I've got the Noobie T2 Bay Blues

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martyboy104

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Second trip out in my "new" 1973 Bay has me thinking my local Vee-Dub resto man said more than his prayers. The eye-watering bill on the first trip 160 miles form home across the boarder still makes my eyes water in a different way! The second trip started off really well but cruising 28 miles into our road trip the fan belt shredded into sewing thread. A quick phone call to the AA to let them know where I was, what the problem was, that I had a spare belt on board and a not so quick response and I was good to go....well actually, it was a bank holiday weekend and 5 hours later, a recovery ride back 23 miles to a local garage, lots of head-scratching from 2 mechanics and a toothless famer as to where to hook up to the diagnositics computer and I was good to go.

After parking up for the night 180 miles later I thought a cursory check on the belt would be an idea an there it was all lovely and cracked and looking like it could go at any minute. People are great though and Irish trad musicians are even better. I dropped into the local VW dealer and there was a trad musician doubling up as the parts manager....a God-send as he stayed on the phone until he got in touch with a local VW resto specialist. Enter stage right Eamonn Bolger, a young VW resto man and white knight to the weary traveller. If journeying in the south-east of Ireland forum members would do well to carry this GENTLEMAN's mobile number with them. I am happy to pass on his contact details.

So the belt has been grand, got me about and brought me home with no hic-cups. The bus, however, isn't well, it keeps cutting out at low revs. A read, a further read and a third read of the Haynes book has me thinking the timing may be out. The local resto man told me that having fitted a new electronic starter that the timing would "never need a peek-a-boo again" was not entirely true. A lot of what was said prior to the hand-shake and my cheque clearing sounds like a man speaking with "fork-tongue" This is all brand new to me, a complete absence of tooling and know-how and so all polite and not so polite suggestions to get me out of this corner are welcome......very welcome.
 
Sorry to hear about your woes!.

Can you tell us a bit more about your engine? Anything that you know, and maybe even a picture will help :)

Let's start with your fanbelt... Sounds like you either had a really duff one, it was the wrong size, or you had it up too tight.

There's two sizes for type 1 engines, and the length depends on whether you have a dynamo or an alternator. Your Haynes should be able to tell you which is the right one for your set up.

As for tightness: try twist the fanbelt. You should be able to rotate it about 90 degrees. If you can turn it significantly further then it is too loose. If you feel that you have to force it to 90 then it is too tight.
There are a number of shims on the top pulley that can be moved around to get the correct tension. Again, your manual should be able to explain this procedure far better than I can!

OK, on to the idle issue: does this happen when warm and/or cold? What carb(s) have you got fitted? Do you have a rev gauge? Timing light? At this stage I can only make assumptions, so will hold off for now. A video of the engine running may also help in diagnosis.

Lastly, where in the world are you? Maybe there's another member who is local who might be able to offer some hands-on help!
 
What I'd say is that as far as tuning your car goes, you can do absolutely everything except fiddle with the carburettor, with only the simplest tools and little knowledge. I would recommend you buy a few simple tools, so when your car isn't running right you can do 90% of the diagnostic work yourself. I'm not really going to go through how to use these- I'm supposed to be at work- but I've handed my notice in and I'm going to travel the world after Glasto, so nuts to it. Might pop over the road to the urban farm later, look at the pigs.


These things are:


Valve gaps- requires one 13/14/15 (depending on design) spanner, one flat head screwdriver and a set of feeler blades. You could buy all three on ebay for less than a tenner, I bet. If you have a leaky rocker cover gasket it's a good thing to sort at the same time, budget £4.

Points gap/dwell angle:


There are two ways to do this, you can either measure the distance between the points or measure the contact time (dwell) with a dwell gauge. OR, you can sod the lot off and buy an electronic ignition module. Now, I used to be well against these, I loved points- but the quality of modern points is not, to my mind, acceptable. Used to check 'em once a year, latest lot seem to wear out in a matter of weeks and when they do they cause ALL kinds of trouble. These are £35, and are well worth it:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Beetle-AccuSpark-Stealth-Electronic-Ignition-Conversion-/180738609065?fits=Car+Make%3AVW%7CModel%3ABeetle&hash=item2a14dc4fa9:m:mT_XkeL-EndNbqUstJq-yOg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fitting takes five minutes, and requires one screwdriver.

Timing:

Static timing will do you fine if you've got what's known as an SVDA or SVSA distributor. Basically, if it has a can on the side of it, like this:

SVDA%20034%20Distributor%202.jpg


then you can use a static timing light to keep you out of trouble. (If you don't have that coppery looking can on the side, you need a strobe light, about £50)
A timing light is a super simple circuit, just a 12V bulb and two wires with crocodile clips on. I use a motorcycle indicator. You will also need a 10mm socket and handle- I use a T-bar or screwdriver fitting.

Plugs:

You'll need a 14mm plug socket, short and long extension bar, and ratchet. For a bug you'd need a flexible joint, too- but with a bay you've plenty of room. You'll also need the feeler gauges you got for your valves and a bit of sandpaper. £10 or so.

And that's it, really. Say your car's running badly, you can set these items to a figure. That means you make distance "X" 0.4mm, and you can measure that. You do not have to "adjust distance "X" until "Y" and "Z" are in place, and a "mild" etherial glow eminates from your socks". Then all your mechanic will need to do is adjust the carburettor, hopefully!- And when he or she does, make sure they use a CO meter, go for between 3-4% Co. These things like to be a bit rich, and doing it by ear is a recipe for disaster if you don't know your eggs.

Oh- one other thing. I used to freak out when my engine started acting all lumpy, wouldn't start, yadda yadda... So I would recommend a compression tester to set your mind at ease. If you can push/pull the bottom pulley without seeing much movement, and if you can get compression figures of over 100PSI, your engine's likely OK. You want one that screws in with a dump valve, rather than one you have to hold in place- so you can do it solo. They're about £20.
 
Hi lads,

Thanks a million for taking the time to reply.

gvee; The "tell us something about your engine" is a problem.....we are starting at ground zero here! I have taken a quick video an you can see it here: https://youtu.be/zpk9sZwxpVs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The fan belt that turned to string came with the bus so I'm not sure how long or how well it was fitted.....I have trust issues....the spare the AA garage fitted was 6mm x 890mm and bought from JK. The replacement belt is a Gates V-belt 10 x 900 and I can turn it 90 degrees as advised. I'd say it is on the okay side of tight but the chap who fitted it did say another pulley shim wouldn't go a miss so I have a few on order.

The engine cuts out when going down through the gears, stalls at traffic lights and that. I'm not sure of you can hear it in the video but even to my ear it sounds like there is an occasional miss. I am not sure what carbs are fitted.....how do I find this out an why? A timing light with rev counter are now on order following Happystamps reply. I am based in NI an and a knowledgeable member in counties Donegal, Fermanagh or Tyrone would be great.

Happystamps: Great stuff on jacking in the job. I packed in teaching 10 years ago in my mid-30's and have never looked back.....I hope it all goes well for you.

As with gvee...please assume ground zero position. I do have access to basic tools but have ordered the timing light and socket spanners a suggested. I did purchase a Pertronix ignition kit from JK, £140 (ish?) and had it fitted before I took possession of the bus. Okay....so the things you mention...should these be done in the specific order you list and then tested to ascertain if the problem has been fixed:

1. Check valves and replace rocker gasket
2. Check timing with timing light and adjust to ensure 7.5 degrees off TDC?
3. Check plugs

many thanks again
 
Sounded ok in the video, but if it is stalling at lights and junctions I would add in to the mix a leaky carb maybe?.
Mine did it for ages, I was changing everything and getting pretty :evil: .
Bought a solex from Machine7 and runs fine now.

Your a tad far from Gatwick for me to have a look but good luck
 
Could be something very simple like a blocked idle jet in your carb - very simple to unscrew and blow crap out of and there are plenty of pics on google showing the jet location.
 
All good stuff ^^^ as the guys above have said. If you plan on having a little fidget with your carb or carbs, just make sure that any info is pertinent to the carb you have installed as there are quite a few differences. Amazing just getting a few of the basics right, because these beasties have been so reliable, a lot of owners have maintained to much less than the minimum required yet to their credit they still roll.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Basics first, and don`t be blue :mrgreen:
 
martyboy104 said:
Hi lads,

Thanks a million for taking the time to reply.

gvee; The "tell us something about your engine" is a problem.....we are starting at ground zero here! I have taken a quick video an you can see it here: https://youtu.be/zpk9sZwxpVs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The fan belt that turned to string came with the bus so I'm not sure how long or how well it was fitted.....I have trust issues....the spare the AA garage fitted was 6mm x 890mm and bought from JK. The replacement belt is a Gates V-belt 10 x 900 and I can turn it 90 degrees as advised. I'd say it is on the okay side of tight but the chap who fitted it did say another pulley shim wouldn't go a miss so I have a few on order.

The engine cuts out when going down through the gears, stalls at traffic lights and that. I'm not sure of you can hear it in the video but even to my ear it sounds like there is an occasional miss. I am not sure what carbs are fitted.....how do I find this out an why? A timing light with rev counter are now on order following Happystamps reply. I am based in NI an and a knowledgeable member in counties Donegal, Fermanagh or Tyrone would be great.

Happystamps: Great stuff on jacking in the job. I packed in teaching 10 years ago in my mid-30's and have never looked back.....I hope it all goes well for you.

As with gvee...please assume ground zero position. I do have access to basic tools but have ordered the timing light and socket spanners a suggested. I did purchase a Pertronix ignition kit from JK, £140 (ish?) and had it fitted before I took possession of the bus. Okay....so the things you mention...should these be done in the specific order you list and then tested to ascertain if the problem has been fixed:

1. Check valves and replace rocker gasket
2. Check timing with timing light and adjust to ensure 7.5 degrees off TDC?
3. Check plugs

many thanks again


Checking valves- needs to be done with the engine cold, so I normally do this first. Quick tip- find the TDC dent on your pulley- just to the left of the timing V notch- and mark the opposite side of it with tippex or similar. You'll need it for finding TDC on two of the cylinders. This won't make sense until you do it.

http://www.vw-resource.com/valveadj.html

"Check timing with timing light and adjust to ensure 7.5 degrees off TDC"- That can be done at any time before you do the carb. Make sure you really are after 7.5 degrees BTDC though (there's "Before Top Dead Centre", and there's "After Top Dead Centre", and what you time to depends on your distributor and carb). as far as I know, while 7.5 degrees BTDC is the most common setting, we also have 10BTDC, 0(TDC) and 5ATDC for some automatics I think. You can ignore most of that- but if you take a pic of your distributor, and the left hand side of the carb with the model number on (eg. Solex 34 PICT 3) we'll be able to make sure you're using the right figure.

Check plugs- two schools of thought on this. They're looser when the engine's hot so easier to remove, but if it's cold you won't burn your hands! As with everything else, the only rule is BEFORE YOU FIDDLE WITH THE CARB :)
 
hi lads

thanks a million for hanging in there with me

ozziedog: cheers for the support and re-assurance.....I don't know very much at all but the little I do know is to stay clear of the carb and leave it to the professional ...the posts and guidance have cheered me up no end :D

Happystamps: thanks for the link. i'll get pics of the distributor and carb tomorrow in good daylight and come back to you. good man on the link! i'm away to have a quick look now....also relying on JK vieos which are very helpful too...more alter and many thanks ;)
 

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