Engine Stalling At High Speeds

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Ok, I have a brand new turnkey 1600 in my 69 bus. It idles great and runs well around town. However, when I drive for any distance at highway speeds (55-60) it will start to stall. It almost sounds like it is running out of gas. Anyone have any ideas?

It has a new carb, new fuel pump, 009 dist. The bus ran fine with the old engine so I the problem has to be within the new turnkey itself. My guesses: bad fuel pump, kinked fuel line (don't see a kink), carb. problem, overheating(I hope not), or possibly an ign. prob. Keep in mind that everything is new so it could just be some kind of adjustment that I have not made. The timing, valve adj., points, etc. all seem fine. I adjusted the idle but have not adjusted anything else on the carb.

Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks John.

[bljones]

could be a bad coil- when it gets warm, and stays warm, the output can get a little unstable. or, it may be vapour lock- are any of the fuel lines routed close to the cylinders or header?

[[email protected]]

Hum, Vapor lock, I hadn't thought of that, I think the fuel line far enough away from everything that gets hot, but I'll look it over with that in mind. Thanks, John

[[email protected]]

Maybe I should say a little more about what is happening.

The bus drives fine in town, but on the highway it will start cutting out. To me it sounds like it is running out of gas, I can push in the clutch and usually keep it running by pumping the gas but it will start stalling again if I put the engine under any load(let the clutch out). If the eng. does stall it will start right back up and idle fine but will stall (and sometimes backfire) if I let the clutch back out to get the bus going again. However, if I let the eng. sit idling or turned off for a few min. it will drive fine for a little while and slow(20-30mph) speeds.

I'm kind of at a loss for ideas, Thanks, John

[brackish]

How's your fuel filter? The pump might not be able to pull enough fuel through it at higher speeds if it's getting loaded up.

[[email protected]]

The fuel filter and hoses are all brand new, I even tried another new fuel filter just to make sure.

Is there something in the carb. that could be malfunctioning or out of adjustment?

[[email protected]]

Was anything done to the carb? Is the float adjusted properly? Just a couple of things to check. You could also check the strainer where the fuel line exits the tank for blockage. Good luck. milo

[[email protected]]

How exactly does one go about adjusting the float? That could be the problem. Thanks, John

[jeremysmithatshawdotca]

I recently had a problem where the bus would hesitate during acceleration. It idled fine and everything, but it got progressively worse, until one day it got a lot worse all of a sudden. It was hard to get the bus moving, and keep it running under a load, but it would stll idle ok. Tuned it up, same thing, so I cleaned the carb, and it runs like a top again! $20 CDN for a carb kit, and about two hours start to finish. Do you have a Bentley manual, they do a pretty good job of describing how all the adjustments on the carb are done. I think you adjust the float by changing the thickness of the washer under the float valve. Thicker washer would lower the level, thinner washer would raise it. On a 69 the distance to the liquid from the top of the carb should be between 19.5 and 20.5 mm (got the bentley out now!). Jeremy

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I do have a bentley manual, hopefully I will have time to take another look at it in the next couple of days. I think I might replace the points and condenser just to rule them out, I have a friend that thinks they might be the problem. I really hate to take a brand new carb. apart, so I'm going to try and rule out a few other potential problems first.
Thanks for all the help, John.

[dvrdwn]

I had the same prob. I found out it was the strainer in the bottom of the gas tank; it was partialy cloged. I took the gas line off of the pump that comes from the tank and blew it out with air. and didn't have touble getting home . then I changed out the screen. When you blow it out take the gas cap off and pinch the hose when you take it off.

[crofty]

My '70 did that and it turned out to be the fuel pump. There are different rod lengths for the different pumps.
_________________
Your Vanagon sucks, Stop waving at me.

[mrcaddy]

Now, I have yet to get a VW nor have I been around one much....hope to change that situation VERY soon! I had a 1961 Oldsmobile that acted up somewhat like this. It turned out to be the glass filter bowl was not sealing properly; sucking a lot of air at high speeds. Not sure if VWs have this type of filter, but possibly......?

[Amskeptic]

If this is a recent engine installation, you might want to double check for any kinks in the fuel line that may have occurred during installation.
Colin