No Power???

One other thing to check since you mentioned weak battery problems is
the voltage at the coil and electronic ignition module.

The Pertronix needs a min voltage to work properly. If you have less
than 10v at the Pertronix while the engine is running you might have a
problem. This is not a problem when running points which are just an
on/off switch.

Same goes for your coil. The coil multiplies the input voltage by a
set amount. Lower the input voltage and you lower the output
voltage. Low output voltage means low power.

Since your problem is while the engine is running you should check the
voltage at the (+) coil terminal (#15) at different engine speeds.
Make sure you have a min 12v. (the regulator should normally be
kicking out around 13.8v). You may have the proper voltage coming out
of the gen/alt, but a weak battery will bring down the actual voltage
the rest of the car "sees".

Just a quick thing that you can check.



AshMan40

well I check the mechanical advance like you said, there is play when I try
to rotate the rotor but no movement of the advance linkage. When I hook up
the timing light there is and advance in the timing so I think everything is
ok there.. As far as the starter, I just cleaned up the terminals, rapped on
the solenoid while I was under the car and problem solved...The connections
were spotless to begin with as everything is new, but cleaned them just in
case. Who knows what the real problem was..

Tomorrow I am going to put the points back in the distributor and try it
again...



"AshMan" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On May 15, 10:44 am, "MicroBiz" > wrote:
>> well no luck, checked the dwell, with the pertonix ignition, no matter
>> how I
>> adjust the module I can only get a dwell reading of 70.
>> I took the car out for a long drive and nothing improved, once I get up
>> to
>> about 40 mph the car will cruise along nicely but once I reach a hill or
>> want to accelerate it is pretty much unresponsive..
>
> I was initially thinking accelerator pump in the carb, but you don't
> mention any "bogging" when you open the throttle under load.
>
> My current thoughts are your mechanical advance in your distributor
> might be stuck. Can you confirm the timing advances as engine RPMs go
> up? If you mechanical advance were stuck and not giving you full
> advance it would limit your max RPM. This means no/slow acceleration
> and low power.
> The simple check is to open you distributor cap and twist the rotor.
> There should be some play as the mechanical advance mechanism moves.
> The real test is w/ a timing light.
>
> BTW - How did you fix your starter problem?
>
>
>
> AshMan40
>

Sluggish acceleration may be caused by three things.

1) Bad gas in the tank.

2) No advance or incorrect advance in the distributor.

Since you say you have changed the distributor, this is a very possible
cause.
Is the distributor centrifugal only (009) or does it has a vacuum canister
too?

- If the distributor is the 009, set the advance with a timing light at
about 30 degrees BTDC when the engine is revving at 3000 rpm.
As someone else mentioned, check that the advance mechanism is not stuck.
To do this, remove the cap and twist the rotor. You should be possible to
twist it about 10 degrees to one direction with no force, and then it should
spring back to the rest position.

- If you have an SVDA (Single Vacuum Dual Advance) which means both
centrifugal mechanism and vacuum canister, set it with a timing light with
the vacuum line disconnected, at about 30 degrees BTDC @ 3000rpm. After you
are finished reconnect the vacuum line.

- If you have a single vacuum distributor (only one vacuum line going to the
left side of the carb), set it at 7.5 degrees BTDC @ 850rpm, but before you
must have adjusted the position of the throttle plate so that it is almost
fully closed (1/2 turn more on the throttle butterfly adjusting screw, from
the fully closed position).

Dwell angle has a different value on electronic ignitions. The 45%-55%
adjustment is for points, and ensures that the points will be closed enough
time to "charge" the coil, and open enough time so that they will not burn.
In electronic ignitions you don't have the risk of burning points, so the
circuit stays closed for more time than with points, so it is possible to
store more energy in the coil in high revving engines.

3) Lean mixture.
The main jet in the carb could be partially clogged. Remove the carb and
inspect. A lean main jet causes hesitation on acceleration and loss of
power.
If the engine doesn't hold a good steady 850rpm idle when warmed up (and the
throttle butterfly is correctly adjusted to being almost fully closed as
mentioned above) then the idle jet is dirty too. Generally this means you
have to remove the carb, dismantle and clean it with compressed air.

No matter which of the three reasons affects your engine's performance, you
should not drive it for long periods, as all problems above would cause
overheating.

Bill Spiliotopoulos,
'67 bug.





"MicroBiz" > wrote in message
news:8Zr1i.179833$aG1.40178@pd7urf3no...
>I just started by bug after being parked for 2 years and have no power when
>driving...
>
> Over the winter I installed and Pertronix ignition, new distributor and
> throw out bearing. The car started right away after charging the battery
> up... I took it around the block and noticed right away there was no power
> when I accelerated (revs easily in neutral). When I got back home I
> turned the car off and then right away tried to restart it. The battery
> was to low to start the car but it did turn over. When I turned the key
> off the starter continued to turn the motor over until the battery was
> dead. I right away but the battery charger on and noticed the positive
> battery cable was really hot...
> The car again started right away...
>
> Why do I have no power and why does the starter continue to turn the
> engine over?
>
> Engine is a B series engine from 69 in my 61 beetle.
>
> http://www.microbiz.ca/VW/index.htm
>

Well problem solved for now, I remove the Petronix module and replaced it
with the points and all is well... not giving up on them yet, the Petronix
module must work, I've heard lots of good things about them.. Well at least
I can drive it now, I'll try it again later, just want to get it on the
road... Thanks for all the suggestions..


"Bill Spiliotopoulos" > wrote in message
...
> Sluggish acceleration may be caused by three things.
>
> 1) Bad gas in the tank.
>
> 2) No advance or incorrect advance in the distributor.
>
> Since you say you have changed the distributor, this is a very possible
> cause.
> Is the distributor centrifugal only (009) or does it has a vacuum canister
> too?
>
> - If the distributor is the 009, set the advance with a timing light at
> about 30 degrees BTDC when the engine is revving at 3000 rpm.
> As someone else mentioned, check that the advance mechanism is not stuck.
> To do this, remove the cap and twist the rotor. You should be possible to
> twist it about 10 degrees to one direction with no force, and then it
> should spring back to the rest position.
>
> - If you have an SVDA (Single Vacuum Dual Advance) which means both
> centrifugal mechanism and vacuum canister, set it with a timing light with
> the vacuum line disconnected, at about 30 degrees BTDC @ 3000rpm. After
> you are finished reconnect the vacuum line.
>
> - If you have a single vacuum distributor (only one vacuum line going to
> the left side of the carb), set it at 7.5 degrees BTDC @ 850rpm, but
> before you must have adjusted the position of the throttle plate so that
> it is almost fully closed (1/2 turn more on the throttle butterfly
> adjusting screw, from the fully closed position).
>
> Dwell angle has a different value on electronic ignitions. The 45%-55%
> adjustment is for points, and ensures that the points will be closed
> enough time to "charge" the coil, and open enough time so that they will
> not burn. In electronic ignitions you don't have the risk of burning
> points, so the circuit stays closed for more time than with points, so it
> is possible to store more energy in the coil in high revving engines.
>
> 3) Lean mixture.
> The main jet in the carb could be partially clogged. Remove the carb and
> inspect. A lean main jet causes hesitation on acceleration and loss of
> power.
> If the engine doesn't hold a good steady 850rpm idle when warmed up (and
> the throttle butterfly is correctly adjusted to being almost fully closed
> as mentioned above) then the idle jet is dirty too. Generally this means
> you have to remove the carb, dismantle and clean it with compressed air.
>
> No matter which of the three reasons affects your engine's performance,
> you should not drive it for long periods, as all problems above would
> cause overheating.
>
> Bill Spiliotopoulos,
> '67 bug.
>
>
>
>
>
> "MicroBiz" > wrote in message
> news:8Zr1i.179833$aG1.40178@pd7urf3no...
>>I just started by bug after being parked for 2 years and have no power
>>when driving...
>>
>> Over the winter I installed and Pertronix ignition, new distributor and
>> throw out bearing. The car started right away after charging the battery
>> up... I took it around the block and noticed right away there was no
>> power when I accelerated (revs easily in neutral). When I got back home
>> I turned the car off and then right away tried to restart it. The
>> battery was to low to start the car but it did turn over. When I turned
>> the key off the starter continued to turn the motor over until the
>> battery was dead. I right away but the battery charger on and noticed
>> the positive battery cable was really hot...
>> The car again started right away...
>>
>> Why do I have no power and why does the starter continue to turn the
>> engine over?
>>
>> Engine is a B series engine from 69 in my 61 beetle.
>>
>> http://www.microbiz.ca/VW/index.htm
>>
>
>

"MicroBiz" > wrote in message
news:g0P2i.190595$aG1.149974@pd7urf3no...
> Well problem solved for now, I remove the Petronix module and replaced it
> with the points and all is well... not giving up on them yet, the Petronix
> module must work, I've heard lots of good things about them.. Well at
> least I can drive it now, I'll try it again later, just want to get it on
> the road... Thanks for all the suggestions..
>
>
did you reset your timing after installation of the pertronix? you can't
just swap out the points and condensor with ther pertronix and call it
good... you must re-time the engine... the pertronix pickup is several
degrees different than the points when you just swap it over...