Terrible Fuel Mileage

[Morrob95]

Hey guys, I started dailly driving my project super beetle. Its a 1972. Its got a dual port 1600 with a brand new 30 pict 1. Car starts up great and runs pretty good, I did the timing and valves and it has brand new plugs, wires, points and cap.

The auto choke doesnt seem to function correctly, I think I need to rewire it. Would that be causing the car to get poor mileage? By poor, I mean my work is 27 Miles away. I filed up right near the house, drove it to work and drove it back and it used almost 6 gallons of gas which would mean almost 10mpg... Anything to check? It does seem to fall on its face quite a bit when you're going 55+ and have any small incline.

Edit: Should also mention that the charcoal canister isnt hooked up. Currently I have the vent just going outside the car.

[KTPhil]

Start with basics. Does the choke fully open after about 5 minutes? If not, start there... wiring and adjustment.

Check dwell/point gap and timing.

What distributor are you using? It has to be a good match for the carb.

[Morrob95]

[KTPhil]

Fix that choke wire ASAP!

It connects to the coil on the ignition side, and that wire is UNFUSED. A short will fry the ignition wire and that may cause you to replace the entire wiring harness!

Then we'll talk about vacuum leaks and that damn EGR device...

[Morrob95]

[KTPhil]

[Morrob95]

[sb001]

Ae you sure that carburetor is a 30 PICT-1 and not an H30/31 PICT?

At any rate it looks like your fuel leak is coming out the hinge pin for the fuel pump pushrod. Is it possible the pin is working its way out of its hole? (This happens sometimes when there is no circlip holding the pin against the fuel pump or when it's missing.)
That pin also looks kind of damaged, may just be the picture though.
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1969 autostick sedan, family owned since new
1600 SP engine
Solex 30 PICT 3 carburetor
Bosch 113905205AE autostick distributor

[Matt Wilson]

10mpg is pretty normal for off-road driving, maybe stay on the road

Assuming tire pressure and alignment are fairly sorted...Do the regular tune-up stuff. Adjust the valves cold, and confirm timing, points, plug gap, and dwell. This may require some more tools, like feeler gauges, tach-dwell meter, and timing light. It looks like your distributor is not seated into the case fully..? Easy enough fix. You want to make sure the distributor rotor is never skipping, which could cause erratic timing/running.

After you do all this stuff, and you feel good about gaskets and lack of vacuum leaks, you can tune the carburetor, once the engine is totally warm.

Is that EGR connection tube actually connected underneath?
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1972 Standard Beetle
1969 Baja Beetle

[viiking]

I think you should fix each problem one at a time, so you find out what the REAL problem is. If you change 3 things and then check your mileage, you don't know which of the 3 things is the problem meaning that the other 2 items may be regarded as defective when they are not. But definitely fix the obvious issues first.

The other thing I would do, given your poor mileage, is to check if you have fuel in your oil from a ruptured fuel pump diaphragm. Fuel that ends up in the oil can "flash" off as the engine heats up and gets ejected from the engine via the blow-by or recovery system which may be fitted, so it might not be obvious how much is actually being lost in the oil.
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3

[viiking]

I'd also temporarily remove the air filter and see if your power increases. A filter like that can block and you don't notice it and "chokes" your engine meaning you have excess fuel with insufficient air. It is like driving with your choke on. Idles OK, but acceleration is poor as is maximum speed.
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3

[vamram]

What about that EGR valve? Is it actually connected somewhere below the rear tin? Wouldn't a bad connection somewhere along its length cause a vacuum leak? In turn causing the carb to be adjusted too rich in order to maintain idle? Just throwing ideas out there....I've never had a Bug w/a connected EGR valve.

My main concern is that weepy fuel pump. Not so much for MPG, but for fire.
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'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
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[KTPhil]

Check for vacuum leaks. Intake manifold boots and that EGR valve can be culprits. You might adjust the carb at idle to compensate and then it's out of whack at higher throttle (lower vacuum) conditions. So make sure you have no leaks first.

[Morrob95]

[Tim Donahoe]

It it were me, I’d get a proper OEM air filter from the Samba parts Classifieds. That silly thing you have on there is crap, and as it stands, your preheat stovepipe has no conduit, so it’s not connected to your air cleaner. Consequently, it is pumping hot air (that has passed over your heads) into the engine compartment. Not a good thing on other than winter days.

I’d remove the EGR system and, fashioning a gasket, block off that EGR port at the manifold.

Look on the left side of the carburetor bowl. It will tell you if you have an H 30/31, or whatever else it is.

Here’s how it should look.

Tim

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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Tim Donahoe]

Here’s how to block off the EGR port on the manifold. Fashion a gasket and rectangular piece of metal with two holes drilled in it at the appropriate places.

Tim

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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[tasb]

You have a "009" distributor which is mechanical advance only. It will run ok with a 30 PICT series. carburetor when all else is dialed in. It will typically not play well if you run a 34 PICT 3 carburetor.
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1957 Kombi low mileage 36 hp governor equipped M 178 Slow Drag Winner 2014, 2015, 2018

1965 hardtop Deluxe Microbus owned since 1990 M 620 factory 12 v 1500cc

1961 (October)Single Cab- Road Trip Workhorse

[Jimbug57]

[Pruneman99]

Check to see if you're getting proper advance on that distributor. If it's not advancing, you will get terrible performance and power.

[joemama]

Nobody has mentioned this, but an 009 distributor has to be timed with a timing light, and for total advance, not to the factory settings. You need to find out where 28 to 30 degrees is on your pulley. There are degree wheels you can print and position over your pulley, then create a mark on your pulley at 30 degrees. With the motor running, you bring the speed up until the distributor stops advancing, at this point you should be at 28 to 30 degrees. You dont want to go above 30 degrees, as it can cause detonation (pinging), and damage your motor. Where the timing sits at idle doesnt matter with an 009 distributor. If you are not timing like this with an 009 distributor, yyou are not getting full advance, and not the best performance. Of course after doing this youll have to reset your carburetor adjustments.