beetle jumping

Hi, I have a 71 superbug and it recently started having problems in the lower gears, namely gear 1 and 2. Basically she starts up fine and takes off but if I stop at traffic light, roundabout or anything and then want to take off, she starts jumping. After about 2 jumps shes fine and then takes off again. Does anyone know what it might be? I've had it to a mechanic and he cleaned the carburator, made adjustments etc, and she was fine when I picked her up, but now a day later the same problem is starting. It's also worse if I stop while facing up hill. The problem has nothing to do with the cold and warming the car up. Please help if anyone knows what it could be.

thanks heaps

Reply to
archibug
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Check the transmission mounts. They're probably rotted.

Tony

Reply to
Anthony W

LOL! I thought this was a new sport- jumping over Beetles.

I think you'll need to get a few more clues as to precisely how it acts and feels.

Tranny mounts did come to mind, but "facing up hill" makes me think of carb flooding, which is more pronounced uphill.

Do you feel juddering in the clutch? What if you over-rev the engine and then slowly let out clutch?

Speedy Jim

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Reply to
Speedy Jim

Thanks for the reply. Another guy mentioned the possibility of the transmission mounts, but I don't think that thats it. It helps slightly if I rev heaps on take off but I can't do that all the time. Basicaly its not to do with the clutch more id say to do with the carburator or similar. It's as if when you go to accelerate the car can't and jumps. She has also stalled a couple of times while at a red light. The mechanic fully cleaned the carburator, checked for air leakage, electrics but the problem is still there! The car is back at the mechanics so I'll see. thanks and sorry to dissapoint that there is no sport with jumping over beetles! lol

Reply to
archibug

It doesn't feel like tranny mounts but it it shakes the crap out of your bug. Anyway it did mine. You should be able to put the car up on jack stands and then jack up the engine a little and see the damage enough to know what you're dealing with. The engine will have to come out to fix it.

Tony

Reply to
Anthony W

thanks for the advice

Reply to
archibug

This sounds similar to a problem I had long ago with my 73 Beetle. It turned out to be a short in the distributor that only became evident when there was no vacuum advance, i.e. when the engine was idling.

Does your Bucking Beetle problem go away when you rev the engine?

Reply to
Robert Winters

Hi, it kind of helps if i rev the engine and then take of. But i mean that cant be done all the time. Anyway I think the problem has been fixed, well the bug hasnt done it for a while and has been driving like an angel. Maybe when its really cold that might effect it to perhaps. thanks

Reply to
archibug

Ooh. What a let-down. I was hoping to see some pictures of a Beetle jumping ramps and stuff. ;-)

Reply to
Shag

Heh, heh. Me too :-) Great minds think alike...

Speedy Jim

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Reply to
Speedy Jim

I'm flattered. :-) Jim, you should be ashamed of me. I dropped my '64 off today to have it worked on and the ONLY REASON(s) I did it was that the electrical system was flaky on the car. I'm sure I could have gotten it worked out with your help but I tried twice to work on the flaky stuff and got frustrated in the 90+ degree heat. I'd get 0 volts at the brake lights, then about 7, then about 12... I had a steady 12 volts at the front master cylinder switch and the switch there was working but somewhere between the front and rear of the car, something was wrong. Maybe bad ground? I dunno. I got tired of messing with it and decided to let a pro fix it up for me. I hope he finishes it soon. I've put less than 100 miles on the car since I bought it about a month ago. :-( (ZERO of those miles were off-road. OK, OK... unless you count the gravel roads...)

Reply to
Shag

No, I don't blame you a bit. I bet it was damned humid to boot.

My '63:

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What made me think of these photos is that the kid I bought the car from had "customized" it by gluing ! Shag carpet to the ENTIRE interior, including the dash and door panels!

Then he painted it (roller?) that horrid beige.

(These photos are *old*. But I still have the car...)

Jim

Reply to
Speedy Jim

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