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Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:11 pm

This seems kind of complicated in my head so bare with me as i try to explain this. Lately i've been having some engine issues, i mean my 74 used to stall once in a whike before but it was no biggy.

Lately though, it seems to stall everytime i take my foot off of the accelerator, although many times it will idle fine, then stall 5 seconds later. This stalling is accompanyed by a very rank smell in the cabin (with the heat on) so bad that i have to open the window. At times i'll pull to a stop and it'll go into this half idle/half stall for a couple seconds till it dies in a puff of stink. Also after downshifting the other day i heard a backfire which i never hear.

All this is in conjunction with poor accelleration and hesitation. but somtimes it's fine. Oh and really rough idle when it does idle. Oh and the faint smell of gasoline.

I've thought of a few possible causes.

Bad timing.
Plugged Heat riser.
Extremely low compression.
Bad valve clearences.
Horribly out of tune Carb.

or maybe the 31 year old engine is just dead...

Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:21 pm

Well have you checked any of that stuff on your list?

How about the electromagnectic fuel cutoff solenoid for starters?
Some pics and info in this post may help

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56411&highlight=cutoff+solenoid

as far as the stink, you probably have leaks at the heater boxes to the muffler/exhaust system or bad heater boxes... or both :wink:

Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:39 pm

Do the cheap stuff first:

1) Adjust the valves first
2) Compression test
3) Clean out the heat risers
4) Get the timing right
5) Then deal with the carb.

Not only what keith said, but just a bit of dirt in the passages can make them run really lousy.

To get to where you are going, you have to know where you are at first.

You can fix this.

Tue Nov 23, 2004 9:13 pm

how do i clean the heat risers?

Wed Nov 24, 2004 5:39 am

Get yourself 3 spray cans of gumout and some cable down at home depot that you can chuck in a drill.

Remove the intake manifold/heat risers.

Soak, drill, soak, drill. Having a bit (like a lot to blow the crap out) of compressed air doesn't hurt.

You want to be able to blow through them when you are finished.

A good way to test them is to start your car up and go back and feel both of them to see if they are indeed warming up the carb after about 5-10 minutes.

Wed Nov 24, 2004 7:34 am

ahh well, i looked, and here's 2 problems, the left heat riser not only looks like a dog chewed it up, but it stays 'cold'. The right heat riser on the other hand, although it gets hot, farther down the system near the muffler it's rusted through.

Wed Nov 24, 2004 7:40 am

Are you likely to be able to find one, a good one, in a junkyard over there someplace?

That is what you need.

Aren't you a basic 1600 with dual port heads? Should be plenty around, just not around New England.

Check out the samba classifieds.

Wed Nov 24, 2004 7:44 am

a muffler? yeah i supposed i could get one cheap, but the removal of that rust chunk from my engien scares me. I really don't want to start drilling bolts out of the head. And that doesn't explain why my heat riser looks like it was chewed up but the other one is fine.

Wed Nov 24, 2004 12:00 pm

What would make the engine put out a horribly bad smell?

Wed Nov 24, 2004 12:33 pm

If you heat risers are chewed up or rusted out, replace them with a good unit. I think it is one unit the intake manifold and heat riser. Most like that is a samba classified type purchase.

Invest in a good muffler and heater boxes if yours have outlived their useful life. I like the stock ones because they last, they are quiet, adn they actually fit.

Something like this:

http://www.busdepot.com/catalog.jsp?model=3&category=17

Sat Nov 27, 2004 11:37 pm

after a couple weeks of dealing with this it seems that it only really gets pissy after it warms up. why would this be?

Sun Nov 28, 2004 7:03 am

So what have you checked so far?

Mon Nov 29, 2004 2:46 pm

Well i fixed the timing which was rather retarded so i matched up the notches. But i have a question...

A is the current #1 and has the timing notch, but my book says B is #1. Que?

Tue Nov 30, 2004 5:18 am

also, what would make it slip out of timing eventually? I have no points, it's all electronic. Could my dizzy shaft be worn?