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1972 Beetle Loses Power at Sustained High Speed / RPMs
Hi all.
Bear with me, I'm brand new to this. I have a 1972 Beetle that I recently bought. It has run perfectly until a few days ago when it stalled on the freeway. I was eventually able to limp home, and I replaced the fuel filter, which looked like it might be clogging, and cleaned the screen in the fuel pump. It ran fine the next day until I was driving home and got on the freeway again; it died in the exact same spot. This time I could not start it and had to tow it home. I replaced the air filter and opened up checked the carburator, which seemed to be in normal working order (nothing obviously wrong with it, anyway, but this is the first time I've looked at one, so what do I know?). At this point it would start, but stall after a couple miles and need to cool down in order to start again. Finally, I broke down and took it to a mechanic. He found a bad valve and fixed it, claiming that was the cause of my problem. He also did a general tune up, replaced the plugs and points, and replaced the condenser, which he said was the wrong part. The car was running great when I left there. Unfortunately, within a minute or two of getting on the freeway, it stalled again. It was definitely better than before, and I was able to get off the freeway and drive normally on surface streets to my destination. Basically what happens is I get up to speed (around 65-75 MPH) and ease off the gas, at which point the engine seems to misfire a bit and lose power in spurts. I respond by giving it more gas, and it loses power altogether, and the engine dies as soon as I take it out of gear. After sitting for a few minutes, it starts again but runs rough and quickly dies again when the RPMs get high. It seems like a carburator problem to me, but I am at a loss as to how to correct it. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, lukas |
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1972 Beetle Loses Power at Sustained High Speed / RPMs
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1972 Beetle Loses Power at Sustained High Speed / RPMs
Wow, thanks for the quick response and the good advice. Sounds like I
might be in over my head, but I'm ready to get my hands dirty. Jan, you might be onto something with the overheating. There's plenty of oil in there, but it's probably way overdue for a change (I know, I know). I have noticed it gets surprisingly hot (have the third-degree burn on my calf from the exhaust pipe to prove it). I'll change the oil and see if it helps. I will check the seal on the engine bay, too. Jim, I did check the screen in the fuel pump and it is clear (wish I'd talked to you first, I did it with a full tank and damn it was messy). I'm not confident I can figure out how to check the fuel levels in the carb, but I'll give it a shot. And I'll try loosening the filler cap next time this happens. I ordered the Muir book and the repair manual, so hopefully I'll be less mystified after I do some reading ;-) Thanks again. I'll let you know when I sort it out. lukas |
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1972 Beetle Loses Power at Sustained High Speed / RPMs
> wrote in message ups.com... > Hi all. > > Bear with me, I'm brand new to this. > > I have a 1972 Beetle that I recently bought. It has run perfectly > until a few days ago when it stalled on the freeway. I was eventually > able to limp home, and I replaced the fuel filter, which looked like it > might be clogging, and cleaned the screen in the fuel pump. It ran > fine the next day until I was driving home and got on the freeway > again; it died in the exact same spot. This time I could not start it > and had to tow it home. > > I replaced the air filter and opened up checked the carburator, which > seemed to be in normal working order (nothing obviously wrong with it, > anyway, but this is the first time I've looked at one, so what do I > know?). At this point it would start, but stall after a couple miles > and need to cool down in order to start again. > > Finally, I broke down and took it to a mechanic. He found a bad valve > and fixed it, claiming that was the cause of my problem. He also did a > general tune up, replaced the plugs and points, and replaced the > condenser, which he said was the wrong part. The car was running great > when I left there. > > Unfortunately, within a minute or two of getting on the freeway, it > stalled again. It was definitely better than before, and I was able to > get off the freeway and drive normally on surface streets to my > destination. > > Basically what happens is I get up to speed (around 65-75 MPH) and ease > off the gas, at which point the engine seems to misfire a bit and lose > power in spurts. I respond by giving it more gas, and it loses power > altogether, and the engine dies as soon as I take it out of gear. > After sitting for a few minutes, it starts again but runs rough and > quickly dies again when the RPMs get high. > > It seems like a carburator problem to me, but I am at a loss as to how > to correct it. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. > > Thanks, > lukas > Hopefully you have solved the problem by now. I suspect more fuel line crud but don't overlook exhaust damage. If there is a blockage it will restrict flow and cause overheating also. Similar to fuel starvation. Long shot, but check it out also. -BaH |
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1972 Beetle Loses Power at Sustained High Speed / RPMs
Good thing the mechanic replaced the condensor. I found out the hard way
just what a bad condensor could do. Drive a while, (15 to 20 min even) then sputter and die... let it cool... drive a while.. sputter and die... didn't know what it was... but the points were getting burnt too... -- KWW '65 Beetle (Jenny the IOC) '64 Beetle (TBD the Blue Wave) "Busahaulic" > wrote in message ... > > > wrote in message > ups.com... >> Hi all. >> >> Bear with me, I'm brand new to this. >> >> I have a 1972 Beetle that I recently bought. It has run perfectly >> until a few days ago when it stalled on the freeway. I was eventually >> able to limp home, and I replaced the fuel filter, which looked like it >> might be clogging, and cleaned the screen in the fuel pump. It ran >> fine the next day until I was driving home and got on the freeway >> again; it died in the exact same spot. This time I could not start it >> and had to tow it home. >> >> I replaced the air filter and opened up checked the carburator, which >> seemed to be in normal working order (nothing obviously wrong with it, >> anyway, but this is the first time I've looked at one, so what do I >> know?). At this point it would start, but stall after a couple miles >> and need to cool down in order to start again. >> >> Finally, I broke down and took it to a mechanic. He found a bad valve >> and fixed it, claiming that was the cause of my problem. He also did a >> general tune up, replaced the plugs and points, and replaced the >> condenser, which he said was the wrong part. The car was running great >> when I left there. >> >> Unfortunately, within a minute or two of getting on the freeway, it >> stalled again. It was definitely better than before, and I was able to >> get off the freeway and drive normally on surface streets to my >> destination. >> >> Basically what happens is I get up to speed (around 65-75 MPH) and ease >> off the gas, at which point the engine seems to misfire a bit and lose >> power in spurts. I respond by giving it more gas, and it loses power >> altogether, and the engine dies as soon as I take it out of gear. >> After sitting for a few minutes, it starts again but runs rough and >> quickly dies again when the RPMs get high. >> >> It seems like a carburator problem to me, but I am at a loss as to how >> to correct it. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. >> >> Thanks, >> lukas >> > Hopefully you have solved the problem by now. I suspect more fuel line > crud > but don't overlook exhaust damage. If there is a blockage it will restrict > flow and cause overheating also. Similar to fuel starvation. Long shot, > but > check it out also. -BaH > > |
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