Furious Fastback

[purplepeter]

Be prepared that they might foul the engine hatch

[Rhysos]

Yeah, it is a risk, but I had to go with what was available. These HT leads were the only ones I could find that were the correct length for Type 3 cable routing in the engine bay. They were on sale, so if they don't work out then it is not too much of a hit.

I tried the condenser that I had in a packet, but it didn't resolve the non-starting issue:

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I have noticed that when my batteries (I have more than one in reserve) are freshly charged and I crank the engine, I get a sense that the engine wants to run - there are a few rhythmic 'chuffs' like at least one cylinder is firing. However, these encouraging signs soon fade as the battery drains. Although the engine sounds like it is happily turning over like it always has, I will investigate with the multi-meter later and see what voltage is shown at the coil when cranking. Maybe the engine is not getting enough power to start?

[purplepeter]

That was going to be my next suggestion, & the possibility that your starter switch is on its way out? (I've got 3 arriving from France tomorrow, along with 2 Condensers)
Unfortunately, most of the English suppliers just assume that universal parts will fit Type 3's

[Rhysos]

It has been a week of all work, no play. The new HT leads have arrived, but I am not overly impressed with the quality of them. The wires are thinner and have a more plastic-y feel, so they kind of scream 'budget' option. That's ok though, I will keep them in reserve for an emergency and keep my existing leads going a while longer once I have verified that each is in good working order.

Anyway, I have set aside a decent chunk of time on Sunday to pragmatically work through everything and hopefully I will have some progress to report soon after.

Peter - thanks for offering to help, I will stand you down until I have thoroughly gone back over everything with a fine-tooth comb. I'm sure that I can figure this out or at least narrow down the issue. I will give you a shout next week if I'm totally stumped!

[Rhysos]

After endless fiddling, head scratching and bloody knuckles, I finally got the old girl to cough into life!

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Thanks again to all those who offered support and potential solutions. Invaluable advice that allowed me to keep a cool head and work the problem.

In the end, the fault lay in the ignition system. I pulled each HT lead in turn along with the corresponding spark plug and tested by grounding out the plug and then turning the engine over. I discovered that 1 and 2 were pretty much dead, no spark. 3 and 4 did have intermittent spark, but looked relatively weak. I chucked I some old plugs (removed at the last service) and the car leapt back to life!

I need to look into why the spark plugs (NGK B5HS) failed, they were changed in April this year and only covered about 100 miles. Perhaps it was my method of cleaning them? I have always used a little solvent on a rag to rub off the coke residue and then some fine emery paper to clean up the sparking services. Hmmm.

For now, I am just celebrating that the car is running and I hope to enjoy a couple of rides before the winter hibernation.

[purplepeter]

Well done!
The Bosch plugs I mentioned are W8AC You can probably still get them from gsf, or any aircooled garage. My HT leads are these, with original vw plug connectors added https://www.gsparkplug.com/electrical/i ... -pmc1.html
I like the cable ties on the bumper
But don't understand the "winter hibernation" ?

[Rhysos]

Those cable ties are my overriders for the time being

Yes, the W8AC are still available (although not as common as the NGK), so will pick some up and put them in when I next service the engine …or sooner if it continues to run rough.

I’ll have a look at those HT leads. The ones I picked up recently are so feeble that I feel like they will fall apart just by looking at them!

Do you keep your Fasty running through the winter months, even with all the salt and crap on the roads? I tend to think of Nov - Feb as a grounded period, but theoretically gives me time to tinker on things ready for the spring.

[937carrera]

Delighted you went through proper fault diagnosis & got to the easy solution.

Believe it or not, it usually is the easy solution.

I've always used Bosch in VW's, but NGK's in other cars is pretty standard for me now. They're a good plug, so were they genuine NGK's, or knock off's ?

Sounds like you should be swapping back to the old plug leads as well, nothing wrong with them

[Rhysos]

Thanks David! It has been a puzzling problem, particularly as I already checked that I was getting spark back when the problem first presented. I was certain that I was, but maybe it just happened to be a combination of weak sparks and bad ignition timing preventing start-up. I even cleaned all the plugs of sooty deposits a couple of weeks back and assumed that all was good in that department. Going back over everything again carefully really was the only thing I could do and fortunately it flagged the issue - as you say, turned out to be a simple thing!

I got my NGK plugs from GSF car parts, so I assume they were correctly sourced and were genuine. As for the HT leads, I didn't even properly fit them up beyond just using one as an A/B test for a spark. I will hang on to them as an emergency set, but I am going to keep rocking the old leads for the time being

[broady_6]

If you want some proper leads, I have the tool to make a set.

One note, the cut off colenoid earths through the carb body, if you use PTFE, they you are insulating it and it cant earth and thus wont work. I know its likely the thread with cut the PTFE so it will earth at some point, but its worth bearing in mind.

[Rhysos]

Thanks Broady, that is a really good point about the PTFE tape. I should have thought of that! Fortunately, I am still getting power to the Solenoid, but I think I need a better solution. What have overs tried?

I am tempted to tighten it up the best I can and then use some thread lock around the rim of the threaded aperture. Hopefully that will stop it backing out.

[937carrera]

Not sure why you are using PTFE, but you can always look at adding an additional earth wire under the bolt head

[Rhysos]

Not sure why you are using PTFE, but you can always look at adding an additional earth wire under the bolt head

Unfortunately the threads on one of the carb bodies has stripped. The PTFE tape was an attempt to bulk out the threads on the cut off solenoid so that it would actually hold in there. On reflection, not the best idea. I shall be removing the tape and using a bit of thread lock to hold it in position.

[937carrera]

Suspected that might be the case

Far better to do a thread repair, quite easy to do too, everything you need for £8.99 (assuming you have an electric drill & something to hold a tap)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383731982638?

You drill out the existing thread, use the tap to create a new thread for the insert, then use the tool to pul the helicoil in place

Et voila, you have a new, proper M6 thread, which is actually stronger than the original

(I'm assuming it's an 10mm head / M6 thread that you need)

[purplepeter]

It's a jolly small thread, David, probably M4 ish & theres not a huge amount of metal in that area
The easiest solution is for Rhys to tell me which side carb it is? - I've got a bagfull of dead carbs, so You can just swap out the offending side body (but it'll take time to find said bag) so for the moment, bung it up as best as you can
To answer a pevious point, Yes, I drive mine all year round!
I think theres a teeny O ring on the solenoid & sometimes a fibre washer, both of which keep it snug

[Rhysos]

Thanks fellas! I’ve been laid up for the better part of a week now with some kind of seasonal flu, which has not been much fun. Starting to recover strength and hoping to fiddle with the car later this week, if I can avoid the rain!

Some great input here and the helicoil route would no doubt work with a bit of patience and a deft hand. In fact, someone has done it here https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewt ... p?t=783441 over on the Samba - they had to adapt the helicoil, but it seems that it is just about possible.

Peter – no rush, but if you do have a compatible carb base with good threads, then this would clearly be the best option. It is the right-hand carb, but I happen to be running earlier 32 PDSIT versions (1964 – 67 era), see photo:

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I don’t have any o ring or fibre washer on either of my cut-off solenoids and I can’t see a reference to them in any technical diagrams in my books. Maybe they were extras put in with carb rebuild kits?

My respect to you for keeping your wheels rolling year-round! You don’t tend to see many air cooled VWs on the roads during the winter months these days!

[937carrera]

There isn't a lot of metal to go at there, but you at least have the evidence that the approach does work.

Sjhortening a helicoil is easy, you just need a pair of sidecutters to snip through.

Before you do so, I would suggest you measure the vexternal diameter of the thread on the solenoid with a set of vernier calipers & compare to this table:

https://www.engineersedge.com/hardware/ ... sizes1.htm

As to running a type 3 through the Winter months. Of course it's possible, they were doing it all the time in the '70's.

Keeping the tin worm at bay, well that's a whole load of other work for the Summer months