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beetle starting and idling problem
cray - November 21st, 2005 at 10:19 PM

i have a 1916 pobjoy powered '68 beetle that's having some drama. it will drive smoothly and beautifully for the most part, except after i've been driving it a decent distance, it starts to cough and splutter a bit and if i'm stopped at lights or something like that i have to keep my foot on the accelerator to keep it going.

also, after driving it, it wont start again until the engine cools considerably. but when it is cool, it starts without a problem.

the last time i took the car to an auto-electrician (just a few weeks ago) he pulled the starter motor apart and he said there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

can anyone make any suggestions as to where i should look next?

PrettyBlueBug - November 22nd, 2005 at 08:55 AM

I've just had this happen to my Beetle. Would drive alright for about 20 mins, and then would run rough and want to stall big time. Also had a yukky flat spot when accelerating. Took it to my mechanic and he fixed the points and some other part. As the engine got hotter, they were closing up. Mine drives lovely again now! *touch wood*

cray - November 22nd, 2005 at 11:02 AM

interesting...thanks for the reply :)

PurpleT3 - November 22nd, 2005 at 11:04 AM

Possibly vapour lock at the fuel pump?

Bizarre - November 22nd, 2005 at 11:24 AM

How hot does the motor get???

Could well be coil, condenser, point being affected as it heats up??

Why wont it start again??
It wont fire? or wont turn over?

Can you check to see if you have spark when it wont start?

Have you tried pouring a bit of fuel down the carb when it wont start??

Stanley - November 22nd, 2005 at 11:46 AM

also check the solenoid shut off on the carb...if it's not seated or not functioning it will give you all sorts of drama's.
Just been through it with my type 3 and now it runs like a dream.

fullnoise - November 22nd, 2005 at 12:09 PM

Do you have webers or kadrons on your engine?

cray - November 22nd, 2005 at 04:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bizarre
How hot does the motor get???

Could well be coil, condenser, point being affected as it heats up??


it doesn't seem to get any hotter than ever before when it was running fine, and the coil and 009 were both only put in within the last few hundred clicks

Quote:
Originally posted by Bizarre
Why wont it start again??
It wont fire? or wont turn over?



it turns over, but wont fire

Quote:
Originally posted by Bizarre
Can you check to see if you have spark when it wont start?

Have you tried pouring a bit of fuel down the carb when it wont start??


i havent checked or tried these things, but, as we previously had problems with fuel delivery due to a rusty fuel tank, we have checked to make sure there is fuel coming up through the filter we have in the engine bay

[ Edited on 22-11-2005 by cray ]

cray - November 22nd, 2005 at 04:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by fullnoise
Do you have webers or kadrons on your engine?

sorry, i should have mentioned, it's currently got twin solex 40s on it (the ones that come in the EMPI kit)

Bizarre - November 22nd, 2005 at 05:20 PM

I would really help if you could see if it had spark?

Would at least tell us to go spark or petrol??

compression
spark
fuel

cray - November 22nd, 2005 at 05:44 PM

yeah, i'll check that out the next time i go to my parents' place, the car is there at the moment so i can't really do anything about it right now

cray - December 4th, 2005 at 10:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Pretty_Blue_Bug
I've just had this happen to my Beetle. Would drive alright for about 20 mins, and then would run rough and want to stall big time. Also had a yukky flat spot when accelerating. Took it to my mechanic and he fixed the points and some other part. As the engine got hotter, they were closing up. Mine drives lovely again now! *touch wood*

it seems that this was the same problem i have been experiencing! we sorted this out today and it seems to be running better than ever!

thank you for the suggestion :D

adnesiac - December 4th, 2005 at 10:17 PM

a similar problem that i had with my 74L bug for about a years, was that the choke coil (i think) has an idle earth attached to it, so when the coil gets loose (un screws) the idle earth drops out and the car will stall.

I took my car to about 5 vw places in sydney and nobody could fix it....then one day i was at a mechanics that was working on my bros triumph sprinter, and he says "well you really should screw the coil in tighter, the thing wont idle like that" a year of headaches fixed in a minute!!

anyway, im glad you found the problem early, thank god for forums!!