Loosing power

[Whaanga]

Hello. I have a 73 bay with a transplanted 914 type engine. After about six of work and prep, it passed inspection here in New York State. I have been driving it for about a week only on kshort trips (6-8 miles) lasting no more than 15 minutes and never getting passed 45 mph.

The bus has been running very well until this morning where it began to loose power. I was about 10 minutes into the ride when the power loss manifested itself. I limped along for a few more minutes until I got to work.

Later, I drove home and it ran very well until about 10-12 minutes and again, it lost power.

At first I thought I had blown the engine but then did a bunch of homework here and it seems that I'm dealing with a fuel distribution issue.

The bus came with an after market single Weber carb as well as an after market electronic fuel pump. My research here tells me I also need a fuel regulator. Also, I have an appointment in 3 weeks kwith a reputable shop to do a complete tuneup and valve adjustment so imagine this may help improve the situation.

So after this long preamble ( it is the 4th of July) my question is, what are the steps/components to check/diagnose this issue? I will post some photos of the wengine parts for reference.

The aftermarket fuel pump is mounted in the engine compartment. I understand it's better to move this out of the compartment.

You can also see the plastic fuel filter which I've read needs to be graded. I was also told in an earlier post a I need a fuel pump regulator. Could adding this possibly help the issue.

Here's the after market carb.

As always, your help and assistance is much appreciated.

[borninabus]

check your points and load test your battery.
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88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport

[Wildthings]

There is no wire hooked up to your choke coil. With no choke heater, if your choke isn't fully open at start up it will cause the engine to run rich as the engine warms.

It is also possible that your fuel pump is cavitating (vapor locking) if the weather is really warm.

[Abscate]

Two things on that fuel pump

It's high up on the wall at about half the fill height on the gas tank. Is your poor running correlated with gas tank fill?

That wire nut connector on the fuel pump is poor workmanship, to the point of making other wiring suspect. Those things don't belong on cars.
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.ssS!

[Whaanga]

Thank You - all good things to consider.

The thing I can't figure is that it's run quite well for the first 100+ miles.

Per the gas fill, the gas gage is not functioning at this point so since i got the bus about six weeks ago, I was uncertain how much gas was in the tank.

Just after getting it licensed, I put in 5 gallons of high octane gas. I drove it only a few miles and then redid the brakes so it sat for 5 days. Once, it passed inspection, I put in more gas (3 gallons) and was surprised to discover this amount topped it off - meaning there must have been ~ 7 gallons in the tank already - and how old or of what type I don't know. But it did run well all the time before this.

Yes, the wire nuts have got to go.

Per the wire in the choke, the first photo is from when I first got the bus and it's since been connected to the coil as seen here:

The weather was warm yesterday, but no warmer then when I've driven it before. It was fairly cool when I drove it yesterday morning. And as stated, it ran fine for the first 10 minutes to and from work. It was the last 5 minutes when then loss of power occurred.

The battery is new but will check the voltage. Are you suggesting that the alternator might be bad and the engine is running off the battery? I have a new set of points - should I install these or regap the set in the dizzy?

Thanks again for your help.

[vwwestyman]

Couple things I noticed.

1) you do not have the engine tin foam seal. That is very important to keeping things cool--get one!

2) Your fuel filter appears to be installed backwards. You can't see how full of gunk it is. But a new one and install it properly.

3) Those carbs just don't run real super without a lot of fiddling first.

4) I agree on the height of the fuel pump. If you've run enough gas out that it is struggling to pull gas up before pumping it out, it is going to run very poorly if at all once the gas level drops.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Abscate]

If Im not mistaken, that fuel pump is wired to the hot side of the coil, which I is not fused on Type I engines - I don't think it is

An unfused fuel pump that might be cavitating is Russian Roulette with 5 cylinders full. Ok, thats a bit alarmist, but not too alarmist. Do you see where the red wire is rubbing against the metal block of the fuel pump. Once the 0.25 mm layer of plastic wears through, that will short your battery to ground through the fuel pump casing if it is unfused.

Try unbolting the fuel pump and putting it on a shop towel the left of the engine next time it stumbles to diagnose starvation from position.

Dont worry about the seal for now - in ROC we get temperate weather unlike all the West guys

Is that two wire nuts 3 inches apart on the same piece of wire??
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.ssS!

[SGKent]

while it is at idle pull each spark plug wire at the distributor and note the RPM drop. Be sure all 4 drop about the same. If one isn't firing there is your power loss.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Whaanga]

Thanks for the suggestions. The photos I've posted are from about six weeks ago. I've done a lot of work since including adding a foam seal. Here's an up to date photo:

What about a fuel regulator? And I've read the the fuel pump location is better out of the engine bay? Is there a better pump? I'll run the engine and pull each spark plug wire and see what happens.

Thanks again.

[vwwestyman]

[Xevin]

Also because it's so easy. Go ahead and inspect your dizzy cap. Do a little sanding on the copper bits in the cap to get any carbon off. Reinstall and drive. See if that makes a difference. Then go back and check your points as mentioned before. But do either all the dizzy trouble shooting first and check results then fuel related stuff, Or other way around. Good luck. Might not be a bad time to buy a new cap for $10. If you buy new points and have a Napa auto parts buy their brand. Get a new condenser from Napa as well. Always replace both at the same time I've been told.
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Keep on Busin'

[Whaanga]

The white wire is actually yellow and connects the back up lights to the coil with an inline fuse. Yes, it's time to clean all this wiring up. I have a tune up kit with and was going to do it myself but found an air cooled engine shop in my area and going to have them do the tune up and valve adjustment. But perhaps it's at least time to change the cap, points, and condencer and evaluate.

I should also mention that you can hear the fuel pump chattering away when the ingnition is on. And once I adjusted the idle down, you can hear the fuel pump working when the engine is running. I don't know if this is an issue or not but thought it worth mentioning.

[Wildthings]

You have what looks to be a white wire with a dark colored tracer grounded out to the fan shroud. What is this?

You also have a yellow splice in the wire running from the #15 terminal on the coil to the choke heater. What else hooks in at the splice?

Cleaning up the wiring by eliminating excess splices and removing (or taping off) any unused/unknown wires will make trouble shooting easier.

[Tcash]

You really need to start with a basic tune up.
Tune up

[Whaanga]

Agreed about the tune up. Have an appointment in another week. I just looked at the bus and to my horror discovered some oil coming from the # 3 & 4 piston side. It appears to be coming from the heater box but I know this connects to the engine. Since I've had the bus for the past six weeks it has not lost any oil. I did an oil change about 10'days ago and saw no leaks then either. Hmmmm - now I'm more worried.

As stated earlier, I have driven this only on short outings and never pushing it hard.

[Tcash]

The leak could just be the valve cover gasket leaking, no biggie.
good luck
Tcash

[Tcash]

Every Type 4 owner should know this.

[Wildthings]

[Whaanga]

Thanks for your comments. I guess I get nervous when I see no oil leak-
Engine runs smooth. New oil leak - engine loses power I equate this to
manor mechanical problem. I guess I need to relax and take it slowly
and methodically.

The question is - what's my next step?

[Whaanga]

Here are a few photos of the left side of the engine. I can't really see where the oil is coming from. I cleaned everything up and then placed a phone book underneath to see if any oil leaked when the bus was sitting.

The oil eventually finds its way to the front side of the heater box.