Currently restoring a late bay, problems on starting the bus,battery charged, she's taking along to start a good 5 minutes. Once going its the dreaded foot down and big flat spot, constantly adjusting revs to keep here going. Is this the points? Im running 009 dizzy non vacuum, I've read into the in and outs of vacuum advanced and know people's opinions. Coil has been changed 34 empi carb with pancake. Carb I've had cleaned and adjusted so I'm thinking distributor / points. Any help much appreciated
assuming turning over briskly so batt/starter ok, keep it initially simples , fuel getting to chambers? spark at plug? done a comp. test? timing ?
Valve gaps, points gap, timing... All of those will give you hard starting, and idling/running issues!!
Running sweet on idle once started tick over great, just big flat spot thinking of changing dizzy have a new one but current is 8 months old. Carb cleaned numerous times and seals checked
^ ^ whs also . Regardless of distributor you should be able to set the timing to get it running OK at idle . Setting up tickover at too high RPM so the distributor is already applying centrifugal advance is quite frustrating - good idea to start with the light bulb or meter static timing and then dont change it much.,, Look for carburettor air leaks - with the original carb on mine I could hear the hiss on mine when the throttle spindle was leaking, and I could waggle the spindle back and forward. Also check the choke flap moves when it should and drops back down when the bimetallic strip works - the choke spindle on mine was extremely tight (unlike the throttle) where someone had hammered the bushes into it. Also the bimetallic heating element had a loose connection. A hairy frayed throttle cable (down to 3 strands) where it went through the engine tin was also responsible for various throttle control problems - stuck on half throttle or high tickover quite often, which made setting idle impossible. And the fuel cutoff valve lead dropped off once and I drove 60 miles with the engine dying at every roundabout and traffic light on the A27. Putting the distributor and plug leads on in strange orientations - I am sure I set mine up strangely once and managed to get the engine just about running with all the leads in the wrong places. Also that the leads to 1 and 2 cross each other on the way to the spark plugs. It sort of runs but backfires if you get that one wrong. Then you discover how rusty the EMPI exhaust really is , as sections of its rusty panels lie around under the back afterwards. The pancake filter wont help with the warming up even in the temperatures round here at the moment - flat spots may just be cold carb and temporary flooding with fuel which hasnt vapourised. It likes the thermostatic controlled 30 degrees C air feed from the original air cleaner. Or the opposite problem where the carb accelerator jet isnt working properly and it is going lean instead. Or both in rapid succession... (I think my progressive setup can be made to do this if I look at the little graph on the AFR meter when I floor it too fast) Another thing is relying 100 % on RPM for timing advance . With the SVDA you get an ignition advance early from the vacuum caused by demand on the accelerator as well as proportional to the engine RPM. Without it on the 009 you need to accelerate the engine to get the advance that lets the engine accelerate. OK on a Beetle where the power to weight ratio is better, but the it will unnecessarily reduce acceleration on a heavier Bus.
Check for air leaks, sounds like it has to continue to suck in air until the fixture gets burnable. Try the old start it and spray some starter fluid (or the like, brake cleaner) around the base and sides of the carb. and see if the motor rev's up, (thus proving it's sucking the vapor in). If not that, then try the timing and spark plug leads readjusting.
Have you gapped/checked points, I had rough running issues and once I set the points in spec and gapped plugs, all was good.
