[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]
On 13 Aug 2003 at 19:22, Fiesta Cranberry wrote: > I floored the pedal, felt the kickdown > work, got a big roar, and then started losing power. The engine was > making a rattling sound. Barely made it up the hill, doing about 30. > > When I got home, I looked at the engine. The cover to the fan belt > was gone. I checked the timing, slightly off. I checked the rpm's, > was only doing 800 (The B. runs best between 950-1000). Just then, > the local neighborhood VW nut comes by and takes a look. Did you lose your fan belt? Are there any signs that something, like the belt or cover got thrown around and chewed up in the pulley housing? > He says the distributor is shot. Checked the vacuum advance, and says > that the little rod that goes from the distributor into the vacuum > thingy is barely moving----about 3/16 inch---so the engine can't > advance properly. Says the distributor plate (contact plate?) should > move a lot more, and thinks something broke loose and is jamming it. > Also said the big spindle thing in the middle (the thing the pointer > goes on) moves up and down too much. The distributor is PROBABLY okay. There's not much motion in the vac advance since you also have mech advance, which he may not have been aware of. OTOH, there are things which can go wrong and they can all be fixed. > Does this sound plausible? He says I can buy a new one and install it > myself, it's not too hard to do. If you have FI then you can't just go out and buy the "standard" HP dist and drop it in. If you have carbs, then you don't want the 009 which everyone sells. Are you FI or carbs? > Oh, and he also said that the thermostat is the wrong model, too tall > and can't expand properly. Does that sound right? I think there's only one model and if there are more, they all start out the same size. OTOH, one sign of one that needs to be replaced is that it doesn't contract back to its original short size when it cools down. > Looks like iI need a new distributor, cover, and thermostat :^( I think the first thing you need is a second opinion. -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org