1972 beetle hard to start when hot.

[DnS421]

Hey guys so my wife has a 1972 standard beetle and when it gets hot it gets hard to start sometimes almost impossible, what happens is that the motor will spin freely until a certain spot and then the key does nothing, no cranking or clicking nothing at all and the motor will be almost stuck, take a wrench and spin the motor past the stuck spot and it will crank over again. What could this be??

[Cusser]

That sounds like a bad starter from what you describe.

I recommend a self-supported autostick starter as then you don't need to worry about replacing the starter bushing. And actually has a little more power.
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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

[Starbucket]

How are you starting it when hot? The starter shouldn't have to spin that much when the motor is hot, next time you take a drive when you park go out and remove the air cleaner and look down the carb. for gas leaking on the throttle plate and flooding the motor making it hard to start, float level might be too high or need a formica insulator block under the carb. to keep the gas from boiling over. Never pump the gas pedal when the motor is hot just step down on the pedal and hold it on the floor and hit the starter until it starts.

[mukluk]

[DnS421]

Cusser, self supported auto stick? As in the transmission because I’ve heard horrible things about those?

Starbucket, I don’t press the gas pedal at all, I know there’s a recommended procedure for starting hot and cold but I never knew exactly what it was.

Mukluk, what exactly would you recommend if that’s the case?

[mukluk]

If it is a fuel leak induced hydrolock, further investigation will be needed to figure out how to stop it. There may be a fault with the carburetor itself causing it to leak, the fuel pump allowing fuel to siphon from the tank after shutdown, the engine running too hot in general, or some other issue allowing the fuel in the line/pump/carburetor to boil as the engine bay heat soaks.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[Cusser]