Sometimes my van starts straight away, most times I have to use the accelerater but it keeps losing it's tuning. Then I find I have to keep it ticking over with the accelerator at lights or it will die. Or it'll die as I'm slowing down. Then it's a wing and prayer if it will start again. I've had two garages look at it. One where the guy had VW himself and seemed to talk the talk but we didn't get anywhere The latest garage is knowledgeable and is working through the problem logically but he's scratching his head. The van had a revamp by Just Kampers in the past few years (before I had it). It's a mexican 1600 engine but there must some original bits on there because I had two fuel filters. One fine the other filthy and now replaced. I can see from history from the previous owners that the AA were regularly called to it and that it's had it's alternator replaced. I think it's never run correctly. My garage have loosened up the tappets because they were tight. It's got what looks like a brand new distributor on it. It's not the starter motor and it's not the battery. Oh and I have only driven it under 50 mph. We're now thinking of replacing the carburettor because whilst that looks new when you check the fumes, sometimes they're fine and other times they're right out. I would have posted a picture of the engine on here but am at work and the security on my pc is preventing me. Anyone else had a problem like this?
Could be a variety of things. Clogged idle jet, muck in fuel (from rusty tank), icing of the carb caused by blocked inlet manifold pre heat pipes etc. Difficult to diagnose without seeing it. Could the idle speed be too low? Mine would die and not idle sometimes until I upped idle speed a little. Sounds odd that its going out of tune though.
When it's idling well it sounds perfect but then it goes again. I'm wondering if it could be muck somewhere. Forgot to mention that I did have the fuel tank replaced. A screw holding the rock and roll bed had pierced the original. However I did pay for a chemical clean of the replacement tank. Seems my van was a bit of a Friday afternoon job.
I had the same problem. The garage put in new points, breather hoses and made the mix a touch richer. Now runs like a dream.
Check there's plenty of fuel coming through the pipe. Removing, cleaning and re-fitting the carb takes 30 minutes max. Could also be ignition related.
It could be many, many things. A starting point is a good service by someone who knows what they're doing - I'm not convinced your bloke does. No reason why a bus shouldn't start, run fine and be perfectly reliable. Don't fiddle with the carb until you're sure everything else (tappets, ignition timing) is in good order.
I agree there's no reason why it shouldn't run fine but I have to defend my bloke as I'm confident that he does what he is doing but that this is some obscure thing. Before him I had it with someone who quite a few VW owners use and he didn't have an answer either. I suspect that something hasn't been put together properly or that I have some duff part in there.
Hear what you say, v, but if it's something like that, a competent mechanic should spot it. If the engine runs at the mo, there's nothing to stop it running perfectly. Getting a type 1 going properly isn't rocket science . I'd start with a good, proper service and a good look round to find anything that's missing.
It could just be summat simple like the rubber seal on the little fuel screw on the carb has perished letting air in, this happened to me on my old engine, just put a new one on and it ran fine
Could it be to do with the cut off valve on the carb? I've had hassle with my van cutting out in the past and that what mine was. It could be sticking. Loose. Or not have a 12 v feed all the time, giving the ok sometimes not others symptoms you describe. Good luck!
try to post a picture ,could be air leak or choke or anything.. and he does a second after I posted.. looks a good one...
before you start it, put your finger down the top of the carbe ,is there a flap stopping your finger? blip the throttle first
If the fuel filter is resting against the heat riser bit of the inlet manifold, it'll melt through eventually and you can try out that smart fire extinguisher. Looks like it's installed in just the right place for it.
It's all abit jammed in there, it looks like the oil bath air fliter doesn't have a stand, the fuel filter thing^, the fire extinguisher has forced the coil to be repositioned funny, missing crankcase breather pipe... Can't see anything obviously "wrong" that would cause your issues though.
Also you have the fat cardboard warm air tube the the air filter, you have the vacuum pipe from the vac operated valve to the thermostatic valve on the top of the air filter, but no pipe to carb or inlet manifold to actually make the vacuum so the rest might as well be in the bin. All in all, it's not right and considering you've taken it in a few times with running issues, these things should really have been sorted by now. I'd have done it while I pondered the rest, none would take more than a few £'s and a few minutes. Time to find a garage with a little more interest.
this one i read on a site so.... guy said if you mix and match the elec. components ,the leckie ,instead of going to where it should ,as it should ,will/may sometimes "arc", and so there is a problem>may be worth considering ?
^this, I'm afraid. If your bloke didn't spot the minor stuff (actually, the fuel filter pressed against the preheat pipe isn't minor, as Zed points out - you'll be using that fire extinguisher), he's unlikely to be able to fix your problem, which may be straightforward. Engine looks pretty clean, actually. Find someone who knows what they're doing!
Might be worth asking for someone to pop over and look at your engine on here if anyone is local to you before spending more money? Cup of tea or coffee is a lot cheaper?
