Hi there,

I have this bad thing going on with my vw. It seems to run fine but if I try to head through the city and get stuck in traffic, it will start backfiring and blowing smoke (Yeay).
I'm not that great with engines myself and I don't have access to any good tools or workspace right now so I have to take it to someone but the problem is it's really hard to replicate. When I take it somewhere to get looked at nothing but a little popping happens.

Any ideas what might be causing this? it's really frustrating because this car has been an awesome reliable daily driver for years and now it seems no one can figure it out.
My car's a 70s model auto.

Any ideas would be great!
Thanks
Pete

Do you know what carbs you have and if they have electric chokes??maybe one of the chokes is sticking on ??

Pretty sure they are electric, but the choke definitely comes off and it idles nice for awhile after it has warmed up.
It's not till after a while stuck in traffic that it starts going bad so I'm guessing it has something to do with it heating up there.

A mate of mine had a karmann ghia that did a similar thing in the end it started to just stop.he did everything turned out to be his condenser.

^^^^^ mmmmmmmmm....... you could have something there
I had a similar experience where it would back fire under load when warm.
Mine tuned out to be coil.

What colour is the smoke? Black, Blue or White? Dave

I'm not sure of the smoke color since it has always happened at night. I'll see if I can get it to do it again during the day and see how it turns out.
As for the could, I don't think I've ever changed it so it might be getting a bit old. Also I added an amp to the car so could that put extra strain on it ?

Do the condenser while your at it they are not expensive.

Yeah I'm gonna order that as well. I'll see how it goes.

I had a similar issue with my fastback. The plate in the distributor on which the points sat was loose. Replaced the distributor and back to normal again.

Thanks, I'll check that out too.
Hey I was going to grab a condenser and I was asked what type of distributor i have. I'm pretty sure it's the stock standard, I've never changed it but is there a way of identifying if it's ( 094, 050 or 009 )?

Should have a part number on the distributor body where the last 3 digits corresponds to one of those codes.

Do you know if it has vacuum advance? (a canister connected to the side with a little vacuum tube going to your carburettor)

Cool I found the number, it's an 009.

I've never changed the condenser before, is it a tricky one to change?

Hi

It could be your needle & seat in the carbs dripping and flooding the motor.

Steve

Before you go changing your condenser, have a look at the condition of the points. If the condenser is faulty, the points will be burnt out.
I would suggest checking the point condition and gap first. Replace or adjust if necessary and then adjust the timing.
The problem you are experiencing could be of a dozen common problems that could be solved with a good tune up first. At least eliminate the usual suspects first!
Also check that the distributor is fitted correctly. i.e. Number 1 cylinder (identified by the notch on the distributor housing) firing the #1 spark plug.
Dave

Thanks Dave,

It's been tuned up twice this year by two different mechanics, it's just such an intermittent problem that neither of them picked it up...
It generally sounds great, until this problem kicks in and then it sounds terrible and becomes a smoke machine . Also I have electronic points which have been pretty good so far.

Pete.

The LH side manifold and carb should EACH have a small vacuum hose connection point, on their left sides. These must be blocked/sealed somehow (eg. hose with a nail in it), as there is no vacuum adv unit on a 009. Leaky or missing hoses may casue backfire (and overheating).
(009 may not be the best choice for an auto., but if it works...?)
There should also be a larger vac. ('Balance') pipe down the front of engine (rear as you face it) between the two manifolds.
Whitish smoke may = ATF burning -- sucked back via that Balance pipe (connection right down at front rhs).
Bluish-grey smoke = engine oil; blackish-grey smoke = fuel; though I think it is sometimes hard to tell the difference.

Hey thanks Brutus!
I looked up a few things on the 009 distributer and found it could be the cause of this serious flat spot I have when accelerating up to speed. This is an issue that has plagued me since I bought the car and it seems no amount of carby tweaking has fixed it. Great I'm going to check that out too!

Hey by the way, I changed the distributor for a new one and haven't had any issues since!
Thanks for all the help!

Have you checked the exhaust maniflod gaskets - had a Type3 which when coming back off acceleration or going to change gears under load backfired - it was great in fact as flames blew out the hot dog muffler but you only saw them in the dark - bugger.

Was the exhaust manifold gaskets (one or two that ) were stuffed so got them replaced and Boris didn't fart any more