engine cut out

eskimo456

Newbie
Points
56
Hi
I have recently been able to get a beetle as a first car. It had a full MOT and seemed preety good for the price so I snapped it up and thought it seemed ok. Unfortunatly the beetle is now sounding very sick and cuts out.

The problem is tempremental however does seem to be getting worse, at first i thoguht possibly an air-flow problem as the old owner had spaces on it so i put the spaces back on to no avail.
It seems to start acting up when there is low revs however constant use makes it cut out. It is also very underpowered it seems to struggle to climb speed when the problem starts until it dies and has to be towed and left overnight to recover.

I have had a look but am unsure I am hoping to see a mechanic much to my dismay as I am running out of ideas and need a deffinate answer in what I need as it is now dangerous to drive.

Any suggestions welcome or anyone willing to have a look lol
many thanks:p
 
have you checked the basics ?
HT Leads, sparks, dizzy cap and check ALL earthing points if one is loose it may cause the cutting out. i have had this issue before with my fiesta. turned out the earth connection from the battery onto the body had corroded, new wire no more issues

does it sound like it is missfiring ?
 
the engine timing is fine and looked at some of the basics as far as i can tell the air and fuel filters are all working fine, the spark plugs look a little past there best i must admit but am unsure as to the length needed for the spark so will have to research this as i plan to replace soon nay way.

Yes it does sound as though it is miss firing and seems to lack power as though a cylinder may be acting up on occasion many thanks for the suggestion i had no0t thought of the battery will look tomorrow when it is light many thanks
 
It could be something as simple as the points. I would clean up the plugs with a wire brush and see if that helps. (Welcome to TorqueCars Eskimo456)
 
where abouts are you based Eskimo. If its close by to York I could have a look for you. I am not to bad with Beetle engines, having a beetle of my own for a couple of years helps. Have you done a compresion test. This always tells you how good the engine is but as the other replies say. Check the basics and its as well to do a sevice yourself.
all the best and keep us up to date please

Graham
 
sorry it has been a while been sorting stuff out for uni and been on holiday, along with work so overal a very busy week. I have just bought new points, spark plug and condesor. This should hopefully fix the problem many thanks for the offer and i may have to take you up on it if i continue to fall out with the car however i am hoping to replace the parts that people have suggested and hope it runs OK.

Many thanks for the help il try and let you know how it goes depending on time.
 
Unlikely to be the problem, but worth checking, the beetle engine will run with the distributor 180 degrees out (although very roughly) seen this a few times.
 
dont forget to do the timing. Very important. while you are doing a service its worth doing the tappits. Very easy job.

nice you dont have to flush the radiator lol

good luck

GRAHAM
 
An engine needs only 3 things to run: fuel, compression and ignition. You probably have no compression problems so that leaves only two. You might have bad fuel (water contamination) so put a litre of metho in the tank as it absorbs water and lets the contaminates be burnt. Better yet remove the tank and clean it out.

The last thing is the ignition so it may be a bad distributor cap, rotor, points or even condenser. If the pints have too small a gap, there isn't sufficient time for the coil to reach saturation and you end up with too small voltage going to the distributor with the plugs oiling or sooting up. If the points are badly burnt it WILL be the condenser that is the problem. Ignition leads and plugs could be faulty. Check by starting the engine and let it idle. Remove one ignition lead and see if the engine changes its character. If not then replace and go to the next cylinder and so on. This way you'll discover or eliminate the spark plugs or the leads as the problem. Also, sometimes the coil can become less efficient as it heats up and doesn't supply the correct secondary voltage to the distributor. Again, the condenser can be the cause of coil failure or low performance.
 

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