69 bug - No Power

Check that the vacuum advance is *actually* working.

Speedy Jim

Distributor advance mechanism stuck.

Jan

Thanks for response Jim. It is appreciated..

Yesterday afternoon I was thinking more about this and think this particular problem seems to be cold related. I live close to Pittsburgh and this winter has been cold! In any case, I felt the heat riser tube on the passenger side and it is hot, while it is barely warm on the drivers side. I assume this indicates a blocked tube? If yes, do you think it could actually reduce power to a point where the car almost refuses to run in

2nd.. and definitely won't in the higher gears? Is cleaning the heat risers out tough? Easiest way?

Last night I decided to check the valve clearances. They were fair some a little tight. Unfortunately the very last one I was checking has a stripped rocker arm so I need to get a replacement before I can check the vacuum advance.

Thank you > >

Lack of manifold heat usually affects acceleration (hesitates) but should still produce full power at highway speed.

Check the vac advance by sucking on the hose and watching the advance plate-should move to the stop. Maybe also test the spark strength-see how far it will jump. Jim

I don't know what this year used, but I'd check the distributor advance mechanism(s) and make sure they weren't frozen up. A distributor that won't advance will idle just fine but won't have any of the power that you expect as the RPMs go up.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Also, use a timing light to check for spark scatter. At a constant RPM, the spark timing should be very steady with little noticable variation. If the timing is scattering across a 20 degree range, very few compression strokes will get ignition at the right time.

Max

try adjusting the distributer, loosen it a bit and turn it just slightly clock wise, my bug had the same problem and i just got it running a few days ago!...loosen the small screw by the solenoid and grab the base of the distributer and turn it a liitle bit...let me know if that helps!

First, many thanks to all who responded to my previous post.. It is appreciated and it helped..

After, many attempts to get this damn engine to run properly by statically timing it to TDC with a test light I just tried timing it by ear and it surprised the hell out of me to see it run half decent. I then checked the timing and found I had statically timed it to about 10 degrees BTDC. As I was thinking about this I was even more surprised to notice that the engine code is an AE which indicates it is an 71 and not a 69.

Now this throws some crap in the game (i think) as I would bet the 71 uses a different distributor? The one that is in the bug is a single vacuum advance (advance working correctly) with no mechanical advance. Later today I am going to check total advance and probably time it to get a max 30 degrees and try that. Any other ideas are very, very welcome.

Thanks in advance.

appreciated.

I'll repeat what has been said on here for years. It doesn't matter what year the engine is, when it comes to timing. The engine doesn't care what year it was born. It only cares what is making the spark to keep it running.

That is based on the distributor and only on the distributor. A good source for timing and ignition specs for each particular dizzy can be found here:

Scroll down to the bottom and find the specs for your particular dizzy number. Forget about the year and put parts and time it according to the distributor.

You should also check to see where the timing mark on a 71 is. It may be at a different angle than on a 69. Just another way to get confused.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Why don't you use a strobe light to time it? Do you unplug the vacuum advance when checking it?

--Steve