Bad 009? Fuel issue? Stalls at stops

[Cubey]

I have been chasing down stalls at idle RPMs after the engine has warmed up some when I try to come to a stop or otherwise let off the gas and the engine slows down to idle RPMs (ie, slowing turn for a turn and downshifting from 3-2, it stalls when I press in the clutch for shifting). I have done replaced the carb once and bought a $100 rebuilt mechanical fuel pump to replace the electric one someone put because it seemed to be flooding/running rich.

If I set the timing on a cool engine to ~7.5* BDTC it seems fine, but once warmed up, it doesn't like it. It then needs the timing advanced a good ways or it doesn't want to idle very well.

I have two timing lights: a 1970s one and a new HFT one with the dial. The old one and the HFT one set to zero both show it way advanced at idle when it seems to be idling it's best.

Using the HFT one with the the dial to 28*, it lights up right at about the 7.5-9* marks on the pulley (40HP pulley with only 2 marks) meaning it seems to want to be advanced 28* beyond normal.

If I try to retard the timing to normal (7.5* at idle) the exhaust pops unhappily and the RPMs drop and it wants to stall.

Bad distributor?

[tcoop1100]

What engine? What carburation? Can't help without knowing what parts you have.
Have you done a tuneup? New parts in the distributor? Carb(s) clean and adjusted?
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Aloha,
Tim
January '57 Sedan, April '64 40hp big bore

[Cusser]

009 distributor:
Made in Germany, vintage: BEST
Made in Brazil: OK
Made in China: PUNT !!!

Can you put a timing light on the engine and rev up to like 3500 and see if the timing mark actually advances?? You'll get less tired doing this if the VW is in neutral, unless you're a really good runner.
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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

[Cubey]

[Cubey]

[Mike Fisher]

Idle speed set too low!
My squareback never stalls because I keep the idle up.
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69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey

[Cubey]

[heimlich]

I idle my cars between 800 and 900.

A 009 distributor doesn't do anything until about 1200 RPM. That is when it starts to kick in. As long as the distributor is good it shouldn't be a factor.

Your timing looks ok.

Maybe there is something clogged in the carburetor?
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[Cubey]

Ok, Of all the kind of weird things. I think I figured out the real issue going on.

Someone put newer pedals (ie 68+) at some point. I think the pedal stop tabs on the pedals themselves are positioned differently from the older pedal sets. I had to adjust the brake push rod in such a way that it can't fit the jamb nut. Long story about the horrible state of the brakes when I got the car. Not worth going into here. Lets just say the push rod had a bushing and was stuck way too long. I removed the bushing and adjusted the rod and it can't have a jamb nut or the brakes drag from it holding pressure on the MC.

People were telling me that defeats the purpose of the dual circuit MC I put on (had single) and to make the pedals have more travel. It had less than normal for both pedals. So I drilled a new hole in the floor pan and stacked washers under the stop plate with a longer bolt+nut, making the brake pedal spacing 8" from the bulkhead (wall) but in doing so, the clutch pedal is now 9" out. (Before they each had about 7" distance from the bulkhead) Then I adjusted the clutch cable to that amount of travel.

And I think that's the problem. It has too much travel, pulling the clutch arm too much. If I push the pedal around 1/2 to 2/3 of the travel it has right now, there's no awful noise from the clutch AND the clutch is released properly. I can shift to 1 and go. Also pressing it the partial way allows me to stop without stalling it.

I noticed this because I stalled out stopping, then restarted, and pressed only the clutch fully (in N) and it slowly dropped in RPMs and stalled. Holding it part way, no RPM drop and no awful noise. And this only seems to happen more after everything heats up (ie from driving) so I guess something metal expands and is more of a problem when it's warmed up vs cold.

Soooooo yeah, I think the pedal is the actual problem.. it's pushing the pressure plate too hard, maybe so far that it's contacting the clutch disc, and is dragging on it to the point of stalling. So, I need to just undo that stacked washers under stop plate, and put the plate back in the stock location on the pan. The plate was already adjusted as much as it could to increase pedal travel, so that's not an option. And also I need to shop around for a good used set of stock 58-67 pedals.

I thought the noise was just a bad throwout bearing but it's just overzealous pulling of the clutch arm on the transmission. Oops.

[Cubey]

OK, yep, that was the problem.

I backed off the wing nut for the clutch cable and took a short drive. No stalling now and much less noise when I press the pedal.

It's still running rich for some reason, but seems ok otherwise. Obvious black soot on the spark arrestor discs after 6 miles total driving.