Motor pinging HELP

[Eric Lundin]

I have a 74 super with a 1600 duel port.
I have set the timing 5 after TDC and the motor pings.
and I also tried setting it at .30 degrees at 2500 RPM and sill pings.
I have set all of the valves at 6 thousands
every thing I tried does not work. I even tried setting it .07 degrees and still pings. the carb I have is a 34pic4 the car came from California and it is a auto stick all stock motor. I took it to a VW mechanic and he is just as puzzled as I am I need HELP PLEASE.


Thanks Eric

[Cusser]

[bluebus86]

did this ping prior or is this a new occurrence?

are you checking timing statically or with a strobe light?

is motor overheating?

Good Luck, Bug On!
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[bhartwell59]

I suppose you've tried higher octane gas... does it still ping?
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'74 Zambezi green Ghia vert, autostick, 101k
'87 Jeep Wrangler, 4.2, 330k

[Eric Lundin]

I used a Mac advance timing light .
yes the motor got hot when I set it to 7.5 degree then set it to 5 degrees and it ran ok went for a ride and still pinged both me and the mechanic are stumped.
so I left to go home and I was loosing power but I made it home and put it away tell tomorrow the mechanic is going to try to help figure it and let me know.

[David_nc_72std]

Have you verified that the vacuum canister is not leaking, and that both the vacuum advance and mechanical advance are working properly?

Do you have points and condenser, or electronic ignition? You might want to try replacing the condenser, a bad one of those can cause some odd ignition problems., and the last few years the quality of condensers has not been all that great.

[Glenn]

[VW_Jimbo]

[Eric Lundin]

I have a single vacuum duel advance distributer. the 34pic4 carb was new
from Tim at VOLKSBIZ,i don't have the egr on the car I can put it on if it will help.

[Glenn]

[ashman40]

[Eric Lundin]

The number on my distributor is 043 905 205
If this not the right distributor were would i find the correct number of the one i need.

[mukluk]

[Eric Lundin]

We tried all the of the timing 7.5 and TDC and 30 degrees at 2500 RPM
I called a shop in California and he said to use the 30 degrees at 2500
we tried that and it still pings.
so do I need to look at getting the distributor rebuilt.

[Ricksurfin]

30 degrees at full advance with vacuum disconnected and plugged. At 2500 rpm, you might not be at full advance, so you may be getting too much advance. Try increasing rpm and then setting timing.

[sb001]

1974 year actually did use SVDA distributors, I could confirm this if the Old Volks Home site was not down at the moment.
So you probably have the correct distributor, but it needs to be set at 7.5 BEFORE TDC. If this makes it run hot, you may have other issues that need addressing.

EDIT: I tried looking up your distributor on the Bosch tuneup chart here, and it lists your distributor as being for a 74 MANUAL, not autostick. (The autostick version is listed in the chart as 043905205-A.) Usually there is a fairly significant difference in advance curves between the manual and autostick distributors for the same year, but the chart shows them being exactly the same. I just don't think that is correct. Can you pop the cap off your distributor and give us the small 3 digit number imprinted on the canister arm that protrudes into the distributor?
_________________
I'm the humblest guy on this board.

1969 autostick sedan, family owned since new
1600 SP engine
Solex 30 PICT 3 carburetor
Bosch 113905205AE autostick distributor

[Glenn]

We need the full part number.

Short of that, set the timing to 30° btdc @ 3500 with the vacuum hose disconnected.

If it needs a rebuild, I've been doing them for 18 years.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

[sb001]

One more thing-- when you are checking timing at full throttle BE SURE YOU HAVE THE VACUUM ADVANCE HOSE DISCONNECTED AND PLUGGED!! If you are checking this with your vacuum hose connected, you will be setting timing way retarded from what it should be! At full throttle the vacuum advance adds about another 10 degrees or so of advance- so you want full advance with the vacuum hose connected to be around 40-41 BTDC or so.

Just disconnect and plug that vacuum hose, then pull the throttle arm until the crank pulley does not spin around anymore-- don't get too hung up on what your RPMs are there-- and then rotate the distributor so that you are set to 30 BTDC. Then let it fall back to idle, vacuum hose still disconnected, and see what timing you get there. It should be around 7.5 BTDC.
_________________
I'm the humblest guy on this board.

1969 autostick sedan, family owned since new
1600 SP engine
Solex 30 PICT 3 carburetor
Bosch 113905205AE autostick distributor

[Eric Lundin]

The full # is
0231 170 034 043 905 205
The # on the arm is 579
Glen I did forget that you started to do aluminum Distributors
can I send it to you and see if needs a rebuild. can you send me your address and I will send it out. send to [email protected]

[Pruneman99]

I doubt the pinging is caused by the distributor. Usually a bad distributor just makes it run like crap. Do you see timing scatter when you put the timing light on it?

Pinging is commonly caused by too high compression ratio or poor deck height (as long as the timing is verifed correct and not too far advanced)

So, is this engine new? New to you? Is the pinging a new symptom? Or is it an unknown engine that has always pinged since you've gotten it?