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chaosisme
Samba Member
Joined: August 29, 2005
Posts: 1256
Location: Orange County, Ca
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 Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 12:04 am Post subject: Hard starting when cold. |
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So a few days ago I was having generator/regulator issues which led me to swap out the generator and regulator. Since then, one of the issues I was having, that the generator light stayed solid until I brought the RPMs up and it would click off, is gone.
Since replacing both the generator and the regulator, that problem is gone but now the car is extremely hard to start. Before, when I turned the key the car would start almost instantly. Now it mostly refuses to start and then does so begrudgingly. If I try to gas it to keep it running it dies instantly. When I can manage to get it started, if I blip the throttle while the car is cold, the engine cuts out and almost stalls.
Why all of the sudden would this be happening because I changed out the generator and regulator? Has anybody had this problem before? Should I be focusing on the charging system or is it just a coincidence and I should be looking somewhere else?
_________________
'65 1500 S [quareback]
'68 FI Sunroof Squareback
'70 Westy
OCT3 - Orange County Type 3's |
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Bobnotch
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2003
Posts: 22396
Location: Kimball, Mi
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 7:40 am Post subject: Re: Hard starting when cold. |
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| chaosisme wrote: |
So a few days ago I was having generator/regulator issues which led me to swap out the generator and regulator. Since then, one of the issues I was having, that the generator light stayed solid until I brought the RPMs up and it would click off, is gone.
Since replacing both the generator and the regulator, that problem is gone but now the car is extremely hard to start. Before, when I turned the key the car would start almost instantly. Now it mostly refuses to start and then does so begrudgingly. If I try to gas it to keep it running it dies instantly. When I can manage to get it started, if I blip the throttle while the car is cold, the engine cuts out and almost stalls.
Why all of the sudden would this be happening because I changed out the generator and regulator? Has anybody had this problem before? Should I be focusing on the charging system or is it just a coincidence and I should be looking somewhere else? |
Personally I think it's a coincidence. I'd run the checks that Tram normally advises, like tune up items 1st (vlave adjustment, plug reading, points gap, ohm the plug wires, stuff like that), then fuel pressure, etc... You might find the issue as you go. It could be something as simple as a wire getting knocked off (or bad connection now), while you were in there working on the generator. 
I only say that, as you said it was good before you worked on the generator, and now something has changed. This is when you kind of go over everything else, just to eliminate it.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120
| Tram wrote: |
| "Friends are God's way of apologizing for relatives." |
| Tram wrote: |
| People keep confusing "restored" and "restroyed". |
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chaosisme
Samba Member
Joined: August 29, 2005
Posts: 1256
Location: Orange County, Ca
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| Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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So I went ahead and just started checking things to eliminate them one by one. First thing I did was check my points, and while I had the cap off I noticed that the distributor looked really oily inside. I checked the trigger points and there was a ton of crud in there.
I took the distributor out and stripped it down, cleaned the trigger points and the distributor body, cleaned the advance mechanism, lubed the breaker plate, readjusted the points, and put everything back together. Car starts instantly now like it used to.
_________________
'65 1500 S [quareback]
'68 FI Sunroof Squareback
'70 Westy
OCT3 - Orange County Type 3's |
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Bobnotch
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2003
Posts: 22396
Location: Kimball, Mi
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| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:57 am Post subject: |
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| chaosisme wrote: |
So I went ahead and just started checking things to eliminate them one by one. First thing I did was check my points, and while I had the cap off I noticed that the distributor looked really oily inside. I checked the trigger points and there was a ton of crud in there.
I took the distributor out and stripped it down, cleaned the trigger points and the distributor body, cleaned the advance mechanism, lubed the breaker plate, readjusted the points, and put everything back together. Car starts instantly now like it used to. |
Nice find, and proof that it wasn't an FI issue (other than the trigger points).  Glad to hear it's running well.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120
| Tram wrote: |
| "Friends are God's way of apologizing for relatives." |
| Tram wrote: |
| People keep confusing "restored" and "restroyed". |
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| Back to top |
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