New (Old) Bug owner 1974 Super beetle Karmann question

[AngieB]

Well... this was just sent to me by my club pres.. who is babysitting Charlotte..since the incident

“So I took a few minutes to try to figure it out today. I started Charlotte up and let "her" run for a while to see if I could get it to act up. No, not enough load just idling I guess. But.... I discovered that it's only running on two cylinders! It appears that little to no fuel is getting to the #3, #4 side and not just at idle. I looked into the carb and almost no accelerator pump fuel. If it's OK with you, I'd like to take that carb off and see if it's plugged or has a plugged fuel screen, etc. Whatever this problem is, I'm pretty sure it's fuel related: fuel tank gas cap vent, or weak fuel pump, plugged line. or plugged screens in the carb fuel inlets. Something with the fuel system.”

(I have a patronics kit, dual kdron carbs. And a fuel pump)

[joey1320]

Before taking anything apart, check the fuel pressure at the carbs.
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**1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[AngieB]

Tried to fix the fuel problem with Charlotte.. still not wanting to run.. so frustrated.. the treffen is coming up fast, and she just won’t work with me.

Fixit day was this last Saturday.. worked on trying to find out why she won’t rub. Changed out the fuel pump, added a vent line, added fuel, checked the carbs, cleaned the carbs... ugh
This picture was taken just before the notorious fuel starvation problem returned with a vengeance. The carbs are good, the fuel pump(s)s are good, the lines have been blown out. Also, this occurs with the gas cap off, so it's not a venting problem. There is a little, fine screen in the bottom of the gas tank that may be plugging with rust or dirt. Or, a rubber hose section between the tank and the pump may be collapsing?
We are almost out of options..

ANY IDEAS OR SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!

[FGT1958]

I would work backwards. Remove the fuel tank from the equation. Set up a remote fuel tank and see how she runs. If she runs fine, then you know the problem is in the tank to fuel pump system. If not, then you need to move to the fuel pump and test its output. Then to the carbs and confirm you don't have plugged lines or dirt in the system. Systematically eliminate the variables. Is the line from the tank to the pump good? Isolate the tank. You may have to remove the tank and clean it out.

Just take it one step at a time.

[Xevin]

Think you on to something with gas tank. If it’s not. Then you have a piece of mind what’s going on in there. Also check for a kinked fuel line. Didn’t read all this. What’s going on with fuel pump? New, old, pressure?
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Keep on Busin'

[joey1320]

Sucks to hear you're still having problems with the bug.


Can you please elaborate on how the diagnosis was performed which landed on a fuel delivery issue?
_________________
**1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[Cusser]

Remember - caution - gasoline is flammable !!!

Raise the front end on a jack. Disconnect the inlet to the fuel pump. Gas should leak out at a significant rate. If so, then work on whether fuel pump has correct pushrod length (100mm for angled ones, 108 for others), if the lines are connected to correct ports, if fuel pours out the outlet hose into a jar as some cranks the engine.

If not, check the filter "screen" in the bottom of the fuel tank, comes out from underneath. And your fuel line through the VW pan.
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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

[AngieB]

does anyone know what I could use as a substitute for a tank plug? I have an extra tank we cleaned and have misplaced the plug (ugh) if we can get this one closed up, sealed and good to go, we are going to change it out when we change out the fuel line.. hopefully this will resolve my issue

[Dwayne1m]

Perhaps something like this? They come in different sizes.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Oatey-PVC-Test-Plug-Fitting/3880609

[AngieB]

Ohhhh-Kay!
Charlotte the super beetle is a super pain in my ass! 🤣🤣. Found out what the fuel problem was when replacing the fuel line.. it was PINCHED! WTF?? rookie mistake. Now the 3rd spark plug isn’t firing.. so she is popping and spuddering..
but she made it home.. just to sit until I can get back to it. Woodburn is in a few weeks.. that was a goal of mine but I don’t see it happening. We will see ..

Accomplished today:
New fuel line
Cleaned the tank in and out
Painted the tank
Cleaned the heater blower panel (official name???)
Painted the heater panel
Cleaned where the gas tank goes
Added gas tank seal

[Tim Donahoe]

First, check the #3 plug and plug wire for spark.

Hopefully, you have no valve issues.

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Cusser]

[AngieB]

and what happens if there is a valve issue? Someone mentioned a possible burned valve??

[AngieB]

Ok .. so I was having this conversation with a man.. he said that he’s a car guy and that he’s really surprised that IM (as in me) working on my car. I let him know hat the only thing I don’t know what to do is paint.. so in a shitty smerky .. “ok darlin.. you get paint and I’ll paint your car” comment was made.. yes he does know what he’s doing.... but now I want to show this a-hole to put his money where his mouth is. 🤑🤑.
Buuuut ... I don’t know where to buy automotive paint 🤦‍♀️ Any direction would be appreciated ❤️

[AngieB]

Ok .. so I was having this conversation with a man.. he said that he’s a car guy and that he’s really surprised that IM (as in me) working on my car. I let him know hat the only thing I don’t know what to do is paint.. so in a shitty smerky .. “ok darlin.. you get paint and I’ll paint your car” comment was made.. yes he does know what he’s doing.... but now I want to show this a-hole to put his money where his mouth is. 🤑🤑.
Buuuut ... I don’t know where to buy automotive paint 🤦‍♀️ Any direction would be appreciated ❤️

[Xevin]

There is one in Eugene. Maybe something similar in your town. They can make paint to VW paint code I understand and rattle cans to code too. I heard this from a Ppg rep. Call them for details.

https://wescopbe.com/store-locations/
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Keep on Busin'

[Tim Donahoe]

Google “Automotive Paint” for your area. I’m sure there’s a paint store nearby. If not, we have a great auto-paint store in Redding. Paint Mart matched up two panels on my Bug perfectly. Give them the paint code and they’ll mix it up for you.

Let the ass-hat painter smirk. If he does a great job, just chock it up to weighing a good job to balance out the bullshit.

Of course, if there’s another good painter in town, use him instead.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Dwayne1m]

I just painted my 1st car. I'll share my experience so maybe you won't make the same mistakes. Watch LOTS of videos on YouTube to learn. I used all Eastwood products since I live just a few minutes from their store. Take your time... DON'T hurry. Allow 10 minutes between coats. I don't know what kind of finish you are going for. Do you have access to a good air compressor? Do you have a way of keeping water out of the spray gun? Are you concerned about dirt/bugs in the finish? I used a $15 Harbor Freight gun so you don't need a super expensive gun. Dark colors magnify mistakes. Light colors hide mistakes. Practice on a large object, like cardboard, to get a feel for & experiment with the gun and spray pattern. Always keep the gun a consistent distance from what you're painting. I was told about 8-10". Learn paint language like base coat/clear coat, flash time, solvent pop, single stage, activator, reducer, orange peal, fish eyes, .... If you have a friend who is experienced it will help greatly. I originally bought the "airless" paint sprayer system. These work if you know what you're doing. I didn't know what I was doing and switched over to the Harbor Freight gun, plus the guy who sold me the system gave me bad information. Now that I have some experience I would be willing to try the airless system again. Very little overspray with that system and no threat of moisture, but if you're only going to paint 1 car it's not worth it. Painting a car isn't rocket science, it's just a bunch of things to learn to make the job easier. Here's my finished project. I picked the wrong color to learn to paint.

[VW_Jimbo]

[AngieB]

Guess whose Treffen Ready??