Rough idle

[75baja714]

Been chasing a rough idol in my 75. I’m running a stock 1835 with a idf 40 on top of it. Decided to check my timing because of a exhaust pop. Now no matter how I set the timing it’s a constant gallop like of a horse. I can’t seem to get it back to the point where it was just a few random pops. Another question I have is why does my distributor seem to be in a much different spot then
Others for cylinder one like a 180 degree difference the normal .

[Dale M.]

For starters a 1835 is not stock.... A 1600 was probably the biggest type I stock engine made (unless it's a a type 4) ....

And center mount Weber with out manifold heat is going to be a problem you can't solve...

Distributor 180 degrees out means who ever built the engine got the distributor drive gear in wrong during build.... Possible solutions are to just leave it that way and be sure firing order is correct for new location of #1 onwards ...Or pull distributor and reorient dist. drive gear to crankshaft, or remove dist. remove drive pin and reorient gear at base of dist. 180° and reinstall pin and be sure to redo firing order.... In my opinion realigning dist. drive gear to VW's correct indexing on crank shaft is proper fix...

And about timing... Usually a static setting of about 7.5° static is good for initial start up, and then set timing between 28° and 32° at about 3000RPM and let idle advance fall where it may, this is assuming vacuum and or centrifugal advance is function properly....

The galloping may not be a ignition issue but may be a carburetor or vacuum leak issue...
_________________
“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.

"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[dustymojave]

I agree entirely with Dale here. He's smarter than he looks.

I would add that IF you decide to re-orient your distributor drive, and there is a puller designed to pull that shaft out, know that there are 2 shims on the bottom of that shaft that WILL fall into the bottom of the case unless you add a strong magnet to the puller. Those 2 shims MUST go back in place as you re-assemble the shaft. And the "How To Rebuild Your VW Engine book is WRONG on the orientation of that shaft for assembly.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[oprn]

A galloping or loping idle could well be a pig rich idle condition. The stock Solex does that with full choke on.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[earthquake]

Not the best way to do it but you could drive out the pin on the distributor drive dog plate on the distributor itself and turn it around 180° if you don't want to pull the distributor drive in the case.
As for your surging, spray some starting fluid on the manifold seals and base of the manifold/port to see if you have a intake vacuum leak, it should speed up a bit if you have a leak.

eQ
_________________
74 CLASS 11 LOOK-A-LIKE
69 DUNE BUGGY
79 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT II
05 SCION XB SERIES RELEASE 2[#437]
95 Chevy C3500 dually
98 Ford E150
Link to Kelly J. Nolte 3/20/53 - 11/6/08
https://time-zonelabs.blogspot.com/p/about-kelly.html
DEATH TO CHINGERS!
[From a military recruitment poster in the novel "The Stainless Steel Rat" By Harry Harrison]

[75baja714]

The carb does have heat risers. Not flanged where they are suppose to be like stock. But they are there. Cheap Chinese exhaust with flanges right next to the exhaust ports. Ive adjusted valves 006 even tho last night I did take a magnet and it stuck to my pushrods so I’m guessing they are steel or chromolly. So should I go for 001?!? For clearance. I’m ok with the distributor being where it is as long as that’s not affecting my performance which it doesn’t seem like it ever has. Truly I never did clean the carb when I installed. I wonder if it times to take it off and do a cleaning or maybe a rebuilding less then a few hundred miles on the carb. No matter how tuned in I get the carb. It still gallops so I’m a bit lost. Just trying to play process of elimination. Replaced plugs. Adjusted valves. Timed the motor is basically where I am. I’ll have to check the manifold and the manifold port as I have never checked this before yet.

[Wulfthang]

This is maybe a "out there"question but since we already know the engine isn't stock, does it have a high performance cam? If the cam has a lot of overlap, it can cause an engine to sound lopey like it's just galloping along at a nice canter.

[75baja714]

Wish I was able to answer that. Sorry.

[oprn]

Those heat riser connections are basically there to hold the intake manifold up, sometimes they are not even drilled through on the cheap ones. Even when they are the pressure is equal on both sides so very little to no flow is happening. There may be a little back and forth flow at idle but nothing much above that. It is common for the small tube on the intake to be plugged but your intake looks new so that should not be the problem.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[75baja714]

Yeah I know . I realized this after I installed the heat risers. They did have holes. And I understand they don’t do much from my reads here. I played with the timing a bit last. rework as I was frustrated last time I worked on it and took a break. I got 30 degrees total advanced. Still gonna pick up some starter fluid and spray the ports for intake. if the vacuum is fine do you think next step would be clean carb. Does the carb need a rebuild if it has minimal usage. Or is this something I’ll find when I take them apart for cleaning. The Weber was brand new when I got it from redline. Anyone have a good read for dummies for cleaning and rebuilding the carb.

[Wulfthang]

[75baja714]

O no I apologize that’s total advance. BTDC 7.5 sorry a bit new to this.

[Mike E.]

Those carbs are really touchy at idle. There are several youtube videos on how to get the passages clean and properly set the idle. The ports are tiny and can easily get plugged. It takes very little movement on the idle speed screw to take the carb out of its "idle circuit".

Are all 4 exhaust pipes the same temp when it's at idle? If one bank is cooler than the other it would be an indication that the carb is not tuned properly at idle or has a blockage. That carb is essentially two semi separate 1 barrel carbs. With 1 barrel feeding each side of the engine.

[75baja714]

Yeah. Haven’t had much experience with them. Last time I ran 100 miles no problem but a non consistent pops from the exhaust. My main seal busted and I took it to the shop. When they got to the main seal they notice that the crankshaft dowels were loose so we removed and drilled for 11/32s still four of them but larger. Got everything all back together and now I’m chasing this issues. I have not taken a temp gun to the exhaust yet but i will give it a try later tonight see where I am and and report.

[75baja714]

Didn’t grab starter fluid I’ll do that this weekend. But as far as the different sides of the exhaust I did some pictures and took a video of it running but I cant post it say corrupt or to big. This was after 3 minutes of running. A bit of a difference

[Mike E.]

[Mike E.]

This guy is a little long but really describes the fuel flow through the carb, why it get's plugged and how to clean it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzf18S-HVOg&t=2s

This is an Empi carb and video, but the HPMX is a copy of a Weber so the description of components and function is the same. It may help you re-set everything back to a base point after you have cleaned the idle circuits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvQo-akB69U

[YDBD]

Does the "Flamethrower" dizzy have a module or points?

Had a module go bad and went back to points-forever.
_________________
'56 pan Dune Buggy since '69
don't live in the past...but when I did:
'67 bug
'64 baja
'60 dune buggy
'73 Personenkraftwagen Type 182 "Thing"

[75baja714]

[Wulfthang]

That looks like a magnet type ignitor. A Hall Effect transistor inside a epoxy case with a magnet rotating past it to open/close it just like points but without the fuss and mess. Most of the time, they either work or they don't. I'm getting ready to replace the dual points in my Mallory centrifugal advance distributor with the same thing. (But I'll carry the old points and plate in my gear!!)