TheSamba.com :: View topic - Car running like sh*t... :-) Help! (SOLVED)

Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:37 am

Hi All

I have a 67 Beetle with a 1500cc (actually now 1600), 30 PICT 1 carb, and bosch 009 mechanical advance distributor, carb has electric choke.

My car was running fine when i put away for the winter in October.

I took out a few weeks ago during a break in the snow when the roads were dry to blow it out a bit, and the thing wanted to stall almost the entire time.

I brought it home, let the car get cold overnight. Adjusted choke in the am, no difference.

Choke appears to be operating properly. Idle cut off valve also tested good.

I decided might be time for a carb rebuild as the car also had a bad stumble off-idle, so I rebuilt the carb this week, but all back together.

Put the carb back on the car, checked the points, they looked shot, so replaced those and gapped to .016.

Started the car up, set the mixture. Still runs like crap. Just about like it did before. Runs well at higher RPM (if I can get it there without stalling, soon as it gets near idle, it will either die out on it's own, or if I blip the throttle, stumbles and dies.

I"ve also replaced cap/rotor, plugs, etc...heat risers appear to be clear and working. I'm getting at my wits end with it...I'm not really sure where to go from here.

I've read other posts and I think I've tried about all the suggestions I've seen.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Daryle

Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:50 am

How's your fuel filter? How old is your gas? This ethanol shit is one of the worst things the past administration could have done to us. It lasts about a month. If you can, add some gas toimprove what's in there. Put some stabilizer in after the new gas
Just a thought,
Dave

Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:54 am

Thanks Dave.

Fuel filter is new. Fuel was put in when I put it away in october, and I had put fuel stabilizer in it. Perhaps it didn't help?

If the valves were out of adjustment, could it cause these symptoms? It's the only other thing I could think of...

Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:15 am

no expert here... but have you checked to besure there's play in the dist advance? If it runs well at high RPMs maybe the advance is stuck all the way forward? BTW very nice looking bug.

Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:31 am

Thanks Steve-

I had not checked the timing yet, but it's worth a shot.... will try that this afternoon...

Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:50 am

It's acting like it could be a vacuum leak at the carburetor. Check all the hoses for leakage and around the throttle valve shaft. Did you remove the butterfly and shaft and rebuild the shaft seats/bushing?

Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:10 pm

Hi OldVolks..

I did not rebuild the shafts. I didn't even know you could!? Where do you get the seals for that, and how can I check for a vacuum leak at the throttle shaft?

I have no vacuum lines currently attached to the carb. The vacuum port is plugged tightly..

Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:24 pm

Personally before I would go any further I would verify the timing and check the valve adjustment

Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:44 pm

Sounds like the carb, try the 10 sec. tune up. Rev it to 3500 RPM and then cover the carb barrel with your hand. Hopefully you will suck out what ails your carb.

Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:54 pm

Thanks all...I think timing is next (need to borrow a light), and then check the valves. I haven't adjusted them yet since I got the car last May, so perhaps (fingers crossed)...

Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:55 pm

Could be trash or critters in the carb. Try what Larry said or take the top off the carb and blow the jets out with compressed air. Good luck.

Clyde

Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:02 pm

HI All-

So took some advice, and sent my carb out to have it re-bushed as I found some major play in the throttle shaft. Also had them rebuild it again.

Got the carb back today, bolted on and fired it up. She ran great, at first, although a little rough. I took it for a rip, seemed ok, but was shooting out a little dark exhaust so I figured it was running rich. Brought it home and tried adjusting the carb. The car was finally idling, and running ok, but once I messed with the adjustment, it slowly started running like absolute crap again. And when I say crap, I mean it now won't even stay running at all, and when I can get it to run, it runs like it's running on 2 cylinders.

Now, let me add that while the carb was out being worked on, I went through the valve adjustment procedure, and found a couple of the valve requiring adjustment, but nothing major. I just hope I didn't mess anything up there.

Also, I put new Pertronix coil in, Pertronix Ignitor module, new cap, rotor, plugs, wires.

Additionally, the car had been sitting since fall, so thinking bad gas,I put some fresh fuel in the car along with the old.

I can't really check timing since now I can't keep it running for long without it sputtering, etc....Maybe I am adjusting the carb the wrong way? I thought turning the screw in was lean, and out was richening, but the thing seemed to run better with the screw all the way in.

I'm really at a loss. Any ideas on where to begin? I'm totally frustrated at this point...

Oh, and the carb is a 30-pict 1, and car has a mechanical advance, 009 distributor.

Thanks again for all your help..

Daryle

Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:27 pm

Did you check with who rebuilt it?Maybe they have an idea!

Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:30 pm

I did send an email, so we'll see what they say. I was just out there again. Turned the key, started up and ran at idle....let run at idle for a couple, then started running like garbage again, and it stalled and died. Now won't restart again. Bizarre.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:34 pm

Fuel separation ??

Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:27 am

Possible. I think today I will go get a fresh can of gas, a length of fuel line, and a filter. Run the fuel line directly from the gas can to the pump (with filter on it of course) and see how that works....

I am more frustrated than anything else with it. If it's the gas, I have no idea what the heck I would even drain the old fuel into since it has like 3/4 tank in it, and then, what do you do with old fuel? Yikes!

Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:00 am

urbugginme wrote: Possible. I think today I will go get a fresh can of gas, a length of fuel line, and a filter. Run the fuel line directly from the gas can to the pump (with filter on it of course) and see how that works....

I am more frustrated than anything else with it. If it's the gas, I have no idea what the heck I would even drain the old fuel into since it has like 3/4 tank in it, and then, what do you do with old fuel? Yikes!

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=358272&highlight=gas

Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:17 pm

I have a Ruby Red 67 vert that I'm in the final stages of restoration. Last fall when I put the car away I started having the exact same problems you are describing. I have done all the things you've attempted except the vacuum leak check. Sometimes when it's running lousy or not at all I'll do something like set the point gap and it will staart right up but then after 5 minutes quit running. One suggestion I haven't tried is replace the coil as it could be weak and breaking down after running awhile. My car if its running rough and I keep crowding it, will sometimes backfire and blow the exhaust tubes right out of the muffler. I'll be sure to send you a message if I find the solution, please do the same.

Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:22 pm

Well, after jerking around with the car all day, it all came down to this. A bad coil wire.

The new wires I bought came with a coil wire that needed to be cut to fit. After pulling the plugs today to clean the soot off them, I realized that one of them appeared to be firing quite well, while the others looked completely black, which got me thinking it was a spark issue.

So, on a hunch, and remembering that when I made that coil wire I was unsure of the crimp I made, I pulled the old coil wire out of my smelly trash bin, and put it back on the car.

She fired right up.

So, I took some of the leftover wire from the first attempt, and made a new one and this time it took.

Runs well now. I adjusted the carb, took it for a rip and she sounds and runs awesome. No more hesitation off-idle (which I believe the new throttle shaft seals may have solved).

I do have one question though. I adjusted the timing because it seemed way out...

Right now though it's set at 34 degrees at 3500 rpm, which seems outside the range of what I've read is normal for an 009 mechanical distributor. I tried it between 28-32 and it seemed to have a stumble. Is this too much advance? I mean, even ad idle I've read the timing should be between 5-8 degrees, and mine ended up at almost 15 degrees? Does that seem right?

Sun Oct 10, 2010 9:39 am

Hello,I have had the same experience with the hesitation on take off.I found that the 009 dizzy does not work at its best with the 30 and 34 pict carbs.They will run,but your best bet is to get a svda advance dizzy.The svda has the cervinticular(spelling is way off)advance and the single vaccume advance in one unit.Hope this helps. Brian.