Troubleshooting Help

[Vicenç Feliú]

Hey guys,

Need a little help from our VW experts.  I’ve been having problems keeping the car running.  The issues begin with the car stuttering then lugging and finally backfiring and sputtering to the point that the car can’t run.  I’ve had the distributor, points and carburetor changed and each time the results are the same.  Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"

(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")

[Toller]

Symptoms you are describing sound similar to ones I encountered. When cold the engine started without incident but as it warmed up it started backfiring and lugging when shifting to higher gears. I thought it was a timing problem, valve, fuel delivery, carb issue. After replacing the mechanical fuel pump with an electric one, swapping out carb, checking adjustment on values I was not having any improvement.

When you had the points replaced/adjusted was the capacitor replaced. What one of the members recommended was checking the temperature of the capacitor, if it was hot then it may be breaking down as engine warms up. Replaced capacitor and problem was solved.

David B Dixon
Port Perry ON CA
Sabine

[newkitman]

Check the carb and distributor types. If you have a mechanical distributor and a Solex 34PICT3 well they don’t work well together. A 34PICT3 likes a dual vacuum advance distributor. Just another thing to check. And if you haven’t done it yet, check the setting of the choke. They are adjustable.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by newkitman.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by newkitman.

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[Royal]

I’ll assume that you checked the choke.  ??  If not, shame on you.

Capacitors are easy to replace and cheap.  Change it first.

Could be the fuel pump, but unlikely.

The next time that it acts up, take a plug wire off and stick a phillips screwdriver into the end that normally goes on the spark plug.  Holding the screwdriver close to anything on the engine that is metal, get your wife to crank the engine for a turn or two.  If you get a spark, you can be pretty sure that your problem is NOT distributor or spark related.  = fuel.  Try changing the fuel filter – this is probably not it, but once again, they are cheap and easy to replace.  If that doesn’t fix it, you could hook a pressure gauge in the fuel line and check the pump.

[edward ericson]

When I had those symptoms it was carb icing. One of the little heater tubes that come from the exhaust manifold and go to the intake manifold had rotted away. It was hiding behind one of the bigger paper foil heater tubes that run into the fan shroud, so I did not see it for like a season. Eventually I just wrapped it with silver muffler tape and that solved it. Had to re-wrap like every other season, but what the hey, right? Like I said, it was hidden behind the cabin heater tube.

[Royal]

Ed’s right it does sound like a symptom of carb icing.  But carb icing in south Florida?  I have never experienced icing, so check the temperature of your inlet manifold just below the carburetor.

[Vicenç Feliú]

Thanks all for the good adviced.  Started with the cheap and simple, replacing the capacitor.  Let’s see what happens next.

Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"

(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")

[Vicenç Feliú]

The replacement capacitor seems to have done the trick.  Let’s hope it holds.

Here’s the next problem:

The car has been listing to port for a while.  I put in coil-overs hoping that would fix the problem but now I have a higher car that lists to port.  I also notice that the camber on the rear wheels is off.  When you look at it from the rear it looks like this –  / I

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Happy New Year to all.

Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"

(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")

[Royal]

Vicenc, have you really gained that much weight?

The most elegant and correct way to fix this requires removal of the tub and adjusting the rear torsion bars…..a big job.

Alternatively, you could install air shock absorbers in the rear.  By not connecting the two shocks together, you would have independent control of them and could put more pressure in the drivers side to compensate for the port list.

I am unsure of the effect of unequal pressures on the quality of the ride, but would guess that it would be something that you could live with.   Perhaps you wouldn’t even notice.

(Coil-over helper springs didn’t work for me either.)

[edward ericson]

Mine is like this too, a little bit. I believe your car is IRS (double-jointed) like mine. Roy is right that the torsion bars are probably a little out of adjustment, and that, in our cars, you can’t get to the caps without unbolting the tub.

I believe that the torsion bar bushings are also the problem. They tend to wear unevenly, and they contribute more to the /| effect than the bar indexing itself does.

The problem is only slightly easier to correct than the torsion bar index, however: you still have to get the end caps off, which means you still have to get the body off first.

I plan to do mine next year….

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by edward ericson.

[Vicenç Feliú]

Hi Roy and Ed!  Well, not good news.  Removing the tub is way above my skill level.  I might have to live with this for a while.

Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"

(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")

[Rich Kallenberger]

I’m curious.  If the rear wheels are not parallel, are you experiencing uneven tire wear?  Being a worrier, I also wonder if TDrs can have similar errors in the other plane – left to right, probably as a result of an accident.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Rich Kallenberger.

[Vicenç Feliú]

Hi Kall,

Haven’t driven it enough since the list showed up to notice tire wear.  I would suppose that eventually that would happen.

Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"

(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")

[Vicenç Feliú]

Hi Kall,

Haven’t driven it enough since the list showed up to notice tire wear.  I would suppose that eventually that would happen.

Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"

(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")

[Royal]

Since you have to remove the shocks anyway to get the coil-overs off, why not try the air shocks.  Probably cost less than $150 for both.

[Vicenç Feliú]

Do I need an air supply for the air shocks?

Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"

(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")

[Royal]

Yes but, go look under the Christmas tree.  You should have one there.

(Some bicycle pumps would also work.)

[rex]

Hi,  if your wheels look like this/  | then i think it a safe bet you have a wheel bearing problem or  missing bushing  in the axle support. irs  trans don’t let the wheels tilt in or out like a swing axle trans. look over in the samba forum there are some mighty sharp minds  who know and can advise you better than i.

[Vicenç Feliú]

Would addressing the bearings or axle support bushing require removal of the tub?

Vicenç - (bee sense)
Pembroke Pines, FL
1986 Aston - BCW Model 52 - "Montse II"

(1983 FiberFab MiGi II - "Montse")

[rex]

just look over in” new to forum ” forum and you will see that Paul send photo of irs pan which shows how wheels  and supports are attached. cannot think your body would need removing.

[Author]

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