I thought this problem was related to damp getting in the engine in the winter, as wrapping a towel around the distrib. seemed to fix it.

But the past week, with warm dry mornings, I've had a real problem getting it to start - turns over and over but doesn't fire, which I think means ignition or fuel.

Once I've got it going though its fine for the rest of the day - if it was one of the above I would think it would cause problems all day long?

I've checked the power to the coil = OK, and the spark at the coil = good white spark, so just wondering if there's any more obscure causes?

Ta
Ian

Has it been tuned recently?

My kombi requires a few pumps of the accelerator before it will start, but I have the much maligned weber progressive so it probably needs the extra fuel to make up for what condenses out on the intake manifold when cold.

Probably fine for the rest of the day just because the engine is still warm.

Anymore info? Is it FI, carb? If carbs are they stock etc?
If it's only first thing that's a problem, it could be non function chokes or similar, or could fuel be leaking away over night??
Does pumping the accelerator a few times help starting? make it worse?
Andy
:thumb

i had this problem in my 75 kombi and turned out to be the condenser on the dizzy and also my battery was a about 2 years old.

hey
when ur got it going see what volts are begin pumped thorugh the generator/alternator should be around 12-13 volts
and also take out a spark plug and check the spark!?!
are you parked on a hill overnight???
cheers
rhys

Belated thanks for the replies.

I have standard carbs. Pumping accelerator makes no difference.

I've narrowed it down to the distributor as there was a spark at the coil but no spark at the plugs - as an aside, how difficult is it to remove the spark plug from a Kombi without it dropping out of your wrench and disappearing down the gap under the tin?!

Here is a solution for that problem that I was very pleased with myself over - after trying for 30 mins to jam my finger down the hole and wobble plug back up and out, I finally got a pair of latex gloves on, put a drop of super glue on the finger tip, pressed my finger tip against the spark plug, waited for it to set, then gently pulled my finger back up and out still with plug glued in place!!

Anyway I'm getting the dizzy checked tomorrow so should have a fix hopefully.

Thanks again

Ian

you could also try a telescopic magnetic tool. i found the one i dropped this way along with 2 extras that had been dropped by Noah.

I bought a "Special tool" from supercheap only a few bucks.

Its like a screwdriver shaped "thing" made entirely out of rubber and on the end it has a hole down the centre to push over the plug.

But if latex does it for ya?.....:P