'67 Beetle shudders / jerks and loses power

[jml01]

All-

I'm seeking the advice of this forum for an issue I'm having with my bug. I've only had the vehicle for a few months and I'm using it as my daily driver. I'm pretty new to VWs, but I'm quickly learning.

I posted about a problem I was having a while back about my clutch shuddering when I changed gears. The bug was running perfectly except for this, but I went ahead and decided to change the clutch. Well, when I did my first engine-pull to change the clutch and trans mount, I bent/broke the fuel line that goes through the firewall, and had to patch it up with what was left and some rubber fuel line. No problem, I suppose.

So while I was waiting on my new fuel line I noticed that when the engine got hot, the car would start to shudder a bit. I noticed the patched-up fuel line was resting on the exhaust and figured gas was heating up and that was the problem, so I quickly got the fuel line swapped out and figured that would be the end of it.

Since I changed out the fuel line, though, I've just run into more problems. It ran smoothly for a couple of days, but then I went on about a 45-minute long drive and towards the end it started cutting out really bad, popping/backfiring while I was accelerating and I was lucky to make it home. My wife claims this started after I hit a bump, but I was on the phone and didn't notice.

Since that drive, it has gotten only a little better, but I can't drive for more than 5 minutes without losing power (especially up hills) and the car jerking when I'm trying to accelerate. I can get to where I'm going if it's less than a few miles, but I'm scared to risk driving any further.

I've done the following:
Adjusted valves (front ones were tight)
Changed spark plugs (They were kind of black, I set my carb to run less rich)
Changed ignition points (Barely had any gap and they were black with gunk)
Changed the oil
Pulled off carb and cleaned throughly

Each one of these seemed to help a little at the time, then I'd drive for 10 minutes and be losing power and it would quit. There were a couple of times when I couldn't start it back, it would just rev a couple of times and die and I'd have to wait an hour or so to fire it up. But for the most part, the idle has sounded good, just when I accelerate it starts to cut out especially when I'm low in my gears.

I'm thinking of doing in the near future:
Taking it to get timing set properly
Change the condenser and coil
Check for frayed wires in engine bay and repair

I'm pretty stumped, though so I'm open to suggestions on which direction I should start in.

Thanks,
Josh

[Pruneman99]

Id suspect when you were messing with the fuel lines junk got washed into the carb. When you cleaned it out, did you use compressed air to blow out the carb, or just can o' cleaner?

[jml01]

[jml01]

I've been finding small amounts of oil pooling up in my engine compartment and never knew where it was coming from until I put my carb back on. I guess the contrast helped me notice its coming from my air cleaner? Any chance that's contributing to the problem?

[vwoldbug]

When you had the top off of the carberator did you take the needle valve out and blow it out and check for dirt .

[KTPhil]

Carb cleaners will destroy rubber parts, so hopefully you removed the accel pump and choke unloader diaphragms.

Did you shake the internal balls loose?

Replacement float valves are almost all junk; hopefully you kept the old one.

Fuel pump output ok?

[gt1953]

In the event you replace stuff do it one item at a time. Log your activity. Run it, did it solve the problem?
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[jml01]

Okay tell me if I'm way off base here but I think it's an issue with my distributor. I was attempting to check the timing today and I noticed that I can make a full rotation of my engine without the test light going off. I've created some videos of the issue:


Link



Link


As you can see from the first video, I can make a full rotation of the engine without the test light going off. I even closed the points gap with a screwdriver and nothing happened.

How does this happen?

On a separate note, can someone tell me where to find the engine ID number?

Everything I've seen published says I should find it at the base of the generator mount, but it's just not there:

Thanks everyone for your help so far!!!

[Pruneman99]

Are you hooked up to the - side of the coil?

Replacement case. There won't be any numbers.

[jml01]

[calvinater]

Have you checked the dwell on the points? Checked fuel pump outflow?
_________________
"Albatross"!

[Pruneman99]

Are your points opening? You can use a matchbook cover to set them close enough. Make sure the rubbing block is "on the cam" when you set the gap. Use a dwell meter to set final dwell.

[Sharp64]

Make sure your condenser is tight. If it’s loose it can ground out and cause similar symptoms.
_________________
1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[jml01]

[Sharp64]

When its running, grab hold of the distributor and wiggle it around. If you get a jolt, its grounding out.
_________________
1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[type1abody]

Condenser or the ground wire that runs from the plate to the backside of one of the screws that hold on the vacuum advance diaphram is loose, corroded.

[mukluk]

Your test light will turn on and off with the points opening and closing only if you actually connect the green condenser wire to the coil negative terminal.
_________________
1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"