Bug keeps dying

Hi all-

I'm still having issues with my '73 Super. The car died on me last 2
weeks ago. Last weekend, I cleaned the dist. cap and she turned over.
I changed out the rotor, cap and points. Today, I checked the dwell,
which was 25 degrees exact. The idle was set to 800 RPMS (which seems
to be the highest setting I can get it to). I also, set the timing to
5 ATDC (dual vac hoses). I took her for a 3 mile test drive and she
was running well. I then took her for another test drive on a more
open road and got her up to 50 MPH. She died on me again in the same
fashion after about 6 miles.

All of a sudden there is a loss of acceleration and then she dies. I
checked the engine bay and the center wire from the coil looked a
soupy, almost like it was melting. The engine overall did not seem any
hotter than normal. In the past few months I have changed the oil with
20W-50 Castrol High Mileage, replaced the ignition wires, replaced the
points, rotor, amd cap. Any thoughts?

Looking back through the archive of this group, I'm thinking a bad
coil. But is there anything else I should look into? Maybe the
condensor?

Thanks in advance for any help. If I can't figure it out myself, it's
going to a mechanic.

Houdsie

Houdsie wrote:
> Hi all-
>
> I'm still having issues with my '73 Super. The car died on me last 2
> weeks ago. Last weekend, I cleaned the dist. cap and she turned over.
> I changed out the rotor, cap and points. Today, I checked the dwell,
> which was 25 degrees exact. The idle was set to 800 RPMS (which seems
> to be the highest setting I can get it to). I also, set the timing to
> 5 ATDC (dual vac hoses). I took her for a 3 mile test drive and she
> was running well. I then took her for another test drive on a more
> open road and got her up to 50 MPH. She died on me again in the same
> fashion after about 6 miles.
>
> All of a sudden there is a loss of acceleration and then she dies. I
> checked the engine bay and the center wire from the coil looked a
> soupy, almost like it was melting. The engine overall did not seem any
> hotter than normal. In the past few months I have changed the oil with
> 20W-50 Castrol High Mileage, replaced the ignition wires, replaced the
> points, rotor, amd cap. Any thoughts?
>
> Looking back through the archive of this group, I'm thinking a bad
> coil. But is there anything else I should look into? Maybe the
> condensor?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help. If I can't figure it out myself, it's
> going to a mechanic.
>
> Houdsie
>

Did you set the point gap properly? lubed the distributor shaft where
the points ride against it?

jan

I did set the point gap to the correct setting. I did not grease the
connection point, though.

Houdsie wrote:
> I did set the point gap to the correct setting. I did not grease the
> connection point, though.

if it was bone dry, and the shaft had like surface rust on it, it would
eat the points friction bit pretty fast, and the gap would eventually
close.

How about gas tank ventilation? The next time it happens, RUN to the gas
cap, and open it. Hear a sudden whoosh of air rushing IN to the tank?
That would mean clogged tank vent line, and it would cause the tank to
develop such strong vacuum that the pump can't fight it, and the engine
dies when the carb runs out of gas. A possibility?

jan

My original thought when it died a couple of weeks ago was a fuel issue
since I just refurbished the tank in March. But I looked in the carb
while pulling the accelerator cable and I can see a shot of gas going
in. As for the points, I did forget to grease the distributor and when
I tried my roadside repairs, I did see the points had gotten closer.
But when I reset them, it still did not fire up.

I have not had a chance to do the coil test yet. Hopefully tonight
after the kids go to bed.

Stupid timing question: When I hooked up the timing light, I attached
the positive to the positive side of the coil per the instructions. I
then hooked the ground to the ground side of the coil (like the dwell
meter says). Could this damage to coil at all?

In article >,
Kidd > wrote:

> Houdsie wrote:
> > I did set the point gap to the correct setting. I did not grease the
> > connection point, though.
>
> if it was bone dry, and the shaft had like surface rust on it, it would
> eat the points friction bit pretty fast, and the gap would eventually
> close.
>
> How about gas tank ventilation? The next time it happens, RUN to the gas
> cap, and open it. Hear a sudden whoosh of air rushing IN to the tank?
> That would mean clogged tank vent line, and it would cause the tank to
> develop such strong vacuum that the pump can't fight it, and the engine
> dies when the carb runs out of gas. A possibility?
>
> jan

Yes, this is a good thing to check. It has happened to me. the carbon
cannister clogged somehow.
good luck!

--
If you see yourself in others, then whom can you harm?

I had a bug that died all the time.

I kept hoping it would be reincarnated.

It did! It eventually came back as a fire.

Today, I checked the dwell,
> which was 25 degrees exact.
>

Hi! I got this from Rob and Dave's Aircooled VW Pages.
http://vw-resource.com/tune-up.html

Dwell-Tachometer
~~~
Connect the green clip from the dwell-tachometer to Terminal #1 on the
ignition coil (the one to which the green wire from the distributor is
attached -- it's on the left).

Connect the black clip to ground (one of the bolts that holds the coil
to the fan housing is a good place. Make sure the dwell-tachometer
wires don't become tangled with the fan belt!).

Start the engine and allow it to warm up.

Turn the Function Selector on the dwell-tachometer to DWELL; observe
the reading on the Dwell Scale.

(If your dwell-tachometer doesn't have a 4-cylinder scale, note the
reading on the 8-cylinder scale and multiply it x 2).

a. The correct reading is 50o +/- 2o (25o +/- 1o on the 8 cylinder
scale). If too high, the point gap is too narrow. If too low, the point
gap is too wide.
b. Readjust the point gap as necessary.
Note: Changing the point gap changes the timing. If you change the gap,
be sure to check the timing per Step 6 below.
~~~

> Stupid timing question: When I hooked up the timing light, I attached
> the positive to the positive side of the coil per the instructions. I
> then hooked the ground to the ground side of the coil (like the dwell
> meter says). Could this damage to coil at all?

From
http://www.vw-resource.com/tune-up.html#strobe

Set the parking brake firmly and block the wheels. Put the transmission
in neutral.

Make sure that the maximum advance timing mark (as determined above) is
clearly visible on the crankshaft pulley (i.e., marked with white
paint).

Attach the inductive pick-up clip on the timing light around the #1
spark plug wire, close to the spark plug and away from the other spark
plug wires to avoid interference. Observe the arrow on the clip
pointing to the spark plug (if there is such an arrow).

Power to the strobe light is provided through the red clip. Attach it
to the terminal on the right side of the coil (the one with the wires
to the automatic choke and idle solenoid -- terminal #15).

Note: If your car is equipped with a Capacitive Discharge Ignition
system, power to the coil is provided indirectly through the CDI unit.
In this case, just attach the red clip on the strobe light to any
convenient 12-volt power source. We use the wire to the automatic choke
(though some timing lights, when connected in this manner, will prevent
the engine from starting -- for a reason we have yet to determine).

Warning! If you do attach your timing light to the automatic choke
connection, be VERY CAREFUL that the wire(s) from the ignition switch
do not accidentally become disconnected from the choke connection and
drop to touch the alternator body when the ignition is on. If this
happens, you will get a shower of sparks, and worse -- you will burn
out your ignition switch! (Voice of Experience -- this has happened to
me TWICE! You'd think I would learn... I'm getting good at replacing
ignition switches!)

Attach the black clip to ground (the bolt on the fuel pump and the rear
carburetor nut are a convenient places, but make sure the wire doesn't
become tangled with the fan belt!).

Attach the dwell-tachometer in accordance with the idle procedure
above.

If you are timing a single-vacuum distributor (i.e., SVDA), the vacuum
hose must be removed from the DISTRIBUTOR and plugged so that air will
not be sucked into the carburetor. Plugging this line is VERY important
-- the timing will be way off if you don't. Removing the vacuum hose
essentially turns the SVDA distributor into a centrifugal-advance
distributor, so the primary timing should be maximum advance (e.g., 30o
at 3500 rpm).

Note: For BOTH the centrifugal-advance (009) and SVDA distributors --
if there is a vacuum hose running from a port in the intake manifold
under the carburetor up to the air cleaner, this hose must be removed
and plugged as well, for the same reason. Be sure to plug it such that
air will not be sucked into the intake manifold.
Summary regarding vacuum hoses during timing: Just make sure the vacuum
ports on both the carburetor and the intake manifold are PLUGGED so air
won't be sucked in during timing.

In article >,
"2" > wrote:

> I had a bug that died all the time.
>
> I kept hoping it would be reincarnated.
>
> It did! It eventually came back as a fire.

folks . y'all carry a ABC fire extinguisher.

--
If you see yourself in others, then whom can you harm?