Motor will not idle

Finally finished putting that motor that I was working on together. I cranked it up yesterday and still cant figure out why it will not idle. I am not a carb guy so.... I was thinking it might be a an intake leak somewhere but I dont know. When I fire it up it will run for a few seconds then shut off. You can keep it running if it is reved. It acts like it wants to idle then just kills out. It is a 34 pict 3.

Have you taken out the idle jet and cleaned it real good? I had one 2 weeks ago at work that was like that and as soon as I cleaned the idle jet it was fine.

The carb has been cleaned and rebuilt. I was thinking about doing that just to make sure as it has sat on my self for about a month it was covered though. Never know. Stormy weather made me stop early today. So I figured I would post it up and have an attack plan for tomorrow...

I would try that first because it doesn't take much to clog one of those holes. I'm sure you have already done this but I would just double check your mixture screw and make sure it isn't turned in to much or turn it out 2 full turns then see if it will idle. I like to eliminate the simple things first.

Yeah already adjusted on the mixture screw it was set at 2.5 and I tried it a half turn in and out and all the 1/8 in between

Well...... What about the points gap?

Just set the points today. I am actually leaning toward having to adjust the pilot jet as I have bought rebuilt carbs in the past from keifernet and he usually had loctite on the pilot jets to hold them after he adjusted them out. Something about turning them in too tight and they wont run and if you loosen them and dont loctite them then you have an airleak.

I hate carbs. No problems yet with my current one, but when I had my 67, that carb (actually I went through a bunch) always gave me problems. I just never can get them right. No real help for you, just some sympathy. Keep at it, you'll get it to idle smooth soon!

If you think it is an intake leak take a water bottle and spray around the intake and carb,if the engine changes the tone of the engine you have a intake leak in that area,hope that helps

camch wrote:If you think it is an intake leak take a water bottle and spray around the intake and carb,if the engine changes the tone of the engine you have a intake leak in that area,hope that helps

With water? Never heard of that. I know I have heard a few people say that spraying wd or something flammable will almost always make the idle change even if there is no leak.

fluxcap wrote:I hate carbs. No problems yet with my current one, but when I had my 67, that carb (actually I went through a bunch) always gave me problems. I just never can get them right. No real help for you, just some sympathy. Keep at it, you'll get it to idle smooth soon!

Yup they suck. I hate messing with them but I guess the more I mess with them maybe I will figure them out. Now that will be the day....

I have never used anything that is flamable all it takes is some kind of spark ex: alt,gen

camch wrote:I have never used anything that is flamable all it takes is some kind of spark ex: alt,gen

I heard that. The water sounds good. I learn something new everyday.

just get a bottle and mist the water

Got it to idle today. I feel that I didnt really do anything. I just went in a big circle really.

(1) I pulled the pilot jet out and cleaned it and put it back in and it did the same thing.

(2) So I loosened it up and tried to find the sweet spot. I did find a place where it ran better but it still wouldnt idle.

(3) Then I just adjusted the richness screw and volume some more and it did nothing.

(4) I re-adjusted the choke and I finally got it to idle at a high rev about half way down the cams, but when it dropped down one it died.

(5) Then I just kept adjusting and tinkering with the adjusting screws and finally got it.

I dont think the choke works because once it gets to the second to last step from the bottom it wont go down any further.... So eventually I just move it down manually and finally got it to idle.

Now I have got to figure out why number four is popping. I am going to put new points, cap, and rotor button and see if that helps. I am still going to go back through the valves before I change the oil again., maybe number four tightened up a little. That will also give me chance to make sure the exhaust valve didnt stick either.

Glad to hear you got it fixed. You gotta love these VW motors. I think they have a mind of there on. One min. they work great and the next its nothing. Then when you can't find the problem and are about to give up they run fine again. Gotta love em