TheSamba.com :: View topic - I need some help!!! I am a new 74 standard owner!

Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:08 am

Hi everybody! I just stepped in a different world of beetles. im new so i need a couple of tips. I want my 74 beetle to be a daily driver. it's stock. so far so good. i only got a few problems....

one, yesterday i started my beetle and smoke came out of the back. i come to find out that the yellow wire from the choke on the right side of the carb (i was told it was the automatic choke) came off. now the car doesnt even have electricty running. did my coil get messed up? the wire was hot to the touch at first. the wire runs from the coil (left side of engine), then it connects to the bottom left side of the carb, then it has another one connecting to the automatic choke (left side of the carb, on the upper side next to the air filter). now no power. no lights. nothing.

second. my car dies out if im braking all the time. by the time i reach the stoplight, it just dies out. i have rebuilt the carb, it runs good for half of the day and then it starts dying out like i have to give it spurts of gas to keep it running! i dont know what to do.

Thanks guys!

[img]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30818198&l=9612f86674&id=1544518254[/img]

Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:13 am

the wire is coming from the coil to the solenoid to the choke. that's the one that smoked up.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:11 pm

There's your picture for you. Next time right-click the picture and hit view image, then it will take you to a url ending with jpg. Post that one. Sorry about your problem though, I dont know jack about engines. Good luck!

Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:30 pm

I just wanted to tell you bro that the car is a '73....

Front bumpers are small and dont have the shocks absorbers

Seats have the wide headrest of 73 only!!

Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:01 pm

Are you sure? Thanks man.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:04 pm

If the car keeps dying it could be one of the following...
clogged fuel filter
fuel cutoff solenoid isn't working properly
idle needle isn't adjusted properly

or it could be something else. those are just the more common problems.

-MT

Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:40 am

74Standard,

Welcome to the world of aircooled VWs - careful - they can be addictive :-)

1. Check the fuses.

The auto choke and the idle cut-off solenoid on the carb are connected to the + side of the coil so they both only get power when the ignition is turned on. If you have fried a wire there then you have to trace it back and see where the fault is. The ignition wire from the harness to the coil is is black, so you can find where it comes out of the harness in the luggage area and track it back to the fuse block etc - looking for any fried area.

Your coil is probably OK, but you can test it easy enough with a multimeter. Remove all wires from the + side of the coil and then measure between the + and - terminals for resistance. You should get a reading of about 4 ohms. If it's open circuit (no reading), or a very high resistance, then yes - it's fried.

2. The car is a 73, but was probably first registered in 74 so the licensing folks see it as a 74. You can confirm the model by looking at the chassis number under the back seat - it will read 113,xxxx,xxx The third digit is the model year. VW used weird dates for the model year - matching the German summer holidays, so the 73 model year runs from 1 Aug 72 to 31 July 73...so it's easy to get the model year with the first-registered year mixed up.

3. Engine dying. It's usually fuel related, or tuning. If the car runs well first thing in the morning (when the choke is on) but worse when it's warmed up (choke off) then check the idle jet. This looks like a brass bolt head in the right side of the carb, probably pointing out at an angle, and closer to the rear of the car. It should have 55 stamped on it. The other similar "bolt head" is the power jet, pointing straight out to the right, and it should have 65 stamped on it. Try swapping these jets and see if the car runs ok when warm. The different sizes don't matter for this test. If it does run better then the idle jet is blocked. An OVERNIGHT soak in a bath of carb cleaner, then blasting out the tiny passages with compressed air or with WD40 using the little straw should clear the passages and fix that problem.

4. Do you have a vacuum distributor (rubber/metal pipe running up to the left side of the carb from a canister on the side of the distributor) or a centrifugal distributor (no canister on the side of the distributor body)? The carb tuning depends a lot on which distributor you have. The non-vacuum distributors (usually the ubiquitous "009") require the carb to be set to run rich and the timing must be set just right, or the engine wont run right (the VW engine runs best with a vacuum distributor).

Your engine MIGHT have the double vacuum distributor (two lines running to different parts of the carb). If so, the line on the REAR (rear is rear of car) of the distributor canister goes to the left side of the carb, and the line at the front side of the canister goes to the rear/low port on the carb. These distributors were 71-73 only and they MUST be tuned to 5ADTC (that's AFTER TDC - an emissions thing) with a timing light and the engine idling with all vacuum lines in place.

You can find a lot of useful "how to" articles on my web site at
www.vw-resource.com

Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:12 am

Aussiebug, I can't thank you enough for your suggestions. I will try these today and let you know if it works out. I was about to give up on the beetle but i love it so much. Once again, thanks man. Ill keep you updated! I really really really needed this. Ill post a picture of my engine setup.

Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:40 pm

I had a bug that would run for crap cold.. die all the time.
It was the idle jet.. would have to open it a bit every day to start it .. then snug it back... never could find the problem.

I had a bug that would die on me occasionally. Turns out.. the crappy wire on the condenser was touching something.. rubbed through in a matter of a week or 2. When it would touch something... it would arc and kill the engine.. when it was floating free.. it would be fine. Finally figured it out after already calling my insurance for a tow once. Got it figured just as the tow truck was rolling off the ramp towards me.. I zoomed off.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:57 am

My fuse box isn't getting any power. We cant find a hot wire. no constant. is it my voltage regulator?

Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:07 am

The most likely reason that wire fried is that the end of the choke wire was touching ground, either on or near the carb when you turned the ignition switch on. If it was connected when it burnt, check to see that the connector on the choke isn't bent, allowing it to touch metal (ground). If it was OFF when it burnt, the end came in solid contact with engine metal (ground).
After the damage, you can tell if you still have 12v at the coil by disconnecting the choke and solenoid wires; then, key on (not running), touching the wire to the carb solenoid only. The solenoid should click each time you touch it.
This will save you chasing ghosts up at the fuse panel... for this one anyway.
If I am understanding your explanation correctly, this should not mess up the coil, since it just shares a common connector for ignition +12v.

Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:50 am

thanks lytnbug!

I tried doing the touching the solenoid, no clicking at all. I think the wire mightve touched the alternator when it happened. Im not sure. I disconnected the choke and the solenoid but keeping the wire connected to the coil, with the ignition on the on position. No clicking at all.

Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:59 am

Also the fuse box had a 25 fuse on the number 7 slot. i checked the Haynes book and it said unassigned. The fuse was blown on the slot. What fuse is this for?

Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:01 am

74standardbeetlemaniac wrote: thanks lytnbug!

I tried doing the touching the solenoid, no clicking at all. I think the wire mightve touched the alternator when it happened. Im not sure. I disconnected the choke and the solenoid but keeping the wire connected to the coil, with the ignition on the on position. No clicking at all. Ok. Are there any other wires coming off the coil that look overheated? Specifically, the wire from the ignition switch. Assuming you did that right and you do not have 12volts at the coil with the key on... The wire feeding the 12v comes directly from the ignition switch (no fuses). And the ignition switch gets its power from the hot (non-fused) side of the fuse block. It has all the appearances of a wire burnt in half somewhere along the way.

Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:07 am

74standardbeetlemaniac wrote: Also the fuse box had a 25 fuse on the number 7 slot. i checked the Haynes book and it said unassigned. The fuse was blown on the slot. What fuse is this for? Yup, it is unassigned. Hopefully a PO rewired a fuse in where there is not normally one. Sure, try replacing that one and see if you have juice again.

Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:46 pm

I finally got the car running. Thanks for all of your help! the fuse that was unassigned actually had something to do with the problem. I placed a new fuse in there and the car started! I love the Samba and everybody else in it.
I just gotta worry about my dying out problem which Rob gave me a few tips on. thanks!!!

Tue Mar 23, 2010 7:15 pm

is the idle jet the one with the rubber on the end of it? how do i take it off?