Stalling issue when going downhill

[SomeThing]

I am the proud new owner of a 1973 Thing. It's my first old car, first VW. It's a lot of fun to drive except for one annoying "quirk". Sometimes it stalls when idling. This usually (but not always) happens when I'm coming to a stop downhill, and usually (but not always) within the first couple of minutes of driving. It does not stall when I am in gear, only when the clutch is engaged. I do let the engine warm up a bit before starting to drive, but that doesn't help.

It has no problem re-starting with a bit of gas, and then I'm on my way. Starting up the engine cold does take some effort and needs several pumps of the gas pedal. Not sure if the two are related but thought I'd mention it just in case.

Any suggestions on the stalling issue would be greatly appreciated. I am a complete novice so please explain in simple terms. :-)

Thanks!

[crofty]

I'd check your idle speed and mixture.
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Your Vanagon sucks, Stop waving at me.

[Van-go108]

When I got my Thing it ran very rough. On two cylinders. I had to go through everything and work the problems out. When it came down to it, the carb was the last problem. When the carb was off (which is VERY easy) and I had it in my hand I found the gas didn't even spray into the intake. It dumped gas like a waterfall. I was surprised the car even ran. After a friend rebuilt the carb for me, we adjusted the AF mixture. She purrs now but it was everything including the spark plugs and wires, etc.

G'luck

EDIT: Change your fuel filters and gas lines. There may also be a filter up under the gas tank too.
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"Okay, so there's 6 beers and 5 of us. You know what this means don't you? 4 of you are going to have to leave."


1973 Thing
1957 Continental Mark II Click to view image

[doublecanister]

hey Rappley,

That problem sounds familiar to my 73 when I got it.
And Van-go108 is probably right on the money with it being a carb issue
or fuel delivery . filter, etc.

On mine, not sure the correct term of the part on the carb but on the driver side of my carb, theres a solonoid with 1 wire (anti-dieseling solonid?) anyways, mine was very dirty and was sticking, mine wouldn't idle very well, heck when I got the car it was actually running on stale gas the smell was horrible.

I removed and cleaned this part, and on a friends suggestion purchaced a gallon can of SEA-Foam fuel injector/carb cleaner. It took about 5 cans/tanks of gas to get the idle to smooth out but it did work.

Seafoam seems to be a decent product. I run 93oct and either a can of seafoam every few tanks, or with every tank I put some lucas-oil upper cyl lube/cleaner. So far so good.

bought a handfull of fuel line filters as well, been thru 2 so far, my THING must have been sitting a bit prior to me getting it.

Well Good luck with your THING.

T
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2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8

[SomeThing]

Thanks for these suggestions, everyone. Sadly, it will probably be a couple of weeks before I have time to do anything, but I will try them out and let you know what works.

[64 sleeper]

Having this problem on my 64 Bug, I'll check the carb out, see if I can find this solenoid mabobber.
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64 Green Sedan, 1915cc

[ericbaisch]

I had a similar sounding problem with mine. There is a small orifice that the idle fuel passes thru on the right side of the stock carb. You can unscrew and clean it very easily. That fixed my problem.
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74 Thing
06 Golf TDI
88 16V Scirocco, sold
82 Diesel Rabbit, sold

[doublecanister]

[rrankin]

A quick simple thing is to set the choke... and make sure it's not sticking.

I find when the temps change enough I have to adjust mine for easier starting and idling.

Sticking... lately mine has been sticking open. If I jiggle the nut a second it works much better.
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'74 Thing [Fritz]
Austin, TX

[Wildthings]

Stalling while and just after breaking is probably a mixture problem, it is also likely exaggerated by the float level being off a bit. If your heat riser doesn't work well then the problem could also be related to a cold intake manifold. You really need to get all the systems working well to expect a carb to run smoothly.

Fuel pressure/delivery
Choke
Idle fuel cut off valve
Intake air preheat
Heat riser
Idle mixture
Throttle shaft bushings
General cleanliness

Buying a new Solex 30/31 and getting it tuned well will eliminate a lot of "old carb" type problems.