HELP!! Adjusting dual carburetors

[Mfrusetta]

Hi guys!! I’m brand new to posting on The Samba but I really need some help! I have a local shop I go to to help me with all of the stuff I can’t do myself. Problem is, he’s gone, out of town, I don’t know.. won’t contact me and I really need help!

I drive a 1972 superbeetle with dual carburetors. I know they need to be adjusted, I just have no idea how to do it 😩😅 I love my car, she’s my daily driver and my baby..but she’s starting to sound really bad and I don’t want to mess her up even more by driving her with my timing and carbs all screwed up. If anyone in the Bay Area is willing to help teach me how to adjust and maintain my carburetors, I would be forever grateful.

-Megan and Minty 💚

[Randy in Maine]

What kind of dual carbs do you have and what distributor are you running?

A good place to start would be here.....

http://www.aircooled.net/synchronize-dual-vw-carburetors-103/

http://www.aircooled.net/how-to-install-009-vw-distributor/

[bluebus86]

[sjbartnik]

[Mfrusetta]

Wow!! Thanks for replying so fast! I’ll try to answer as many questions as I can to my ability.

1. She was last adjusted in November, I take her in every few months for regular upkeep and adjustments, oil changes and anything else that might sound/smell funny.

2. Weber 40’s and I’m almors positive it’s a 009 distributor

3. She’s doing small backfires, taking a few extra seconds to start, white smoke puff when she does start, smells like she’s running rich, and today the white smoke didn’t stop once she was running. The smoke smelled almost chemically today...?

I’ll post as many photos as I can, please tell me which parts you need a better view of.

A little background on me and Minty... I bought her three years ago with NO knowledge of cars, at all. But I saw her and fell in love. I still have VERY little knowledge on cars but I’m very eager to learn more about her so I can do a lot of this stuff myself. It’s difficult finding people willing to help. So please bare with me 😬😅

[Vanillagurilla]

[mikewilkinson007]

Well it won't be difficult to find help here. That's what these guys do!

Take an overall picture of your engine bay and then a pic of one of the carbs....that will help.

Sounds like she is running rich.
_________________
72 Super - Marina Blue
1641 AH Dual Port
Dual Weber ICT 34's
Bosch 034

Long Gone: 70 Vert, 66, 68, 73SB, 70, 72, 61 Rag and a 64 with a cinder block in the spare tire well.

[Mfrusetta]

[hobbybob517]

please remove the fuel filter from the engine bay,

also check your fuel pump, mine went bad and for some reason put out double the psi, caused it to run rich all the time.
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THE BUILD http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php

[bluebus86]

from photograph, that metal fuel pipe near the inlet of the filter appears to be resting on motor metal. Vibration will wear a hole in it, so move it, clamp it, sheath it.

Also the rear tin piece is full of holes, allowing hot air into the cooling system, carbs. get the holes sealed up. and a breather box would be good for the crank case hose, It appears to be simply stuck out the bottom.

and per other post, move the fuel filter to near the tranny, near the clutch cable. safer there in event of leak.

Are valves adjusted, timing set, and intake manifold checked for leaks yet? that should be done before adjustment of carb.

also linkage needs to be checked, nothing loose? move throttle cable arm from engine bay, observe for even opening of carbs, observe for even full open position. make sure fan house is not loose, if it moves, linkage moves.


good luck, Bug On!
_________________
Help Prevent VW Engine Fires, see this link.....Engine safety wire information

Stop introducing dirt into your oil when adjusting valves ... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=683022

[andk5591]

OK - lets back up....Car was running fine until recently. Last worked on in November. First of all, carbs should NOT require regular adjustments. Once they are set up, you shouldnt need to do anything unless something has been changed or something (like your linkage) came loose.

So now its running poorly - seeing white smoke that doesnt go away...Smells "rich". Putting my money on rings.....

I don't think your carb adjustment is gonna fix this. You need to take it somewhere to get a leakdown and compression test.

Let's see if anyone else feels ths same way.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1914.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[andk5591]

OK - lets back up....Car was running fine until recently. Last worked on in November. First of all, carbs should NOT require regular adjustments. Once they are set up, you shouldnt need to do anything unless something has been changed or something (like your linkage) came loose.

So now its running poorly - seeing white smoke that doesnt go away...Smells "rich". Putting my money on rings.....

I don't think your carb adjustment is gonna fix this. You need to take it somewhere to get a leakdown and compression test.

Let's see if anyone else feels ths same way.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1914.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[Mfrusetta]

Thanks for all the responses, very much appreciated!

Something new within the last hour or so... she idled fine and smoke was seeping a little bit. I decided to drive her to get a coffee and back to see how she was driving and to drive by my local big shop in hopes they were there. (Less than 5miles round trip). Sudden loss of power while driving, still shifts, drove home with SIGNIFICANT less power...

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

[Vanillagurilla]

Start it up and hold a rag over the exhaust exit and rev it up a couple times, look at the rag.. does it look like oil or smell like fuel? Could be alot of different things going on.

[57BLITZ]

Need to take a look at how the linkage cross-bar is no longer on the right-side pivot ball!!!!!!
Fix/adjust the linkage . . . just like O.P. said!!!
Might be missing the bushing and/or the spring by now!
The air filter tops are missing hardware . . . 1/4-20 "wingnuts".
Check to be sure the manifold(s) are tight to the head(s).

[Mfrusetta]

I was driving home from getting coffee. Started off from a stoplight- Fist, second, third gear, driving in third for less than 1/4 mile when she started to lose power and I thought she was dying. So I put her in neutral and was gonna pull over. As I was slowing down I changed my mind and popped her into second, she was still driving but as my foot was pressing the gas pedal to the floor my mph continued to climb but it was crawling... taking me at least 10 seconds to go from 40mph-45mph. Very minuscule acceleration. I came up to another stoplight. First gear sounded normal, as soon as I went into second gear the same sudden loss of power happened and continued even in third and fourth gear. I made it home. Looked at the motor, had quite a bit of movement but nothing noticeably missing or rattling or banging. No new fluids on the ground.

[Danwvw]

Also, you can pull each spark wire one at a time with the engine idling and see that it slows down a little indicating that it is, in fact, firing on that one.
Looks like Weber Carbs IDF's. Normally they are very trouble-free and offer excellent performance.
Got Dellorto on my VW and sometimes I lose a cylinder due to crud getting in a jet. On Dellortos it's usually an Idle jet and the fix is to remove it and spray through it with a spray can of carb cleaner.
Another time a Main Jet clogged when I revved it way up. Found a piece of red shop rag in it.

Spark plugs?
Spark Wires?
Maybe a plug wire came loose.

Here is a video I did showing how to test to find the cylinder that it is not running on.

Link

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1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[Mfrusetta]

Okay so I started her up and took a video, I posted it on YouTube. She has a rattle now that I wasn’t aware of earlier. Hopefully you can hear her okay in the video.

https://youtu.be/AfZWf38tc8s

[Danwvw]

Time to pull the valve covers. It may be a rocker jumped off of a push rod. Let's see a close-up photo of it. I have had that happen on Dual Port VW engines that sill have the stock VW rockers shafts. Rocker 15, Pushrod 2.

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1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!