My 74 beetle suddenly has lost power on acceleration. All was fine until a couple days ago, then suddenly the problem started. at idle there doesnt seem to be any problem, however when the car moves forward and accelerates it lacks power and almost feels as if it is dragging. There is slight hesitation, and the car seems to shake a bit on acceleration. Also there is some exhaust smoke on heavy acceleration. The car will seem to rumble very slightly and the engine surge and miss very slightly at all speeds until I reach about 65, when it seems to settle down and smooth out. There is also a very occasional backfire when I decelerate/slow down.
I know the fuel filter is extremely dirty, I am changing that this afternoon as well as the plugs which I am hoping will correct the problem, but I dont believe that a sudden problem would be caused by dirty filter and fouled plugs, I wouls expect those to cause a more gradual problem.
Patrick