TheSamba.com :: View topic - Newest Chinese 34PICT-3 carb questions.

Sun Jun 22, 2025 8:25 pm

There are TWO check balls. The second one is between the pump and the pump nozzle. Is that there and free?

Sun Jun 22, 2025 8:39 pm

With the engine off its pulling enough vacuum to pull fuel past the second seated check ball???? that' s interesting. OK so problem solved :roll:

Sun Jun 22, 2025 8:53 pm

DesertSasquatchXploration wrote: :roll: Your something thats for sure LOL at rest the check ball is open to the fuel bowl once you jab the throttle the ball moves UP to force fuel thru the pump jet circuit and not back into the bowl. very simple only 100YR old design.
The accelerator pump circuit has two check balls. One is in the side of the float bowl and allows flow into the pump but prevents flow back into the float bowl, while the second is located not far under the nozzle.

Tue Jun 24, 2025 6:24 am

Sorry to be a nag but.
You bought this Chinese carb because “Tim was 6 weeks out”. It is now over 6 weeks out. Why keep banging your head? Order the stock Solex from Tim and get out on the road.

Tue Jun 24, 2025 7:19 pm

Hindsight is 20/20. I rebuilt the original German carb but couldn't get it to idle properly so I bought the J-bugs carb as stop gap. But, getting the fuel pressure regulator out of England took 10 days, then immediately after that I had out of town family obligations for 2 weeks. Then there was the back and forth with J-bugs time. So yes, in hindsight just sending the original carb back to Tim would have been time ahead.

Still though, it's pretty clear the fuel pressure "issue" was a red herring. The final test where I clamped the carb level and filled the float with gas with the top removed and watched it drain out through the throttle shaft over an hour period proved that point. No pressure in that scenario except the weight of the fuel itself.

2 things have developed since I responded to all of you. The first was that I was able to get the original German carb I'd previously rebuilt to work. The tiny holes in the lower part of the throttle throat were all completed clogged and I missed that first time around. I was able to unclog them, and voila it could be adjusted to idle. It's still an old carb and leaks slightly around the x-shaft a little bit, but I it's drive-able at least and will do until I get the other spare I found back from Volksbitz.

The other thing was J-bugs gave me a full refund, and didn't even want the carb back. I appreciate that. The time I spent chasing down this problem plus buying a completely unnecessary fuel pressure regulator exceeded the value of their carb at least 5 times over, so who knows, maybe they felt guilty. Whatever the reason they gave a refund, so big thumbs up there.

Either way, I really appreciate those who offered tips and advice, and especially appreciate those diagrams at the end of the thread. Thank you!

Gary

Tue Jun 24, 2025 8:37 pm

GGable wrote: ... and especially appreciate those diagrams ...

This publication from thesamba.com archives has very nice diagrams, and of the carb model you actually have, too:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/solex_30_34_german.php

Tue Jun 24, 2025 9:20 pm

Isn't this the second post I've seen in the past year (or so) about a new aftermarket carb had some type of float bowl leak into the internal plumbing?

Wed Jun 25, 2025 3:07 am

I just spent a half a day trying to get a new Chinese carb to work right on my Buddy's Buggy. It came on the car and has no name brand what-so-ever anywhere. Looks exactly like a PICT-3. It has a flat spot when you nail it hard at any RPM and any gear. Feels like an accelerator pump problem. Looking down the carb bore I see it squirting fuel but moving the adjustment to both extremes changes nothing.

It's got one of those cheap Chinese no name distributors too. The one with the white cap, vacuum pot and electronic module on the outside... Timed at 12* at idle and 31* total right now. Not sure I have any faith in it either.