Road Trip! Tucson, to Laredo, TX

[BarryL]

[Eric&Barb]

If it has dual circuit MC one of the circuits in the MC could be bad.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[AS350driver]

It is a single circuit. I will check all the soft lines for bulges. They are new from WW.

The brake pedal started out high and firm, but has never provided braking that I feel is in proportion to the pressure applied on the pedal. Now, the pedal only starts resisting at about 1/2 down and is spongy. Pumping the brakes doesn't firm up the pedal, either.

[western auto]

bad wheel cylinders do not always leak they can also suck air when you let off of the pedal

[tasb]

If you are running a 34 PICT 3 reproduction or not, with a SVA distributor you have a mismatch. It'll get you there but your advance will be screwy and you otter fix that on long trips.
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Roads Scholar &
1957 Kombi low mileage 36 hp governor equipped M 178 Slow Drag Winner 2014, 2015, 2018

1965 hardtop Deluxe Microbus owned since 1990 M 620 factory 12 v 1500cc

1961 (October)Single Cab- Road Trip Workhorse

[Wayland]

[AS350driver]

Dead in the water..... the bus ran great all day and home from work tonight. I've been removing the rotor when I go into my hotel for theft deterrent purposes.

Got hungry , installed the rotor, the bus fired about twice but then just cranked. It was much cooler than in the daytime. Went out back, strong odor of gas, gas dripping out of left intake boot area. It went through a spell of this last week before I left, adjusting the choke to less chokage helped. So I adjusted the choke fully off. I've cranked til the battery is almost dead, it won't hit a lick. Checked the points, coil wire, inside distributor etc. I'm pretty sure removing the rotor and reinstalling it wouldn't cause this. I have no one to crank while I check for spark. Pretty frustrating. I even walked to the truck stop down the road and got some starting fluid. No effect.

Any ideas ? aside from the usual "just get an OE NOS German Solex carb!!" Lol. If I find one growing on a tree I'll bolt it on, but for now I'm stuck with this crappy Chinese empi.

Edit: I gave a bum, that came along wanting a handout, $5 to help me by cranking it while I checked spark. It had spark going to the plugs, but still wouldn't start. He suggested tapping the carb with a wrench while I cranked. Since I'd been trying for 2 hours I was like sure, what could it hurt? So as I hit the starter, he started tapping here and there on the carb with a wrench. To my amazement, it fired right off idling on 3 cylinders. After about 10 seconds it started hitting on all 4 and smoothed right out. Gave him $10 more bucks and offered him a ride to whataburger, but he wanted dropped off at the truck stop, which I obliged. Drove around, ran fine. After eating, tried to drive back to the hotel, but you all can guess what it did.......Yup, flooded so bad, I considered building an Ark. After enlisting the help of another passerby to crank while I tapped the carb with a wrench, it fired up again and unflooded itself again.

[Eric&Barb]

Sounds like the carb shut off valve is sticking open. Both the new carbs and new shut off valves have a lot of reports of problems. You can get an OG used carb rebuilt by several folks in the classifieds. For now you might have to tap the left side of the carb with a screw driver handle to close that valve each time you shut down the engine. Also check oil level before starting after it has sat for much more than a few minutes. Too much fuel in the oil will lessen the lubrication properties of the oil. If enough fuel gets in there the oil level can get high enough to seep into the cylinders and hydro-lock the engine up. You can end up bending up engine parts if that happens.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[wcfvw69]

I'd check the cut-off needle valve on top of the float. Then make sure the shut off solenoid on the side of the carb for the fuel/air is connected correctly. They are known to stick closed or not work for long.

Us veterans who've been around these old VW's for decades are only trying to warn and educate the newer VW folks about the poor quality Chinese parts.

Tim at Volkzbitz sells LOTS of his beautifully restored German Solex carbs to folks who made the mistake of buying a Chinese copy first and had tons of problems with it.

Myself and others also sell lots of restored German Bosch distributors to people who can't get their $50-100 Chinese knock off distributor to work or work well.

Let's hope you get your current problem sorted out.
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

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**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[BarryL]

Yes, sounds like needle-and-seat problem. Might be as simple as the needle assembly is loose or maybe there is a particle in the needle seat. If you have the wherewithall, take off the carb top and blow through the fuel inlet while trying the needle push pin. Also check the operation of how the float is moving through its arc.

[AS350driver]

Got tired of laying in the dirt at the hotel and took the bus to a shop for an oil change and brake bleed. Bleeding the brakes helped the pedal a little bit but I noticed as I left that they'd left the parking brake on during the process. I found a shady spot to check the valves.

[joefriday]

I see you posted elsewhere. How did the rest of your trip go??

[AS350driver]

I'm still here in Texas. I head back to AZ next week. The bus is running ok. I'm considering ordering an electronic ignition for it for the return trip.

[DadaCheese]

AS350driver, been immensely enjoying this thread, and commiserating with you as you experience challenges.

Just wanted to say that the tone of your demeanor and the trip comes across as both positive and optimistic.

Thanks for that; one has to assume that you are having fun despite any troubles. Hope your journey back is issue-free.
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Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat.

[67_SO42]

Dang man!
get close to Tucson and ill come get ya!
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58 Binz DC #151 "Nacho"
61 Norwegian, bug "Greta"
65 Swedish, Westfalia 400 trailer "Melania"
57 Binz scooter “Micha”

[pondoras box]

Even with the issues its an awesome trip, when you fix something along the way, you now own that information, whether you use it for yourself on another trip or help out someone else who is baffled by these "simple" machines. I say simple because there isn't a lot of computerized stuff to try to figure out, but not so simple as the car doesn't diagnose itself either. It is from an age when mechanics were exactly that. Lots of mechanics today are parts changers. If you are a mechanic don't get offended, you wouldn't be reading this thread if you were one of the parts changers mentioned, but I am sure you know who i am talking about.

So cool that a bum was able to help you out, you cant make stories like this up, and you sure as hell don't experience stuff like this driving your new Honda or leaving your bus in the garage.

AWESOME THREAD!
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Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[plane_ben]

Home yet? Or still in Texas?
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I'm at the age were "fuck off", "fuck you", and "fuck it" answer most questions.

[AS350driver]

Still here. Was asked to stay another 2 weeks to fly some hours off some aircraft. I'm mulling over ordering another carburetor as finding a shop here in laredo to unscrew this one seems like a long shot.

[plane_ben]

That would be the cheaper of the two options. No locals on the samba rescue site to help out?
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I'm at the age were "fuck off", "fuck you", and "fuck it" answer most questions.

[vwuberalles]

Maybe order the new carb to get you home and then have your old one fixed to keep in the bus as a spare?
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1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040