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Still can't start my VW

Hello Jan and everybody, Well, I got side tracked for a couple of days doing other stuff, but I finally got time enough to do some auto mechanic work. I went in and took the top off the carb, carefully following your instructions. It came apart very easily. The gasket didn't stick and was in good condition. The needle valve wan't a bit stuck and went up and down with ease. Everything else looked OK to my untrained eye, so I put the top back on. Before I hooked up the gas line from the pump, I blew into the inlet and this time there was no resistance--air got through just fine. So I hooked up the gas line. Still no go. She cranks but will not start. This is perplexing, as the engine is in beautiful shape -- it was rebuilt less than five years ago, carb included. I don't suspect compression problems. And I had her tuned up just four months ago = new points, plugs, all that, so spark is not the problem. Hmmmmmm, what to do? My wandering gypsy VW expert has left town, so I'm left with the guys who want 70 dollars an hour, and lie a lot.

Helpless,

Susanne

Reply to
Susanne
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Remove carb top (again).

Pour fresh fuel into the bowl (funnel).

Re-assemble.

Start engine.

Speedy Jim

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PS Yes, it's possible to feed fuel into the bowl by connecting a hose to the vent tube or even into the inlet pipe. But for a pro like Susanne who knows her way around the carb, taking the top off is simplest...

Reply to
Speedy Jim

Ahhh, you dirty dog :)

J.

Reply to
Berg

ROFLMAO!

Talk about unintended consequences!

Jim :-)

Reply to
Speedy Jim

hehe...that made me chuckle a bit!!

Reply to
Joey Tribiani

Jim has a good suggestion. if you manually pour fuel into the carb bowl, (and you can verift that the accelerator jet produces a good squirt), you should be able to start the engine. There would be enough fuel to rev the engine up long enough to prime the pump and get fuel flowing from the tank. However, if you still cannot start it, it could be a different problem. Do you know if you get spark?

Jan

Reply to
Jan

OK. I took the carb cover off again, and got fuel into the bowl with a funnel, then closed it back up. Then did the check with mirror, and gas was indeed squirting into the throat. But I still could not start. So, at this point I'm pretty confident it's not the fuel system. Yes, Jan, spark was my next thought. Actually, I should have thought of that first, but I was misled because of the fact that I had a tune-up less than five months ago. Anyway, I took off the distributor cap to have a look, and the rotor looked pretty bad. I recalled that when I had the guy tune it up, I couldn't get the right rotor and dist. cap for him (this always happens to me because the engine was rebuilt and many of the parts do not match the originals). He said not to worry, he would clean up the old rotor and dist. cap and put them back on. It seemed the right thing to do, for she ran beautifully, until now. Anyway, I took the old rotor to the auto parts store, and actually interacted with someone there who knew his stuff. He matched the part visually from this big book with little pictures of all the parts. And he said I would definitely have to replace the dist. cap too. So he ordered my parts and I pick them up in the morning. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be up and running. Bottom line, it's been a win-win experience, because I learned so much and I'm not nearly so afraid to get into my engine and do what needs to be done. Thanks, Susanne

Reply to
Susanne

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