New to 1971 super beetle

[Mw548]

I just purchased a 1971 super beetle. Having issues getting it accelerating properly. Originally the motor was hard starting. After reading a few threads i went through replaced the rotor,cap, points,condenser, and coil. I also went through and set valve lash to .006. The car now starts very easily and idles properly I still have to set the choke properly and i used base settings for the carb until i pick up a tachometer to set the carb properly. The car seems like it needs accelerator pump adjustment but wondering if i should wait until i set the carb properly or do i bring it out to a base setting as well?

[Relyt]

You are going to have acceleration problems until you get your carb and choke properly tuned. I assume you have a 34 pict 3:
http://www.vw-resource.com/34pict3.html
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69 Beetle - Daily driver
1600 SP (unknown history)
30 PICT 1 w/power circuit (Volkzbitz)
205T (Bill)

[ashman40]

Need more info...

Carb make/model# (if it is a Solex, also find the # stamped into the base flange)

Distributor make/model#

Ignition timing. What were the conditions that you set the timing (idle or higher rpm) and where did you set the timing?

Describe the problem you are having with acceleration?

I don't normally make predictions, BUT .... possibly the most common problem related to acceleration for a 34Pcit-3 carb that idles nicely... it is because it is married to a mechanical-only "009 clone" distributor. This is a mismatch of the carb+distributor. The 34Pict carb is a lean running carb and it was designed to only work with a vacuum advance distributor (SVDA or DVDA). When they are matched with a cheaply made aftermarket mechanical-only distributor the engine experiences a noticeable hesitation just as the throttle is opened from idle. Often you will not be able to make adjustments to compensate.

So which carb+distributor combo are you using?
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AshMan40
---------------------------
'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[Mw548]

The problem comes when shifting gears lower rpms i set the static timing to 7.5 btdc I’m not real confident in the carb tuning i did tonight with the tachometer it seemed to not make much of a change after i tunes it. And as far as timing where should i be when running i have timing light and tachometer. I just really feel this problem is carb related

[Mw548]

I should add the choke is properly set and the carb set with tachometer back and forth from bypass screw to mixture screw a couple times moving the idle back and forth and it ran about the same as before not much change

[ashman40]

Can't completely see from your two pics but it appears you may have the vacuum hoses swapped!
The two ports on your distributor vacuum canister are vacuum advance (outward facing) and vacuum retard (closer to distributor body). Vacuum advance needs to be connected to a "ported vacuum" source. Vacuum retard is connected to an "intake vacuum" source.

The left side port on the carb is the vacuum advance port. On a 34Pict carb this is "ported vacuum". On earlier carbs it was "venturi vacuum". This is why knowing which carb you are running is important. I don't think you have identified your carb, have you? Look on the left side of the fuel bowl and you should see some identifying marks. Confirm the make/model#.

The rear facing vacuum port on your carb (where you have your hose connected) is "intake vacuum" and should be connected to the vacuum retard port on the distributor vacuum canister. It looks like you have this hose connected to the vacuum advance port on the distributor canister. This basically has your vacuum advance ON FULL all the time. Since your distributor timing is supposed to be set at idle with hoses connected this means your timing is likely off by about 20deg!!!


Test...

Disconnect both vacuum hoses from your distributor.
We will use your rear facing vacuum hose as a constant vacuum source. If you have a vacuum hand pump you could use this too.
Start the engine and with a strobe timing light, set your idle timing to around 7BTDC with the hoses disconnected from the distributor.
Using the rear facing vacuum hose from the carb, connect it to the outer port on the distributor canister. You should see the timing mark rotate CCW under the strobe light. This confirms the distributor is advancing when this port has vacuum.
Move the hose to the inner port closer to the distributor body. This should cause the timing marks on the crank to rotate CW under the strobe. This confirms the timing is being retarded when this port has vacuum. If this is the case, leave this hose connected here as this is the correct connection for vacuum retard.
Reconnect the other vacuum hose coming from the left side of the carb to the outer port on the distributor.

Now adjust your timing to 5ATDC (or TDC if you have an autostick distributor -- this is why we need to know your distributor model#) with both hoses connected @idle.

_________________
AshMan40
---------------------------
'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[andk5591]

While you are messing with the vacuum hoses - pull the one off from the carb that goes to the distributor port that is the closest to the body of the distributor. Suck on the hose and if it seems like you are just sucking on a straw and its not blocked, then that side if the advance can is bad. VERY common problem. And its not big deal, just block of the port on the carb that is SUPPOSED to go to that port (It's one of the ones on the rear of the carb.) and dont hook anything to that port on the distributor. Trust me on this. BUT the other vacuum connecton is very important and goes to the side of the carb as was mentioned previously.

If you have what I suspect, you actually had a pretty serious vacuum leak into the carb that would make it impossible to tune properly.
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D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1914.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[Mw548]

Okay so after checking some things i found out something going wrong with vacuum advance i tried hooking up hoses both ways and the vacuum advance didn’t seem to change I’m advancing the 30 degrees even at idle and when i rev it up nothing seems to change with the hoses hooked up. I unplugged the vacuum advance hoses and set the max advance to 30 degrees. That seems to of cured the throttle lag but now it’s harder to start.

[sb001]

[Evil Clown]

After the car is warmed up I think you need to
hold the peddle to the floor to start it correctly
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CARRY ON

[Mw548]

Yes i had all the ports capped on carb when i release the throttle it only changed a couple degrees maybe 26 or so i don’t have a degree wheel and just a cheap timing light so can’t be exact but I’m starting to get pretty frustrated with It i do have a tachometer and set the timing at 3,000 rpm to 30 degrees when i hook rear caving vacuum port to the carb either side and block off the other the timing doesn’t move either way which is weird wondering if the distributor should be replaced. Also when i static time it the timing light doesn’t click on in the exact same spot every time which i think is weird also.

[sb001]

[Mw548]

Here is the marks i have a tdc,7.5,10, and 32degree mark i measured the 32 degree mark it was at almost exactly 2” to the right of tdc when i set the timing at 3000 rpms i was just to the left of it and when i let off the gas it didn’t seem to back off very much. Even at idle it runs about the same spot

Now the distributor is in 180 off was that way when i got car but the rotor is pointing at no 1. When i set valve lash i double checked that when pointing at no 1 the valves weren’t on overlap and they were on base circle.

[sb001]

What is your RPM at idle?? If you are at the 32 mark at 3000 RPMs and its only backing off 4-5 degrees when you release the throttle you must be up around 2500 RPMs at idle! Is the engine screaming loud when the tach reads 3000 RPM? Is it still extremely loud revving when it drops back to idle??

Forget the tach for the moment. Just unplug both vacuum hoses going to the distributor so you are running mechanical advance only, cap the ports on the carburetor, switch the engine on and then open that throttle as wide as it will go, until the pulley absolutely will not spin around any more and the neighbors call the cops. Then check again at that point with your timing light and see where that 32 mark is- adjust it if necessary where that mark is line up with the case seam. If you then release the throttle and it drops back to idle please confirm that it drops back somewhere around 5-7 degrees BTDC.

If it does not, I wonder if you have a broken return spring in the distributor (I don't know if that would cause this problem or not.) If you pop the cap off the distributor and flip the rotor does it immediately snap back to the correct position? Is your distributor seated all the way down into the drive gear inside the engine case? (You can loosen the distributor clamp and wiggle the rotor a bit see if the distributor drops down any more.) I suppose you could also have a slipping crank pulley.... maybe...

That's all I've got. A video would help like crazy, I am not good at solving impossible problems
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I'm the humblest guy on this board.

1969 autostick sedan, family owned since new
1600 SP engine
Solex 30 PICT 3 carburetor
Bosch 113905205AE autostick distributor

[Q-Dog]

It is hard to tell because of the angle of your photo, so ...

I don't always trust the notches on the pulley because sometimes people add them in odd spots. Also, VW put them in different places for different years, so it is important you know for certain what those notches mean. On many pulleys with 3 notches, the leftmost notch on the top of the pulley is not zero. Also, VW didn't mark TDC on a lot of the pulleys, but when they did it was a dent on the rearmost lip of the pulley(closest to you when facing the engine), not a notch on the frontmost lip. Yes, there are exceptions, and with the ability to easily interchange parts, you need to verify.

_________________
Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[ashman40]

[Mw548]

Well i pulled out the distributor and cleaned it up a bit pulled all the plug wires and checked connections i put everything back together and it popped off perfectly. Set the max advance to 30 degrees and at idle it is dropping down to about the 7.5 mark not sure what i did but it seems to be running great now thanks for the help

[ashman40]

What about the vacuum advance/retard? Have you given up on them and planning to run the distributor as a mechanical-only distributor?

If you have get the vacuum advance working that would be best. I suspect your carb (34Pict?) would operate best with a vacuum+mechanical advance distributor.
_________________
AshMan40
---------------------------
'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[Mw548]

The vacuum advance is hooked up and working properly not sure what i did but it’s now advancing and retarding properly.

[Cusser]

Good.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297