hi, update:
i checked out the speed snsor , cleaned out tall the oil- i thik it just slowly built up through a tiny hole in the machanism which seems to allow a bit of oil to keep the cable lubed. no difference in the problem.
stare dat the internet and manual for a few hours and sudennly realised the temp sensor id replace was the single wire dash temp sensor.

now evryone says theres twos wires on the pcm temp sensor. but i presumed that mine was different as i couldnt find any other sensor in that vicinity.. however tucked right behind the ac bracket and compononents buried in corroded crap tada! there it was! i feel like a right muppet.

i unplugged it and the engine idled with a slight surging but didnt cut out. put it back on and it did cut out. so now im gonna replace that and maybe leave the ac off as it doesent work..
(ive posted in another thread about rerouting the belt.)

so i hope to god this is gonna fix it. SORRY all. but i did learn a few things along the way ...as usual.

ill post back with the result .

 

Glad you found your issue.


Jason

 

So how is your van running now, I assume it is good with no further responses, strange how one little thing can cause such a problem

 

hi, the van seems all good. it seems the temp sensor did the trick. i cant beleive i hadnt realised there was another one hidden inches from the dash guage sensor!

also feels better now with new plugs, injectors etc.

starts up great from cold or hot.

it feels like sometimes though its not dropping to 1st gear on a hill or at lights when it could do with it. Another day ill look into that... need to add a dash tach.