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#1
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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 |
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#2
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Bug keeps dying
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 |
#3
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Bug keeps dying
I did set the point gap to the correct setting. I did not grease the
connection point, though. |
#4
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Bug keeps dying
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 |
#5
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Bug keeps dying
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? |
#6
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Bug keeps dying
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? |
#7
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Bug keeps dying
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. |
#8
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Bug keeps dying
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. ~~~ |
#9
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Bug keeps dying
> 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. |
#10
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Bug keeps dying
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? |
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