Time to drop my engine again....

[sb001]

[TDCTDI]

Fuel mixture will affect idle speed. Any variation of idle speed will affect the mechanical advance of the distributor.

Relying on setting the ignition timing by a timing light alone doesn’t mean that the timing will be within spec when driving.


Timing on these engines is affected by many different variables, especially as the components have worn over the decades. Timing scatter is caused by slop in the distributor, engagement between the distributor & drive gear, the drive gear to the cam gear, & even end play in the cam and/or crankshaft, and even the idle variation of a torque converter.

In addition to this, is the difference in fuel that is available now, oxygenated & ethanol fuel does burn leaner.


This is the reason why I do my final timing adjustments “by ear”.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[vamram]

From your post on another thread -

[sb001]

[sb001]

[Tom K.]

I'll take a look at mine soon. I'm replacing the front end now with rear wheels solidly on the ground unfortunately.
_________________
'91 Vanagon Westfalia
'70 Beetle Convertible
'71 Super Beetle Semi-Automatic: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714131&highlight=
'65 Ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=762478&highlight=

[sb001]

[sb001]

Operating under the torque converter bogging the engine theory, I remeasured the amount of ATF in the torque converter circuit this afternoon (supposed to be approx. 7.6 US pints - I had approx .625 pints too much in there- I can't imagine that would have been enough to cause bogging.)
Took the car for a spin again this evening- got to the store just fine, started back up at the store fine, but on the way home in gear at a red light it died, and was pretty hesitant to start back up-- took about 10 -12 seconds of cranking to finally catch. I was lucky I got it started again just as traffic was coming up behind me. I got it back home coaxing it at every stop with the 2-foot method.

So THIS is the main problem I am having now-- drives fine for about 15-20 minutes, and actually seems to drive great overall, but after that it wants to stall right out when stopped in gear. I have no idea whether this is related to stalling out a couple weeks ago on the interstate- it seems mightily coincidental not to be, but the symptoms DO seem different- back then when I tried to start it back up it cranked WAAYY slow, and when I got it back home and it did fire back up there was an obvious metallic rat-tat-tat sound (see video earlier in this thread.)
Now it does not seem to be making that sound anymore, and it always seems to have a healthy crank now, it just wants to stall when stopped in gear after about 20 minutes of driving, and when it does it does not want to fire back up without a lot of coaxing.

I think the next logical step is to pull the carburetor and check it out. Big time scratching my head on this one.
_________________
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

[sb001]

Is there any way that double-gasketing between the lid & body of the carburetor could affect performance?
I discovered I accidentally had two gaskets there. Also, when I pulled the fuel inlet hose off the carburetor, instead of just normal spilling out of the hose as it usually does, the fuel sprayed like crazy for a second like it was under a bunch of pressure.
_________________
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

[Tom K.]

I've heard those solid state aftermarket fuel pumps tend to generate too much pressure. You can measure it with any fuel pressure gauge available for loan at you local autozone.

I would go buy a $5 can of starter fluid spray to take with me on the road. Next time this happens remove the air filter and spray about three seconds of it down your carb. If the engine fires up when before it wouldn't, then you know you have a carb problem.

If it still doesn't fire up (assuming you are in the side if the road somewhere), then also bring a spark plug wrench and pull a plug, ground it against the engine and crank your engine with your camera videoing the spark plug (or have another crank the engine for you).

These steps are about free and give you valuable info to source your gremlin.
_________________
'91 Vanagon Westfalia
'70 Beetle Convertible
'71 Super Beetle Semi-Automatic: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714131&highlight=
'65 Ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=762478&highlight=

[sb001]

[Tom K.]

We've all been there. You'll feel great once it's solved. The problem us just sitting there waiting to be discovered. It wants to be found.

Going back to the bakelite fuel filter stand. Does it move in and out freely when cool?
_________________
'91 Vanagon Westfalia
'70 Beetle Convertible
'71 Super Beetle Semi-Automatic: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714131&highlight=
'65 Ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=762478&highlight=

[sb001]

[boxer74]

[sb001]

I don't have a set of pin gauges but I used the metal wire from a twist tie to poke through them all to make sure they were all open and not clogged.
All of them tested fine.
_________________
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

[boxer74]

[sb001]

I'm pretty well convinced it's not anything that has to do with the carburetor.
Question: could battery low voltage affect idle speed when stopped at a light in gear, but not throw the generator light on the dash and be OK under normal driving?
Here is where I am now:
I put everything back together last night and the car would still not start under its own power, I jumped it off my other car and with a healthy crank it started up and ran. But same symptom as before, once warmed up it just wants to stumble and die when stopped in gear (but pulling it into neutral it idles fine.)
After pulling back into the garage, I shut it off and waited a few minutes then tried to restart the car and again it would not start under its own power and keeping cranking just made the cranks slower and slower, so I had to jump it off my other car again. When I do that, it still cranks for several seconds longer than it should but then suddenly fires up.
I am pretty convinced this is either a generator, regulator, or battery issue--but which?? I haven't had a chance to do any further testing yet. But a low battery that is not receiving a charge from the generator any longer could explain the stalling on the interstate and low crank when I tried to restart it then, and maybe it just had enough juice once given enough time to rest to fire the car back up when I got it home, but now it is pretty much completely dead so when the car is running it's running off generator power.
It also occurs to me that I had a hard start relay installed under the driver's rear seat, but I found out recently that my intermittent starting issues were in the ignition switch (last time the car wouldn't crank, several weeks ago, I was able to bang on the underside of the steering column and lo and behold it fired right up.) I never took that HSR out, and I still have the constant power to it feeding off from B+ on the voltage regulator. I wonder if that could somehow be stealing battery charging power...
_________________
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

[67rustavenger]

If you have a battery charger. Charge the battery fully. See if the car starts normally.
If not, charge the battery again and drive it to one of the local autoparts stores and have them "Load test" the battery.
Sometimes a battery can appear to have correct voltage, when checked with a volt meter. But, put a load tester on it and it will be too weak to crank the engine over.
If this has been covered earlier in this thread. Sorry for the repeat info.

Good Luck.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[sb001]

[Tom K.]

I'm just guessing here - from miles away - that your cranking issue is unrelated to your stalling issue when in gear and subsequent ignition issue when heated.

Definitely test your battery first and replace if necessary. Then dial in on the ignition issue when up to temp.
_________________
'91 Vanagon Westfalia
'70 Beetle Convertible
'71 Super Beetle Semi-Automatic: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714131&highlight=
'65 Ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=762478&highlight=