Help stuck on the side of the road waiting for AAA

Any ideas? Was running fine, not over heated when I lost all engine power (but not electric). Engine cranks over but is acting like it has no gas. Plenty just filled up and have only gone 30 miles.

If I stomp on gas pedal over and over it tries to ignite for a sec bit nothing after that...

Help I have a hour till they get here and any ideas are appreciated

check the wire that goes from the distributor to the coil, it cab pop off and engine just stops

or disconnect fuel line to carb, crank and see ifn any fuel, fuel pump could have broke.

Do you have a see through inline fuel filter? Is there gas in it?

I'm assuming the fuel filter is the brass looking bell jar at the bottom of the carb. Unfortunately I can't see into it. Checked the wore at the top of the coil and all other plugs, it on good. I'm assuming it's fuel delivery related because of how it cut out... Power totally dropped off but engine was still puttering

Do to have a fuel pump switch that could have gotten switched off?

Damned, Amish. Sorry to hear this---likely something very simple.
I hope this gets resolved easily for you!

Please post what the trouble turned out to be.

clogged fuel filter my first suspect, or if it's an electric fuel then I'd check that.

Thanks guys for all the help... I was having what I thought were carb issues before where at first acceleration it would die so I had to rev the engine all the time. After adjusting the idle today I thought the problem wa solved... Evidently not.

I think it's some mix of fuel delivery / carb. Now to find a vw mechanic in west palm beach FL... If anyone has any ideas on how to go about finding one please let me know. I'm sure Kirk will have some suggestions Monday as well...

Thank you all for your quick help

Clogged idle jets? Do you have 44 Webers?

Did it fire up after letting it sit for a while? If so, then it was probably a classic case of vapor-lock.

Amish---so what happened? Get it fixed or jut towed somewhere?

After 40 miles of mixed driving (got it up to 70 for the first time) it died 1.5 miles from my house. Had to wait for AAA to take me home. Now looking for a good garage / mechanic to take it to. I haven't tried to turn it over again. I kept hitting refresh while I was stuck and reading suggestions. Little I could do while stranded but all helpful ideas...

The vapor lock idea sounds interesting... I it is that has anyone bought a heat shield / heat tape for their fuel line? Also any one seen a conversion from a vacume pump to a submersible in the fuel tank?

Take some pictures of the fuel line routing in the engine compartment. I had a hard restart issue because a hanger hold the fuel line had failed, allowing the metal filter to sit too close to a heat source, thus making restart of a hot engine difficult. You might have a similar, but worse situation.

The fuel line touches the header so I I turned it over and it fired up after a few seconds... I think vapor lock may be the 1st problem. I'm going to re route and wrap the fuel line.

I'll post a pic later tonight... Any suggestions are welcome

I am concerned about the fuel line being able to contact the header. Usually the fuel line is in the upper part of the engine compartment, which is separated by the "floor" of the engine compartment, the engine tins, and the seal from the exhaust system. A picture would certainly help. Sounds like you may have escaped a potential conflagration.

Amish, I'm visiting my dad in North Palm Beach. Give me a call 561 301 7885 and I'll take a look at your car. I'm only in town today and tomorrow, headin' back to Cali Tuesday afternoon!

"fuel line touches the header"



with that setup - it's not an if, but rather a when your car burns to the ground. you gotta get that fixed asap.

i'm not familiar with your motor - for my benifit (and others i assume), it would be helpful to post the specs of your motor so we can help troubleshoot it.

for example:

1) what sort of fuel pump (mechanical or electrical)?

2) what kind of carb(s)?

3) etc...

Fuel line touching the header whoa.... I had the fuel touch my header and it went flaming, just ask Will if you get to meet him.

Eddy

How could this happen to a 2012 Vintage Speedster?

I understand that Amish is doing the best he can, like we all do. However, since he has difficulty identifying a fuel filter, we should not be placing blame until a qualified mechanic analyzes and repairs the fault.

I'm handy, and my second speedster but first car that I have had to mess with. Luckily a handy soc member is close by and will help me sort it out today. I'm sure it's something simple. Header was the wrong word... The fuel line comes in through the rear firewall then curves under the tubing from the fan shroud and touches the aluminum pipes going to the cylinders and curves to the fuel pump. For the life of me I don't see a clear fuel filter...

The last one the weekend after I got it I drove from Ohio to FL and back with no problems... This one has been buggy (bad tach, no hood pull cable, 3 bad hubcaps, stalling carbs) but you guys know Kirk and Mary and the will make it right.

even the fuel line touching the intake manifold is very very bad.

so you got it towed to your house and a SOC member is helping trouble shoot it?

So here are some pics of the engine bay, may break it up over a few posts. 2012 VS, 1600 engine...

As an aside where is my fuel filter?

More

more

more

I'm no expert, but I think the fuel line is too close to the 3/4 cylinder intake manifold, causing vapor lock (see img0720.jpg above). It looks like you might be able to solve the problem without even detaching the fuel line by unscrewing the left air hose from the fan shroud, moving the fuel line over it (don't pull), then reattaching the hose.


You may have a fuel filter on the other side of the firewall. Many people caution against having them in the engine compartment.

You read my mind, I moved both the wires and fuel line up above the tube. I still have a carb adjustment problem where it stalls at lights but i think i have cut down the vapor lock scenario... I also bought some thermal wrap and ill wrap the fuel line this weekend. Put some after shots below. Also if anyone else sees anything wrong / odd please let me know.

First off - good to see that the line was no where near the headers. That would have been VERY bad juju.

Now this next point is a style point from someone who is notoriously anal-retentive about engine bay layout.

At no point should the ignition wires including the coil be over and under other items. Strictly style point, it has nothing to do with your stalling issue. They either ALL go under the air hose or they ALL go under the air hose. They either ALL go under the fuel lines or they ALL go above them. Much tidier and easier to pop the cap off and have a look-see if needed. Right now, you've got one bank over and the coil wire under.

Again, nothing to do with how your car is running - just a style thing. I am REAL fussy about routing for fuel lines/oil lines/ignitition system.

angela

That is a beautiful 550.... So it's ok to have the wires close to the intake manifold? Also where can I get spacers like that to keep the wires nice and parallel?

What kind od fuel tank and inlet filter do you have. it makes me think of a fule inlet filter colaping under high low rates.

Looking at the vent line from the gas tank it goes through the floor of the bonnet an then has been zip tied in a loop. The trick is the zip tie ha totally compressed and sealed off the tube in 2 spots. I'm assuming this is why there wa a serious vacume when I opened the tank for the first time... Could this have helped create vapor lock? Creating a negative pressure in the lines?

Also does it need to be in a loop or can it hang straight down? I'm going to bust the zip tie and make a gentle loop if you guys reccommend...

Absolutely. The fuel pump can't get fuel from the tank against a vacuum. There's a reason you pop a second hole in the can when you shotgun a beer.

Keep the loop. It helps trap some of the gas from flowing out without affecting the venting. But if needed, going up as high as you can before bending down will work too.

Just clipped the zip tie, there was 3 seconds worth of air being sucked into the tank...

Shotgun a beer - PERFECT explanation, Justin!!!

Exact same idea plus it's one must of us degenerates can relate to - LOL!

angela

Is this a brand new car from Vintage?

So fired it up this morning and it started idling at 1000rpms. But the exhaust smelled like fuel (rich). When I went to drive it, after only letting it idle for a few seconds, it would idle out after a few seconds... I'm assuming before the carb was set to rich because it couldn't get enough fuel due to the vacume. Now that the fuel can flow freely it's too rich? -sound reasonable or wishfully thinking? Will a engine die if things are too rich?

I can't see it being likely that some how it was tuned with a pinched line. These motors have such low fuel flow... Is the choke stuck on?