Cold weather stumbles???

[Guest]

History Commands

[January 04, 2009, 07:18:08 AM] edwin .s.nathan: I live in a tropical country ie malaysia.Need to install air conditioning.Any idea on where to put the vents

[January 05, 2009, 10:21:13 AM] BusManVW70: Hello everyone Im new to the site and I have just added some pictures of my 1970 VW Camper his name is Fred enjoy..

[January 06, 2009, 10:03:55 AM] Jamesbehave: oh man

[January 06, 2009, 10:04:11 AM] Jamesbehave: talk about brain dead

[January 06, 2009, 10:04:22 AM] Jamesbehave: read my post

[January 06, 2009, 10:18:51 AM] JimmyD\'s: 1977 vw camper wont start HELP

[January 06, 2009, 10:19:09 AM] JimmyD\'s: her name is lucy

[January 06, 2009, 11:22:28 AM] Jamesbehave: whats going on

[January 06, 2009, 11:40:04 AM] JIMMYD: i have two shitty batteries I have been taking turns on trickle charges. So I put the fresh good battery in and she tries but

[January 06, 2009, 11:40:39 AM] JIMMYD: she won't flip. I've checked all the fuses.... rolled her back.

[January 06, 2009, 11:41:05 AM] JIMMYD: Found an old allman brothers ticket

[January 06, 2009, 11:42:02 AM] JIMMYD: the starter has always seemed fine.... no problems

[Happy]

  Well not really cold!  It was 58 out this am and Betty had a difficult time getting up today.  Here are the symptoms:

Betty started right up and idled Peeeeerrrrrfectly.
Drove to the first stop sign and pushed the gas to get moving again and she was having wicked stumbles...like let off the gas and try again stumbles.
After 20 min. of highway driving (Peeeeerrrrfectly putting along) she was STILL stumbling after sitting at the first red light and gaining speed again....but not as bad, but worse than ever "warmed up".  If I floor it, the stumbling stops all together but I feel bad for Betty doing that. 

I leaned things back a bit after DJ  cautioned me about running too rich (which helped compensate for the dumb 009 and stopped her stumbling all together).  Do you all richen up for fall/winter??? (That's my question finally!)

[Dj:Eep]

Actually, that was VWBUSRAT 

I'm getting kind of worried about the state of your heads.  Your story is starting to sound a lot like Geri Lou's.  Bad exhaust leaks, backfiring, stumbling, 009, the whole nine yards.

For the time being, richen it up a bit.  Running a little rich isn't gonna tear up your engine any worse than running lean will.  You just don't want to push it too far.  If there is no lag in acceleration with a 009, or you can see smoke from the exhaust when the throttle is blipped, you are definitely too rich.  You should have more of a flat spot in acceleration than a real stumble though.  (Well you don't want either, but with a 009 you take what you can get)

Think about scheduling a time to pull Betty's engine and have a look at the heads.  Did you ever do that compression test?

[Happy]

When you're right you're right.  Comp. test this weekend for sure.  Just to add to my symptoms though:  Driving home yesterday it was 85 and there was very little stumbling so I think the cold is "part" of it.  I really hope the comp. test turns out good numbers.

     Another thing:  It is so hard to detect exhaust leaks under Betty.  My ear is not trained for it.  But I think I might have found TWO more biggggg ones.  When I was putting on the new rear exhaust a while back I noticed that the heat exchanger pipes seemed to just "slide on" to the new muffler.  The more I listen I think some serious leaking is from those two areas:

    Was there some clamp I was supposed to use to seal those joints? If the comp test it GOOD, I think I will pull some engine tin and do one of my hose clamp steel tape seal jobs on them.  I had a dream yesterday afternoon that I did this and Betty was super quiet and all was well    .  My tap in gasket is still holding on cylinder 1.   

[Dj:Eep]

I tried the clamps/fiberglass/steel tape route on Geri Lou too.  Lasted about a day and cost more than a set of gaskets.

[Happy]

OK    Then I have TWO things to do this weekend.  The gaskets I need are similar to these (see exhaust leaks at muffler o rings part)  http://www.midsouthvw.com/Nltr00/Nltr10-00/TechTipGO-MC10_00.htm  and I hope to find them at my local auto parts store.  I really hope they do the job.  I really think there is a possibility of starting Betty with these gaskets/clamps on and find that a lot of my annoying problems are OVER.

Thanks Mr. DJ 

[Happy]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!   THAT BETTY!!!!!!!!!!  What was fun is becoming frustrating.  I wrapped the joints to the muffler from the heat exchangers just to test my idea and she is as loud as ever and no improvement of the shifting/decel backfire.   If the comp. test is good this weekend, I will consider dropping her off to let someone with the proper tools remove those rusty heat exchangers for me.  There must be a huge leak in one or both where I cannot see.  I want more of a reason to do my first engine pull than just these dumb heat exchangers.  I will warm up Betty tonight or Sat. night and hope to get good numbers from the comp. test.  I will let you know what they are....I am sure you all will be logging in quite frequently to get the first scoop on Betty's comp. test.   

    On a lighter side: BIG VW show this weekend just outside of Knoxville!  I will be there tomorrow for a half day at least.  I have this dream of finding a rebuilt 1600 WITH J-TUBES sitting on a blanket with a $400 price tag.  I think I would take the chance and have two usable engines.  I would like one just to take apart and learn on.  I want to be like all you folks that can do everything yourself...but I guess I shouldn't rush things TOO much.  I've only had Betty TWO MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!    for listening to me on my  -box again!  Have a good weekend.