inspection shows contact is really corroded | | | | | distributor rotor shown in center of photo | | | old rotor on top is also very scored | | |