73 super beetle rough start and smoke

I just recently purchased a 1973 super beetle convertible. The days
following my purchase, I had no problems starting her up, whether it
had been sitting for 10 minutes or 10 hours. That same week, I filled
her up and since then I've had issues getting her started. In the
morning when she's cold, it takes almost half a dozen tries to get the
engine to run for longer than 15 seconds... once that happens, I wait
about 5 minutes and she's good to go. In the afternoon after she's
been sitting for maybe 4-5 hours, it takes no more than two or three
attempts before she stays idling. ...I'm wondering if it has to do
with the gas I used..? It was premium, but not the most expensive of
brands - is there one you recommend... or maybe something with the gas
tank/fuel line I could check?

Now for the smoking issue... for the past day or two the car has begun
to smoke, almost steam - not profusely and of no color that I can
tell. I've changed the oil, and plan on replacing the distributor,
rotor, spark plugs/wires, fuel filter, etc. this or the next
weekend... is there something else I should attempt?

I'm a novice mechanic, but I'm handy, I learn fast, and I have a few
books to refer to... any insight would be very helpful.

Thanks ahead of time...

Jen in Tucson, AZ

In cars with longer exhausts than VW,s you can get "steam" being emitted for
a short while because of condensation in the exhaust (particularly after a
long time stopped). Stops after engine warms up and dries out the exhaust
system. Doesnt seem to occur in VW,s though. I,m wondering whether you may
have a bit of water in the tank which may be doing same thing. I,m told by
old mechanics that with water in tank the go is to fill it up with petrol
and to add a large cup of methylated spirits to the tank. Apparently it
allows water to diffuse into petrol. Then again with the tank so easy to
pull out it may be easier to take it out and clean it.
Cheers
John


> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I just recently purchased a 1973 super beetle convertible. The days
> following my purchase, I had no problems starting her up, whether it
> had been sitting for 10 minutes or 10 hours. That same week, I filled
> her up and since then I've had issues getting her started. In the
> morning when she's cold, it takes almost half a dozen tries to get the
> engine to run for longer than 15 seconds... once that happens, I wait
> about 5 minutes and she's good to go. In the afternoon after she's
> been sitting for maybe 4-5 hours, it takes no more than two or three
> attempts before she stays idling. ...I'm wondering if it has to do
> with the gas I used..? It was premium, but not the most expensive of
> brands - is there one you recommend... or maybe something with the gas
> tank/fuel line I could check?
>
> Now for the smoking issue... for the past day or two the car has begun
> to smoke, almost steam - not profusely and of no color that I can
> tell. I've changed the oil, and plan on replacing the distributor,
> rotor, spark plugs/wires, fuel filter, etc. this or the next
> weekend... is there something else I should attempt?
>
> I'm a novice mechanic, but I'm handy, I learn fast, and I have a few
> books to refer to... any insight would be very helpful.
>
> Thanks ahead of time...
>
> Jen in Tucson, AZ
>

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I just recently purchased a 1973 super beetle convertible. The days
> following my purchase, I had no problems starting her up, whether it
> had been sitting for 10 minutes or 10 hours. That same week, I filled
> her up and since then I've had issues getting her started. In the
> morning when she's cold, it takes almost half a dozen tries to get the
> engine to run for longer than 15 seconds... once that happens, I wait
> about 5 minutes and she's good to go. In the afternoon after she's
> been sitting for maybe 4-5 hours, it takes no more than two or three
> attempts before she stays idling. ...I'm wondering if it has to do
> with the gas I used..? It was premium, but not the most expensive of
> brands - is there one you recommend... or maybe something with the gas
> tank/fuel line I could check?
>
> Now for the smoking issue... for the past day or two the car has begun
> to smoke, almost steam - not profusely and of no color that I can
> tell. I've changed the oil, and plan on replacing the distributor,
> rotor, spark plugs/wires, fuel filter, etc. this or the next
> weekend... is there something else I should attempt?
>
> I'm a novice mechanic, but I'm handy, I learn fast, and I have a few
> books to refer to... any insight would be very helpful.
>
> Thanks ahead of time...
>
> Jen in Tucson, AZ
>
>

Expensive gas seems to sit in the vendor's tank longer...
Crappy gas might well cause the symptoms you describe..
Gas dry in a bottle is a good idea. Some kind of achohol - don't think its
isopropyl, but it might be.

Don't think that bugs need higher octane gas - I could use some education on
that ppoint, though.

ISTR cheap gas worked pretty good in my bugs

Mark







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Sounds like a sticky choke flap to me. Try a bottle of STP gas treatment in
the tank to diffuse any water, too, as others mentioned.

IMO, you do need 92 octane to keep the engine running cooler than the 87 crap.
Only if you have some exotic electronic ignition system with a knock sensor
for dynamic curves can you use the cheap stuff. Our old mechanical stuff
doesn't get smart enough to allow us to run on modern crap gas.


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"David Gravereaux" > wrote in message news:KtednfX_XIMO,
you do need 92 octane
...


>>>IMO, you do need 92 octane to keep the engine running cooler than the 87
>>>crap.
Only if you have some exotic electronic ignition system with a knock sensor
for dynamic curves can you use the cheap stuff. Our old mechanical stuff
doesn't get smart enough to allow us to run on modern crap gas .>>>>

a stock ACVW engine does not need, nor benefit from, anything other than
"regular" grade gasoline.

I had a case worse then thatwhen comming to bad gas.

I was driving a 74 vert that had less then 500 miles on a total
rebuild that was running perfect till I stoped and put 5 gal of 93
octane, got 11/2 miles away from the gas station and the vert just
died. I thought it couldn't be anything more then the points so I
called one of my workers to bring me a new set, but to no prevail. I
towed the convertable to the shop and drained the gas(water) and
replaced with gas from another station to get it to run.

It sounds like your haveing the same problem, I would either drain the
tank and use anther brand or try gas treatment.

Mario
Vintage Werks resto

Thank you all for your input!... the gas additive helped with the
start-up.. and so far, I haven't seen any smoke coming from the
engine. Tune-up is still scheduled...


However, where one door closes, another opens right?


I was driving across town today, and there's only a few roads that
warrant going over 40mph, and I just happened to be on one. I shifted
into fourth gear, started to feel the car deccelerate, realized the
gas wasn't working... so I pulled off to a side road. I let it sit for
a minute, restarted fine, let it run, and took off a few minutes later
without anymore problems.... I just kept it below 40 in third gear and
got where I needed to go.

Any clue what would cause the car to just die...? this happened once
before at this speed and silly me thought it was my fault since I
haven't had to drive a standard since high school... It was after the
shift and some acceleration - no noises or signs of damage.

Sounds like an extension of the original problem. Drain or replace your
petrol filter. Drain the Carburetor bowl.
And if some water is trapped in the fuel lines you may have to blow them out
or just keep using the petrol treatment until its all gone.
John

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Thank you all for your input!... the gas additive helped with the
> start-up.. and so far, I haven't seen any smoke coming from the
> engine. Tune-up is still scheduled...
>
>
> However, where one door closes, another opens right?
>
>
> I was driving across town today, and there's only a few roads that
> warrant going over 40mph, and I just happened to be on one. I shifted
> into fourth gear, started to feel the car deccelerate, realized the
> gas wasn't working... so I pulled off to a side road. I let it sit for
> a minute, restarted fine, let it run, and took off a few minutes later
> without anymore problems.... I just kept it below 40 in third gear and
> got where I needed to go.
>
> Any clue what would cause the car to just die...? this happened once
> before at this speed and silly me thought it was my fault since I
> haven't had to drive a standard since high school... It was after the
> shift and some acceleration - no noises or signs of damage.
>

Joey Tribiani wrote:
> "David Gravereaux" > wrote in message news:KtednfX_XIMO,
> you do need 92 octane
> ...
>
>
>>>> IMO, you do need 92 octane to keep the engine running cooler than the 87
>>>> crap.
> Only if you have some exotic electronic ignition system with a knock sensor
> for dynamic curves can you use the cheap stuff. Our old mechanical stuff
> doesn't get smart enough to allow us to run on modern crap gas .>>>>
>
> a stock ACVW engine does not need, nor benefit from, anything other than
> "regular" grade gasoline.


In 1973, regular was 91 octane! Look it up.


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and leaded.


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