This morning my Beetle did not want to start. Took 15 minutes to finally fire her up. Usually there's no smoke from her rear end, but there was this morning which I'm guessing was just burnt oil. 🙁
Since having new cylinders/pistons the engine is sitting differently to how it was when I bought her, and now the large pipe from the air cleaner that goes out the bottom of the engine doesn't fit properly. There's a gap because it doesn't quite reach the hole. Could this be why she didn't want to start (it was c-c-c-cold this morning) and why she suddenly shudders whilst I'm waiting at lights, almost like she wants to stall?
I've got her booked in for Thursday as I've got new clutch and pressure plates for her, so any suggestions as to why she's misbehaving would be much appreciated.... that way I'll know what to tell the mechanic, as I'm still in the learning process of Beetle-ness!
Thanxnn[ Edited on 26/9/2005 by Pretty_Blue_Bug ]
The engine shouldn't sit differently no matter what! Was the transmission/engine dropped out at the same time? Just wondering if the alignment is out of whack.
Can you describe the type of shudder the engine makes a little better? This may hold some answers.
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
The engine was removed when the pistons and cylinders were replaced, and the RHS head was replaced too. I only assume the engine is sitting a bit differently because the big pipe used to fit fine both ends, and now it doesn't! There's about a cm gap and it just won't make it to the bottom.
The shudder only happens when I have to stop at lights, etc. She's revving fine, and then it shudders and almost cuts out, and then goes back to revving fine. It's quite random though, doesn't happen every time I stop.
This morning was the first time I've had any trouble getting her to start though... I didn't like it. 🙁
Sounds like the engine isn't aligned with the transmission correctly, which I'm actually having trouble envisaging. Hmm..
When was the last time the bottom end was done on your engine?
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
I have absolutely no idea.... I could check back through my miriad of receipts but I wouldn't know what I'd be looking for. 😢
I'll get the mechanic to make sure everything is aligned properly when he removes and refits engine again on Thursday.
I just want to be able to drive me Beetle and enjoy it, not worry all the time that something is going to break!
sounds like carby issues to me. The smoke was lots of unburnt fuel and the shuddering is something to do with idle settings probably. The shuddering is just the engine not running properly, don't at low revs it feels scary but it's probably ok. Get your mechanic to tune her properly and she'll be fine.
Since having new cylinders, there's been no smoke whatsoever until this morning (it's been great seeing clearly in my mirrors! Hahaha)
I guess she just wanted to stay snuggled under her warm cover, and not driven in the cold! 😉
I'll see about getting a new pipe thing too, but will it be the same length as the one on now that doesn't fit? Or will everything fit ok when they remove and refit engine on Thurs?
Does it only do it when cold or hot as well ?
How is the fuel consumption ?
does the clutch shudder in every gear including reverse ?
- It seems to shudder when engine cold or hot... mostly when it's hot, though it's kinda random.
- Fuel consumption is same as always (not sure how many miles to a tank yet, am too scared to run it down low!)
- Clutch plates are stuffed, hence why I'm getting them replaced with my nice new ones! It slips when in gear and has a 'flat spot' type feeling when accelerating.
Bug_racer wrote:Does it only do it when cold or hot as well ?
How is the fuel consumption ?
does the clutch shudder in every gear including reverse ?
so the engine is coming out for that and all should be checked and tuned as she is reassembled
just get it done....good luck...that blue is so pretty !
Karmen
56 oval resto 60 Cal KG
58 & 62 beetle parting. 74 panel parting
63 Baja 80 GLD parting
58 donor split 11 window 63 Splitty sgle cab /son's
96 Seat Cordoba GLX daily drvr.
Yeah, I love the blue too! :P
Will see how everything goes on Thurs.... but atleast I can tell the mechanic a few things to make sure of when reassembling!
I've set myself a task tonight.... will go through all the receipts going back to when she was first bought new, and enter everything into my pc so it'll be easier to look at when things were done to my Bug! At the moment the receipts are just stuffed into her original folder along with service book, etc..... fun-o! :o
karmen wrote:so the engine is coming out for that and all should be checked and tuned as she is reassembled
just get it done....good luck...that blue is so pretty !
nn[ Edited on 19/9/2005 by Pretty_Blue_Bug ]
Damn... 🙁
Just tried to start my Bug before, and it took a good couple of minutes trying before she'd finally turn over..... the starter motor still sounds healthy though, it's not slowed or anything.... any ideas?
i find i get smoke some mornings, but only since putting on the zoom tube..., and i'v also had the wanting to stall at the lights at random times.., put it down to the carby - needing a tune... which io REALLY should do :| but latley adolf has been good... i think he knows whats in store for him 🙂
Tagedeezee Heezy
id say carby issues too....ive had lots of dramas with my carby. id get a carby kit and rebuild the carby (just cause u dont know when it was done last) could have a faulty needle and seat valve which is leaking fuel into engine while engine is off which floods the cylinders and then u get smoke when it finally fires.if your needle and seat is sticking it would explain wanting to stall etc. rebuild your carby and give it a good tune.
62/60 model bug eye baja bug, (Full Build in Progress)
1974 Chevrolet Luv
1970 MK2 Ford Cortina GT
1979 Yamaha RX125 Two Stroke tracker project.
2004 Harley Davidson Sportster XL Custom
Don't have the money to rebuild the carby, I hate to think how much I've spent on this pretty 'lil Bug since I'ver had her. 😢 But I'll see about getting her tuned properly on Thurs when she's getting fixed.
i'v got a carby here off a 1500, or 1600 if u need it... was good last timeit was run, or the one off my 1600 TP when i finally get the weber on🙂 all mine needs isa tune, and it'd B cheap 🙂
Tagedeezee Heezy
is it lacking any power?
Our beetle lost a bit of power and was blowing a heap of smoke on start up...
found out today that its running on 3 cylinders... 🙂
Yeah she's losing power, but that's because of the clutch slipping.
🙂 When I start her up, there's usually no smoke... except for this morning's episode.
It wouldn't want to be the cylinders or anything to do with them as they've only just been replaced for brand new bits!
Will see what the verdict is on Thursday.... hopefully it's just a matter of a damn good tune!
And maybe a bit of :sandrine
😉
DoNkEy wrote:is it lacking any power?
Our beetle lost a bit of power and was blowing a heap of smoke on start up...
found out today that its running on 3 cylinders... 🙂
only about 30 bucks for a rebuild kit. you could do it yourself. its a peice of piss
62/60 model bug eye baja bug, (Full Build in Progress)
1974 Chevrolet Luv
1970 MK2 Ford Cortina GT
1979 Yamaha RX125 Two Stroke tracker project.
2004 Harley Davidson Sportster XL Custom
Anthiron wrote:only about 30 bucks for a rebuild kit. you could do it yourself. its a peice of piss
yep, just make sure you have a clean workspace to lay all the pieces down in order. i sticky taped mine to a big piece of cardboard so it looked like the exploded diagram that comes with the kit. was a lot easier than i thaught it would be.
just needed to borrow an air hose to blow all the holes clean
try some carby cleaner too - i did that to mine and it made a noticable difference. Then, a week later, do it again to clean up any crap that's possibly loosened up. I ended up using half of the can.. just gotta keep revving the engine otherwise it'll die pretty quick when you're spraying the cleaner in.. make sure to hit all theway around the inside of the throat and butterflys etc...
...and Robert's ya father's brother...
Hi,
I had the same problem with the not starting first time and stalling at lights (but fine when running), and like Donkey I discovered the car was running on 3 cylinders (no smoke though). My beetle had a rebuild only 4-5 years ago, and the beetle's only done 2000miles since then. My engine is out of the car at the moment, I'm about to drive down to the mechanics to find out what the issue is, so I'll let you know.
I'll ask while I'm down there for any suggestions you could take to the mechanic.
I'm in the same situation, rapidly trying to learn everything about beetles, since I've only had mine for a month, so I understand perfectly what you're worried about! I went to 3 different 'experts' and had three different opinions on what's wrong! It's really freaky (not to mention expensive)!
Best of luck.nn[ Edited on 20-9-2005 by visitor ]
Please do let me know!!
🙂
And good luck with yours!
visitor wrote:Hi,
I had the same problem with the not starting first time and stalling at lights (but fine when running), and like Donkey I discovered the car was running on 3 cylinders (no smoke though). My beetle had a rebuild only 4-5 years ago, and the beetle's only done 2000miles since then. My engine is out of the car at the moment, I'm about to drive down to the mechanics to find out what the issue is, so I'll let you know.
I'll ask while I'm down there for any suggestions you could take to the mechanic.
I'm in the same situation, rapidly trying to learn everything about beetles, since I've only had mine for a month, so I understand perfectly what you're worried about! I went to 3 different 'experts' and had three different opinions on what's wrong! It's really freaky (not to mention expensive)!
Best of luck.nn[ Edited on 20-9-2005 by visitor ]
Eeeek!!
She started fine yesterday morning and afternoon, even drove beautifully (apart from lack of power from clutch)....
But this morning she decided to play silly buggers BIG TIME!
Started fine, cruising to work (gotta love school hols.... no traffic!) and after half an hour of driving all of a sudden no power at all and BANG! She starts backfiring full on and really loud, with or without my foot on the pedal. I pulled over, opened engine lid and everything looked fine inside... it was so sudden I thought a hose had come off or something! Anyway since I was only 10 mins from work, I jumped back in, started her up (starts fine again) and just when I think I'm going to have a fun 10 mins limping my pretty Beetle to work, she doesn't backfire at all until I pull in the driveway.
Carby issues? Is there anything I can do before I have to leave work at 5pm? I don't want to panic driving home! It's like she knows the nice man is going to see her tomorrow when clutch is getting replaced, so she'll make him earn his money by giving him a few more things to fix..... it's all well and good if I had the extra $$! 🥲
How are your spark plugs and leads? They can cause some really big problems.
I never used to like looking at my motor at night. All the pretty blue light on the outside of my spark plug leads.
A loose lead can cause backfiring and starting problems. Not the most likely candidate, but it only takes a minute to check they are all plugged in.
Like its been said, carby rebuilds are dead easy. And can be very worthwhile. You could have clogged jets, crud in the float bowl, a leak somewhere etc.
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
I checked the fuel filter and there doesn't seem to be any crap in it.
I'm always checking the spark plug leads, and they're all good.
Might as well get my mechanic to do carby work tomorrow too, since my Beetle will be there! :P
Thanx everyone for your info, we'll see how she is tomorrow night when I pick her up! :kiss 🙂
i think u have major shit stuck in your carby jets. ive had tons of issues like this from dirt and stuff getting in offroad.
starving of fuel so it back fires cause very little fuel can get past the blockage in the jet. loss of power cause it hasnt got the fuel to burn properly. your engine will run hotter if its running lean also.
62/60 model bug eye baja bug, (Full Build in Progress)
1974 Chevrolet Luv
1970 MK2 Ford Cortina GT
1979 Yamaha RX125 Two Stroke tracker project.
2004 Harley Davidson Sportster XL Custom
I should still be able to drive it tonight though like that, won't I? I don't want damage anything else!! :duh
If an aircooled vw engine runs lean for a long time you may drop a valve seat which means you'll need a head rebuild ($$). I very much doubt this will happen though just for the trip home because if its been running lean since this problem started, it should still survive until you get to the mechanic!
Clutch shudder can be due to oil on the flywheel/clutch plate surface, stuffed clutch or pressure plate, or incorrect bowden tube (flexible tube that the cable runs in just before the gearbox) or cable adjustment. OR a combination of all!
The intermittent poor running is difficult to diagnose - to break it down very simply an engine needs spark and fuel to run. The proposed problems mentioned above regarding "spark" are degraded leads/plugs or loose connections of leads, fouled plugs (inside of spark plugs covered in carbon/crap), coil malfunction (not likely though as it would probably just stop altogether), burnt points in distributor (not likely to run poorly intermittently - would be all the time), condensor malfunction (worth replacing as it is easy and relatively cheap - I had the same sort of intermittent problems (without backfiring though) when mine was on the way out).
Re. fuel supply - well you've checked fuel filter and lines....there is obviously fuel getting to the carb otherwise it wouldn't run at all. Clogged jets could be the culprit. Air leak around manifold (carb to manifold, or manifold to head) - doesn't sound like this is the problem though.
Hmmm...intermittent problems are always hard to determine what the cause is! Best of luck, the above is just some preliminary thoughts.
Thanx heaps for your info Das! 🙂
I've already had one head rebuilt, and the other one replaced brand new.... so I don't want anything to happen again there!
My clutch plate and pressure plate are stuffed, I can't wait for my new ones to be put in! They were a hard thing to source, being for a stickshift auto... but it will be good. :thumb
My Beetle had new spark plug leads and distributor not long after I bought her.... everything feels very tight there.
I've got a feeling it's the jets, but I called the mechanic this morning and he'll check everything.
She hasn't been running lean at all, it was such a sudden thing this morning.... as long as I can get home (40min drive) I'll be happy... and will be driving so slowly! Hahaha, lucky I'm in a 'lil ol' Bug to get away with it! :P
