Itinerant Air-Cooled

pearl-the-bus wrote: I'm Keith, Pearl's owner!
Once I finally got to fourth, I took it out of gear and put it back in, and had my power back- complete with normal temp readings! This continued to happen the last 10-15 minutes of our drive, as i kept hitting red lights. Once it was going good, it would continue just fine until I had to stop again.
My thinking is that for whatever reason, #3 was not firing, which explains why I was seeing the temp go down as I was speeding up. As Ian said, we changed the plugs, so i'm thinking the issue is with the wires?
Any suggestions? Thoughts? Observations? Criticisms?
Thanks in advance.

I am not getting a good grasp of what is actually happening.

It reads to me that your engine runs on all cylinders once you are at speed in 4th gear, but stops or slowdowns make it run poorly, especially #3 since DD gauge goes down?

The problem with these air-cooled VWs is that the engineers put all of these parts close to the margin of failure. When the balance of full participation is lost, suffering ensues. A loss of power in an air-cooled VW engine can cause a cascade of subsequent failure.

The good news is that air-cooled VWs who like their owners can defy the laws of physics to get you home, been there done that got the t-shirt.

Your obligation to the engine right now is:
fresh oil at the mark
clean engine that can cool itself
drive gingerly around the problem areas . . . i.e. if I am reading this correctly, the engine is not running on all cylinders at lower speeds but cleans up at higher speeds. If this is the case, no full throttle acceleration on three cylinders. Your Dakota Digital may tell you that #3 is cool and happy, but if it is not firing, the other cylinders can be hot and miserable trying to compensate.

You need to properly ascertain the engine's happiness on the highway. ALL sick engines smooth out at higher rpm due to inertial effects (i.e. 5 mph driving down railroad ties is a bumpy hell, but 85 mph on the same railroad ties is just a noisy hum), so don't get complacent. Power output is your best initial clue, if it holds 55 mph at partial throttle on the level and the dipstick is not burning hot, you are probably OK. I am guessing that your #3 low compression cylinder is dumping oil onto the spark plug and shorting it out. There are some temporary on-the-road work-arounds, but this engine is going to need a teardown. 15,000 or 17,000 miles since your rebuild is pathetically hopelessly too few miles for these kinds of problems.

I have a job in Jacksonville on December 12. Where will you be between now and then?
Colin

man, I love that pic! Colin what route are you taking to Jax? I'm due for a multiple vehicle checkup and another slightly scary timing belt in the sinka... (don't want to do it alone)
jeff

Colin,thanks for the reply,
Ian suggested that I pull the wires off each plug, one at a time, while the engine was running, to listen for a drop in power. As I did this, I pulled the wire off of #3, and it disconnected from the end, which stayed on the plug. I threaded it back onto the wire, took it for a test drive and seem to have full power again. (I'm gonna pick up new wires.)
However, coming home we stopped at the Publix, and when I went to restart, she wouldn't turn over. An older gentleman heard the struggle and came to assist. He pulled the wire from the coil off the distributor cap to check for spark. No spark. He said the coil was too hot, sent me in the store for a bag of ice to cool it down. After icing for a couple of minutes, it started right up! He said the coil is supposed to have a resistor, and maybe mine didn't. (I have electric ignition, not points), pretty sure it's the original coil.
I've been babying Pearl ever since Skyline drive, (45mph all the way) so I have no problem with that. And she definitely likes me (you saw those plugs she put up with), and has some good mojo, strangers are always attracted to her and want to help!
We're here in Bonita Springs til Monday, then Tampa on Tuesday, where we'll be for a week- maybe more. Then heading to the panhandle. My girlfriend has family in Pensacola, so we have a place to stay when we get there. Will you be coming back that way after Jacksonville? I'd love to get with you and have you give the old girl a once over!

pearl-the-bus wrote:Colin,thanks for the reply,
I have electric ignition, not points, pretty sure it's the original coil.

My girlfriend has family in Pensacola, so we have a place to stay when we get there.
Will you be coming back that way after Jacksonville? I'd love to get with you and have you give the old girl a once over!

I will be heading out to Jacksonville on the 11th and I will be back in Pensacola on December 15 at the latest.

Maybe you need points . . .

This points-equipped engine here has given me 48,750 miles of pure reliable open road . . . after I put the correct size exhaust valves back in it. I have adjust the points about four or five times.

After giving Pearl a rest Saturday, we started out Sunday afternoon for a short drive to Sanibel Island. We didn't make it ten minutes down the road before noticing that she was running hot and loud... hotter than ever! After pulling over to let her cool down, we returned home via the auto parts store, where we picked up new wires and coil. I changed the wires, and started her up to see if I did it right, and she started, but still sounds loud. We took her for a pretty long test drive, and she's running cooler than she was, but not as cool as when we were coming from Miami to Naples.
Gonna check the coil next...

pearl-the-bus wrote:After giving Pearl a rest Saturday, we started out Sunday afternoon for a short drive to Sanibel Island. We didn't make it ten minutes down the road before noticing that she was running hot and loud... hotter than ever! After pulling over to let her cool down, we returned home via the auto parts store, where we picked up new wires and coil. I changed the wires, and started her up to see if I did it right, and she started, but still sounds loud. We took her for a pretty long test drive, and she's running cooler than she was, but not as cool as when we were coming from Miami to Naples.
Gonna check the coil next...

I want to see this thing sooner rather than later . . . I am heading out to Jacksonville on Thursday 11th morning, or possibly Friday 12th morning.
Colin

I spoke with Keith last night, and I think he's going to test the coil today, to see if it is good. This is a tough diagnosis, as the bus runs well for awhile, and then acts up. They would not be up in Pensacola until you return from Jacksonville, I'm sure. I'm very eager for you to pinpoint what is up with Pearl the Bus.

Jivermo wrote:I'm very eager for you to pinpoint what is up with Pearl the Bus.

Me too. Any bus on the road needs to be well-sorted. I have pangs when reading of epic journeys going wrong, like HastaAlaska where it all just was too painful. After getting Chloe initially straightened out, we already have 41,000 miles of trouble-free engine. Blew a thousand miles just the week of Thanksgiving. Like any other car you expect will get you there. This is what VWs were all about, legendary reliability that you could trust in all kinds of conditions. Yessiree by golly those were the days

Me too. Any bus on the road needs to be well-sorted. I have pangs when reading of epic journeys going wrong,

One of these days, when I get the courage, I'll post my most recent long haul adventure on our return trip from Florida about a month ago. Some forensic work to take place before that post happens.

poptop tom wrote:

Me too. Any bus on the road needs to be well-sorted. I have pangs when reading of epic journeys going wrong,

One of these days, when I get the courage, I'll post my most recent long haul adventure on our return trip from Florida about a month ago. Some forensic work to take place before that post happens.

We . . . await . . . with bated breath.
?? Colin ??

I spoke with Keith last night, and he had quite a tale to tell, which I will leave to him. He got his bus to Sunshine VW in Sarasota, where it was found that the bus was 15 degrees out of time. Not sure before or after TDC. We had set the timing here in Miami, and the bus was running very well. How, in less than 250 miles, did the engine get that far out of time? The distributor clamp was tight.

Jivermo wrote:I spoke with Keith last night, and he had quite a tale to tell, which I will leave to him. He got his bus to Sunshine VW in Sarasota, where it was found that the bus was 15 degrees out of time. Not sure before or after TDC. We had set the timing here in Miami, and the bus was running very well. How, in less than 250 miles, did the engine get that far out of time? The distributor clamp was tight.

Only breaker point gap closing due to rubbing block wear can cause timing to change, and only in the retard direction.
Colin

He has no points-electronic module.

It is possible that the distributor hold-down clamp could be of the crooked/aftermarket variety, and appear tight though not actually holding the distributor enough. I've seen it happen twice, once with a bent stock clamp (100% tight but not actually gripping the distributor shaft) and once with a Wolfsburg West clamp that features such a bad angle that the socket will drag on the clamp and give a false sense of torque.

Either of these could also result in the retarding of the timing if the distributor is free to turn… Slowly…

Robbie

Jivermo wrote:I spoke with Keith last night, and he had quite a tale to tell, which I will leave to him. He got his bus to Sunshine VW in Sarasota, where it was found that the bus was 15 degrees out of time. Not sure before or after TDC. We had set the timing here in Miami, and the bus was running very well. How, in less than 250 miles, did the engine get that far out of time? The distributor clamp was tight.

Ron and Francis of Sunshine are great people and have helped even a "diesel head" like me with my buses. Great shop that does great work!
curious to see what happens next...