TheSamba.com :: View topic - My 73 squareback won't start! help please!

Tue Jul 08, 2014 3:28 pm

Ok I am no mechanic and cannot afford my mechanic at this time so i am hoping you brilliant dudes here can offer some things to check. car was running just fine, except suddenly one issue (which i don't think is at all related to the no start issue) and that is that my shifter became very hard to put into gear and the gears seems to grind every now and then.....a couple weeks before that started i noticed that my car was making a weird noise that i can only describe as one similar to an airplane (???) sort of a whindy weird noise. Then the other day I pulled into a parking lot and it died. no sputtering or jerking or anything it just died quietly and has not started since then! any ideas? i have charged the battery and that was not the issue. any help you can offer is appreciated thanks! :)

Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:33 pm

It's very difficult to help with a diagnosis with the limited info. What type of fuel delivery system do you have, Carb or EFI. Do you have an in-line fuel filter and if so when was the last time that was changed out. Does it have a mechanical or electric fuel pump, if electric the fuel pump could have went out. Have you looked at all the wires in the engine compartment, are there any loose or disconnected wires just hanging. Have you checked all the fuses, other than replacing the battery have you attempted anything else?

Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:53 pm

Good info on the shifting problem so I will go with that. Your clutch is messed up. Your going to have to have it replaced. Probably the throw-Out bearing or engine gland nut is bad. It could be your flywheel is coming loose. Is this car a Fuel Injection Model? It could be the starting problem is related if the flywheel coming loose and that has wrecked the distributor's normal operation of it's ignition trigger or whatever it has.

Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:05 am

I'll try a couple of SWAGs at it, since we have limited info.
For the shifting problem, check the gear oil level first. When these transmissions get low on oil, the get a little cranky about going into gear smoothly.

For the cause of it just quitting, it can be 1 of a couple of things. One thing I'd check first is, do you have fuel and spark to the engine (since you didn't mention whether it's carbed or has FI). If you have fuel, then check for spark. If no spark, then I'd swap out the condensor.

Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:22 am

Thanks so much for your brains guys! To answer your questions...YES it is FI and it has an electrical fuel pump....not too sure why but the PO set it up so that the fuel pump comes on when I flip a switch under my dash instead of it coming on when i turn the key. Also I did run totally out of gas which I know is very bad about 2 days prior to it dying on me. So I was thinking possibly something got clogged? I guess I will bite the bullet and have it towed to my mechanic today and hope for the best. Thanks again! Oh and I just remembered that a friend of mine replaced the points and we did NOT replace the condenser then so maybe that is it. Thanks.

Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:45 am

most of the items that have been brought forth are items you can check yourself. Fuel liter, fuel flow, fuel pressure, spark all things you should run through before dropping money ( you can save) by checking it yourself. Remember most of us here do not charge for the service ( we might show up looking for a beer some day) Give it a go before towing to the garage, worst case is you can narrow down the issues. Good luck