1984 Mexican Beetle Won’t Start

[BeetleGuy495]

Hey all,

I’ve got a 1984 Mexican-model VW Beetle that’s been sitting for the better part of the past few months due to winter and work. A month ago, I started it up and went for a short ride, but about a mile in, it died suddenly, no sputtering, just shut off. After letting it cool down, it started back up with some starter fluid and got me home.

Now, after sitting a bit longer, I haven’t been able to get it to start despite several days of troubleshooting.

Here’s what I’ve done so far:
• I’m getting a weak orange spark from the spark plug wires when held near metal.
• I’ve tested the coil and even bypassed the ignition wiring by running 12V directly from the battery to the coil (just for testing).
• I swapped out the original points-based distributor for an electronic distributor, thinking the issue might be there.

Despite all this, the weak/orange spark persists. I’m not sure if this is my only issue, but it seems to be a major one.

One odd thing: when I spray starter fluid into the carb, the engine will crank really slowly a few times, then go back to cranking normally (without starting). Almost like something is binding briefly, then clearing up?

Any ideas on what else could cause consistently weak spark even with a new coil and distributor? Grounding issues? Wiring? Something else?

Thanks in advance for any advice, I’m stumped.

[vamram]

Are you still using that Flame Thrower coil? Do you have a spare coil you can swap in to test? And do your points look good or are they pitted/burnt?

Also - what happened to the old carb w/the dashpot sticking out of the back?
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[BeetleGuy495]

I was running a Flamethrower coil, but just to rule it out, I swapped in a spare Mexican-brand coil I had lying around to no avail. Before I switched distributors, the points were a little pitted, but now I have that new distributor in.