For the past few months I have noticed that my little 68' Bug has had a hard time starting. Not initially (which is odd), but after a long drive - and by long drive I mean a couple of hours - I have a hard time re-starting the engine. So I would stop for gas, pump, pay, and when I go to start the car - silence. Since I am generally alone, I can't "hear" the starter taking hold, but it doesn't seem to be moving back there. My battery seems fine. My generator delivers just under 14 volts. And ... if I WAIT a few minutes ... it starts just fine.
So ... is that a coil going bad? Here may be another clue, or an unrelated problem.
I was driving back from Maryland (to Ohio) a few nights ago and about
300 miles into the journey it felt like I was getting struck by heavy wind. But, it was my engine. It seemed to be missing a beat. It stumbled, it caught up, and then stumbled again. At first, I thought my engine was having a melt down so I jerked off the road and went back to check my oil. It was a *little* low (about half a quart). But that wasn't the problem. It may have just been hot, or so I thought. So I let it take a breater and cool off. Once I was back on the road it seemed to be fine. But about 10 minutes later it started up again. Stumbling, and stuttering. Odd.It seemed to happen more when I pushed it past 60 Mph. If I slowed down a bit to say, 50 Mph, it would resume normal operation.
So is this another sign of a bad coil? Or do I need to do a compression test? :-(
Thanks everyone.
-Steve Ballantyne