TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:54 pm

sputters and dies soon after.

my friend and i pulled the engine because i was having problems with my starter and flywheel, but we got that sorted out. but now, when i start it, it just sputters and dies pretty quick. i can hear it popping/backfiring in the carbs.

i'm thinking it's either something we changed, or didn't hook something up right? all we changed was the starter, flywheel, clutch disc, spark plugs, oil, oil filter, and installed the vent kit from lowbugget.com. i believe we hooked everything back up correctly.

what would cause this? what are things i should check? thanks.

Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:48 am

Got all the spark plug wires on the right cylinders?

Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:40 am

Chewbacca wrote: Got all the spark plug wires on the right cylinders? they're hooked up the same as the were before.

Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:27 pm

anyone else have any other suggestions?

Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:37 pm

What does the Vent Kit do? If your plugs are correct it sounds like a lean condition. Does the bug idle and then when you gas it dies? Or does it just start and then die?

Mon Jul 18, 2005 6:40 pm

Check to make sure you didnt loose any vacuum caps off the carb...

Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:47 pm

Remove the Vent Kit.

Check your wires, check your wires, check your wires.

Spark fire order is 1-4-3-2.

Verify the coil is connected correctly.

Did you mess with the distributer timing?

Check your wires, check your wires, check your wires.

_=VWBaja70=_

Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:31 pm

ok, so yeah. we're idiots. i didn't think we disconnected the spark plug wires, but my friend said he remembers 2 of them being disconnected. so we switched those 2 and it started right up.

there is another problem now. it smokes (brownish smoke) out the tail pipe when i rev it, or get on it under load.

also, when i let the clutch out in neutral, i can hear a kind of grinding, like the clutch is rubbing on something just enough to make a sound.

any ideas?

Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:03 pm

This is why I chose to pull my engines solo :D
For the smoke, you may just need to adjust the mixture.
If it didn't grind before then it sounds like you did something a little bit wrong when putting that engine back in.

Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:20 pm

prettypinkbaja wrote: This is why I chose to pull my engines solo :D
For the smoke, you may just need to adjust the mixture.
If it didn't grind before then it sounds like you did something a little bit wrong when putting that engine back in.
yeah, i adjusted the mixture a little, and the smoke has pretty much gone away, but it's still there occasionally.

and i can't think of what we did wrong to make the clutch grind on anything. it drives fine, just when i let out the clutch pedal in neutral, i can barely hear a kind of grind or rubbing.

Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:39 pm

Did you torque the gland nut mad-ass tight?
Is it stock, or an 8-dowel?
It needs to be torqued to 253 lb/ft or it will chatter and come loose, destroying your crank (and flywheel).
Did you make sure the throwout bearing retaining clips were both in place?

Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:49 pm

stock 4-dowel.

we torqued it down pretty good. we didn't have a torque wrench that went up that high, so we just did it as much as we could.

and we did not check the throwout bearing retaining clips. but we didn't really touch anything up there, so we didn't think to check them.

Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:29 pm

It is always a good idea to replace the throwout bearing when replacing a clutch. Everytime I don't I soon wish I did as it is the first part to wear out.

Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:39 pm

One good, albeit odd, way to get high torque numbers is to put a pipe over a breaker bar, mark it 2 feet from the point of rotation, get out the old bathroom scale, stand on it, and tighten the bolt until 1/2 of the needed torque has been lifted from the scale.
Example:
Say you need 250 lb/ft of torque and you weigh 170.
Press down on the pipe untill the scale reads 45 (170-125=45)

Just make sure when the final torque is reached, the bar is about horizontal, so the readings are accurate.

If you weigh less than half the needed torque, or you're too wimpy to lift your own body weight (lightweight), go out 3 feet and use 84 lbs instead of 125.

Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:49 pm

-Frosty- wrote: One good, albeit odd, way to get high torque numbers is to put a pipe over a breaker bar, mark it 2 feet from the point of rotation, get out the old bathroom scale, stand on it, and tighten the bolt until 1/2 of the needed torque has been lifted from the scale.
Example:
Say you need 250 lb/ft of torque and you weigh 170.
Press down on the pipe untill the scale reads 45 (170-125=45)

Just make sure when the final torque is reached, the bar is about horizontal, so the readings are accurate.

If you weigh less than twice the needed torque, or you're too wimpy to lift your own body weight (lightweight), go out 3 feet and use 84 lbs instead of 125. very interesting.

we had a bar that was about 4 feet long and i tightened it until most of my weight was on the bar, and it didn't move anymore. i weigh about 165.