Afternoon all,
Wonder if I could ask your advice on the above ?
My Beetle is a 1966 model but has a 1972 AB series 1300 engine fitted. The car has always ran brilliantly in the past, good on petrol, very reliable and surprisingly nippy. I tend to stick to 55mph on the motorway but when overtaking, it's always seemed to have quite a bit of power there - basically I've always been pleased with it. Oil temp (I have a dip stick sender) was always a fraction over 90 (92 ish!) degrees at 55 mph on a hot summers day of around 23 degrees.....and it sounded good. It has regular yearly oil changes.
Someone I know offered to give it a full service service it for me using the parts I bought. It has had points, condenser, fan belt, rotor arm, plugs, air filter element, new fuel hose and clips, air hose, valves checked, oil, rocker cover gaskets etc plus the distributer was replaced with a used one as the one on there was thought to be worn. He attempted to set the timing but was unable to set it correctly as he didn't have a strobe light plus since the dizzy was fitted by him, the red light was on at idle, so he suggested I took it to a local VW specialist which I did (and have used before).
The invoice I have from the garage states "Found points at 21 thou and ignition timing @ 7ATDC - Points gap corrected to 16 Thou and timing to 7 deg BTDC. To bring CO from 7% to 3.5"
Ever since I had the work carried it, it just feels a "bit different" like it's "unsettled it" to put it in simple terms ! It seems slightly sluggish, (it'll still happily sit at 55 mph but just seems "flat" and tired) there is a "wheezing" sound that I can hear from the engine (inside the car, not so much outside) up till 45mph or if it's revv'd and the running temp is very slightly higher by a couple of degrees at around 95 degrees at 55 mph on a hot summers day at say 23 degrees outside temp. The wheezing sound isn't the "Beetle whistle" - I have taper tips so have never had that. And when pulling away in 1st gear or say driving to a parking spot at a show for instance slowly in first, it's like the engine is running too slow for first gear, like it wants to get a move on and is being held back....and when starting, the red light tends to stay on or flicker until it's revved up a few times OR if it's driven a few hundred yards then it seems to somehow re set itself then it's ok again.
I'm planning to take it back to the garage for them to investigate further as unfortunately I lack the tech but does anything glaringly obvious spring to mind that I could ask the garage to look at ? I was aware the timing was out when I took it over to them, the guy that serviced it said it was hence his suggestion to take it there due to him being unable to set it correctlt, but can anyone confirm that those settings are correct for it now ? As I say, it seemed to be set up perfectly, timing and otherwise, before the above.
Maybe "if it's not broke, don't fix it" springs to mind here... ;-)
Wonder if I could ask your advice on the above ?
My Beetle is a 1966 model but has a 1972 AB series 1300 engine fitted. The car has always ran brilliantly in the past, good on petrol, very reliable and surprisingly nippy. I tend to stick to 55mph on the motorway but when overtaking, it's always seemed to have quite a bit of power there - basically I've always been pleased with it. Oil temp (I have a dip stick sender) was always a fraction over 90 (92 ish!) degrees at 55 mph on a hot summers day of around 23 degrees.....and it sounded good. It has regular yearly oil changes.
Someone I know offered to give it a full service service it for me using the parts I bought. It has had points, condenser, fan belt, rotor arm, plugs, air filter element, new fuel hose and clips, air hose, valves checked, oil, rocker cover gaskets etc plus the distributer was replaced with a used one as the one on there was thought to be worn. He attempted to set the timing but was unable to set it correctly as he didn't have a strobe light plus since the dizzy was fitted by him, the red light was on at idle, so he suggested I took it to a local VW specialist which I did (and have used before).
The invoice I have from the garage states "Found points at 21 thou and ignition timing @ 7ATDC - Points gap corrected to 16 Thou and timing to 7 deg BTDC. To bring CO from 7% to 3.5"
Ever since I had the work carried it, it just feels a "bit different" like it's "unsettled it" to put it in simple terms ! It seems slightly sluggish, (it'll still happily sit at 55 mph but just seems "flat" and tired) there is a "wheezing" sound that I can hear from the engine (inside the car, not so much outside) up till 45mph or if it's revv'd and the running temp is very slightly higher by a couple of degrees at around 95 degrees at 55 mph on a hot summers day at say 23 degrees outside temp. The wheezing sound isn't the "Beetle whistle" - I have taper tips so have never had that. And when pulling away in 1st gear or say driving to a parking spot at a show for instance slowly in first, it's like the engine is running too slow for first gear, like it wants to get a move on and is being held back....and when starting, the red light tends to stay on or flicker until it's revved up a few times OR if it's driven a few hundred yards then it seems to somehow re set itself then it's ok again.
I'm planning to take it back to the garage for them to investigate further as unfortunately I lack the tech but does anything glaringly obvious spring to mind that I could ask the garage to look at ? I was aware the timing was out when I took it over to them, the guy that serviced it said it was hence his suggestion to take it there due to him being unable to set it correctlt, but can anyone confirm that those settings are correct for it now ? As I say, it seemed to be set up perfectly, timing and otherwise, before the above.
Maybe "if it's not broke, don't fix it" springs to mind here... ;-)