car not starting up...?

[tasb]

Perhaps Summer should start with John Muir's book: How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive. It's written for the neophite in the language of the 1960's. The Bentley manuals tend to be overwhelming.
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Roads Scholar &
1957 Kombi low mileage 36 hp governor equipped M 178 Slow Drag Winner 2014, 2015, 2018

1965 hardtop Deluxe Microbus owned since 1990 M 620 factory 12 v 1500cc

1961 (October)Single Cab- Road Trip Workhorse

[Eric&Barb]

[summer25]

Eric&Barb That's what I thought was missing. I had bought the Haynes manual as well because it has more detailed photos than the Muir book and was cheap on Amazon. But yes I'll look into that other book! The more info the better.

Sharp64 I understand what you mean. Believe me I'm frustrated but I did buy this car because I always wanted one and because I WANT to learn mechanics. We all had to start somewhere. So for it to have issues does not bother me because it's a learning experience. I am trying to make friends with a local club and attend meetups even without the car yet. I did test drive the car before I bought it and it had turned on just fine at the first start. The owner put in a battery just for the ride. He offered me a battery for extra money but since I towed the car home it made no difference to me to just buy it at home. I immediately knew the brakes had an issue but thought it might be the pads. Not a brake leak. And yes I did not know enough at the moment to check the reservoir. But I know now.

Because I put gas in it now I am crunched for time because I don't want fluids sitting. So because of that I am looking for a reputable VW shop to help with these current issues. I am also calling classic car restoration shops to see if they'll let me hang out on my days off and learn from them. I appreciate everyone's concern and input.

I found another leak/mess under the rear end. Any thoughts?

[Eric&Barb]

Great to hear you want to get your hands dirty and learn how to work on your own VW!! Get a box of nitrile exam gloves from Costco or other place that carries them, so you do not have to get your hands so dirty.

Too bad you are so far away from the PNW. We have had a lot of fun helping guys and gals get up to speed on how to work on them. Once had three deaf fellas here to get one bus up and running in three days. Afterward they kept telling us they had learned more about VWs in that three days than in the previous two years!

John Muir's manual is really good for the beginner in fairly easy to read style, but lots of mistakes in the manual like timing the distributor by the engine number and not as it should be by the model of the distributor, and some areas are real hard to sort out between the engines being listed.

Chiltons and Haynes are OK, but incomplete at best and have big flaws that can make your VW end up worse off.

The Bentley reprint of the Workshop manuals are a bit harder to read for the beginner, but are very step by step and photo by photo. Sure there are a few mistakes in them, but very few. The original manuals were updated with replacement pages sent out to each dealer whenever there was an improved procedure, or the next year change in the VW, or mistakes to be gotten rid of. So in other words those manuals were honed year by year to be pretty close to perfect.

Might be your rubber axle boot/s are cracked and leaking. Look around the boots (the black rubber things that are on the axle tube end at the transaxle and see how they are, and if you see and drips on them.

At very least you should top up the transaxle with new gear oil, or better change it. If you change it make sure the fill plug is not stuck before pulling the drain plug. From the looks up under there the DPO did not do much to keep up your VW.

You probably can do all that need to be done to your VW with the right info at hand, with proper tools, and of course the forums here. Big question is if you have the time to do so? On the other hand having a shop to do the work means trusting that they know or even care what they are doing. Plus you need a lot more $$$ and you will not get much learning by going to a shop. Have met plenty of gals who have been taken advantage of or even disrespect by repair or parts shops and Barb has gotten some of that also.

Do find a local VW club and start to get to know fellow owners and sort out which you feel you can trust. Also find out the shows and swap meets near you thru the "Community" button (clubs are listed there to) at top right. That way you can start looking at Beetles near your year and get to see what is missing off yours and get to talking to more VW owners.

As for the missing brake flex line to the MC. Turn the front wheels all the way to the right and look inward just behind the left front wheel. You should see the MC in there just forward of the brake pedal. Post an image of that area.
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[summer25]

Eric&Barb I wish I was in the PNW! I went to Oregon a couple years ago and didn't want to come back! It's in the plans for the next two years to head west. I've been reading John Muir's book on my lunch break everyday just to get acquainted with things but feel like I need more detail so I bought the Haynes. It's a step up in pictures and what not but now I will get the Bentley manual. I'm very detail oriented so skimming the surface and wingin' it is not for me. Youtube has helped a lot with the basics as well. Today I want to clean that area of all that oil/grease so I can pinpoint any leak in case it's not from the axle boot(s). What degreaser/solvent do you recommend I use?
The other thing is that I tried to change out the fuel filter and could not for the life of me detach the hose from the carb. It seems to have melted onto it and the placement is horrible. So I'm gonna have to cut it off, measure it and order more fuel line hose to replace it all and pull it out further so it's not in such an uncomfortable spot. If I remove the hose from the carb and fuel pump should I be concerned with any suction or pressure coming off those lines? I read to plug it with a pencil so it doesn't spill everywhere. Im just wondering if maybe the car ran out of gas when I tried to turn it on and so it drained whatever was in the fuel filter? Since it was left empty for a week I'm assuming that the fuel was depleted and left a little black puddle. After filling the tank with gas it wont turn on so I bought a new filter. Once I change that and the hoses should I expect her to turn on or is there anything I need to do after that? I'm wondering if it'll help adding a few drops of gas to the carb to help her start. I really need to get these fluids circulating so I don't create new issues. I'm going to make a checklist of what I'll need as of now and order parts tonight.

[Eric&Barb]

Well when you get out this way, look us up!

Stock VW fuel line has a Chinese finger cuff locking action to it. The more you pull it the more it locks down on the tube it is on. Take a wide bladed slot tip screwdriver and put it between the end of the fuel line and the carb or fuel pump, give the screwdriver a twist and that should get the line to move. Push off the flex fuel line the rest of the way with the screwdriver. With other hand try twisting the flex fuel line a little. Once it starts to move it will do so easier.

Looks like you have after market fuel line, which IOHO is not as good as the stock stuff.

If that does not work, then slit off the hose, but try not to cut into the brass tube inside.

BIG problem with yanking off the fuel line by just pulling is you will sooner or later loosen up the tubes in the carb and fuel pump. This in turn will result in the tube falling out while you are driving down the road and you will have a sudden VW BBQ.

So do not pull off the lines from carb and pump. Replace flex fuel lines ever two years without fail. Make sure the grommet in the front tin is protecting the metal fuel line from getting cut thru there. A piece of flex fuel line slit down the side and hose clamped in place will work there also. Get a 5 Lbs. fire extingusher (not a tiny 1 Lbs. one) and mount it somewhere you can get to it easily. To skip that fun...

Do keep in mind that the dry powder chemical fire extinguishers if not turned upside down about once a month, that the powder chemical inside will cake up and not blow out like it is supposed to, making it useless.

Fuel should not spray out of that line between the fuel pump and carb. Even before the fuel pump it is a slow pouring out. Still you want to be careful not to get a spark and start a fire. Know of a VW owner who was underneath and fuel was dripping down. He grabbed a metal drain pan, dragged it over the cement floor causing a spark. VW and shop burned down and owner was badly burned. Personally know two others who have been seriously burned in similar situations with automobiles.

We have been installing fuel reserve valves in all the VWs we have. With that valve one can shut off the flow of fuel at the gas tank. Even in later VWs that did not come stock with that valve, it is easy to install as long as it is not a FI VW.

Really thick oil/dirt like that is better attacked by scraping the worst thicker stuff off with a putty knife, slot tip screwdriver, etc., and have newspaper on the floor to catch the gunk. Then when you have it running or can tow it to an auto wash rack to work off the rest. Soak it down with the engine degreaser and let sit for 10 minutes before using the high pressure rinse. Make sure to wear grubbies, an old T-shirt to cover your hair, and most of all wear eye protection.

Have you changed the engine oil yet? Suggest you do. Easy job, but you want to avoid messing it up, and causing you problems.
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[Sharp64]

Get a can of starter fluid to help with starting. It's good to have around for starting as well as detecting vacuum leaks. I keep some in the glove box to hell when I lose my prime after the car sits for a week or two.

You really should consider flushing the entire fuel system if you have black debris in your fuel filter. starting with a clean fuel system from tank to engine will give you peace of mind that you're not dumping dirty fuel into the carb which can cause further issues. I know the mentality is "I just want to get it running", (been there) but take the time to do it right. Unbolt the tank, remove and plug the lines underneath. Drain the tank and all lines. Inspect the inside of the tank and replace/clean the tank sock. Inspect and most likely replace all the soft lines from the tank to the engine. You might as well remove and clean the screen filter in the fuel pump while you're at it. Once you've done all this, replace the tank, hook up the lines and add some fuel. One thing I found has helped is to tip the tank up after filling and make sure you're getting fuel all the way back to the pump. Put the hose that is going to the pump into a glass jar and bleed the air out of the fresh lines. Once you have good flow, connect it into the pump. Then make sure you have fuel coming out of the line going into the carb. Hook it back up. That should insure you have fuel all the way back. Depending on how long it's been you may want to rebuild the carb as well.

[summer25]

I had a feeling that line was like a chinese finger cuff like you say. I was trying to push it up from the end with a needle nose plier but I'll try a flat head screwdriver instead. I'll only unplug the hoses that touch the fuel filter. After replacing it, is there anything I need to do or will attempting to turn the car on fill the filter? I'll post a picture of the area you said to take a picture of as well. Hopefully it's just that hose missing for now. I also noticed that the fuel line is resting on the intake manifold (?). Is that something that people tend to move so the fuel does not heat up unnecessarily? But yes I want to pretty much drain the car and go through the fuel/brake lines. I would eventually like to upgrade the engine but for now I'd like to take her apart and clean any settled debris out. In due time lol. I will most definitely get a fire extinguisher. I was actually thinking about that before you all mentioned it. Unfortunately I missed the VW meet this past weekend but there will be more. I'm gonna look up that fuel reserve valve you mentioned. Hadn't heard of that yet. I do think it'll be worthwhile to change the master cylinder to a double if it's possible with my car. Thank you all again for the suggestions. I'll try to post some pictures this weekend. I'm house sitting for the inlaws starting this weekend so I'm gonna tow her to their house and jack her up to see what's going on under there.

[Eric&Barb]

Even if that brake hose was not is missing, you would need to go thru the entire brake system. With it missing you just have to go thru it.

Change the engine oil before trying to start it. Do a full tune up of the engine. Take an old fuel filter to cut it into a fuel proof funnel. Take off fuel line from your filter that goes to the carb. Use the funnel to pour fuel into the carb. Reattach the fuel line to the filter and give it a try to see if it will fire over.
Would help to know what distributor you have. Should be a number on the side. With that can get info on timing it.

Not good to have fuel line against the intake, but more due to wearing thru the line as it vibrates against it. Stock there should be bracket bolted to the left side of the fan shroud.

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[Eric&Barb]

Took a second look at your transaxle image and off to one side the brake flex line looks clean and new. If all four look like that, they are almost certainly new, which is a good sign. If unknown how old on a VW we get, those are one of the first items to be replaced. Otherwise they turn into one way valves after about 8 years. No fun having a dragging brake smoking as you sit beside the road...
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[summer25]

Alright everyone.. I went to see Penny today and took a few photos. I also looked at the number on the side of the distributer. I couldn't get a photo as it was in a tight spot but I think I was able to read off all the numbers correctly. The brake lines seem to be new all around. I'm not quite sure after looking at the master cylinder which hose or metal line is actually missing. I'd like to figure it out so that I can go ahead and order the parts asap hoping they arrive by next week. I'm at the inlaws until next weekend and will have driveway space to work on the car a bit. I managed to make a friend who lives nearby through a local car club. He also has a bug and is learning how to work on it so we are gonna try to meet up and work on the cars together. I had a meeting with the owner of a classic car resto shop to see if he'll let me at least watch and be a shop hand but he told me to go to school. It's something I've been considering but now is not an option so I'll continue to do my own research. I do appreciate all of everyone's help! I did look at the fuel line and did not see the bracket that holds the line up. I'll get a second look this coming weekend but it is resting on the manifold right now. Here is the distributer number and some photos. Any thoughts? If anyone can link me to parts for the brake like issue I think I'll order from Wolfsburg West.
distributer #: 0231170036

[summer25]

I also took a picture of this since I did not know what size engine I have. I looked it up on the site and it says its from 73-74 1600 cc. Is this true?

[TinCanFab]

[TinCanFab]

[summer25]

roachdub58 So from the looks of it the difference is only that line that feeds the master cylinder with brake fluid from the reservoir is missing like I had thought. Based on my previous photos my brake reservoir that's under my spare tire is just there floating and the one that really needs filling is the one on top of the master cylinder..? I'll still bleed the brakes anyway. It looks to me as if my master cylinder looks like it's from a bug and it's as if they modified it to hold a reservoir on top. A concern would be the durability of it since it is sensitive and there is a lot of movement down there. I would like to update it to a dual for the safety aspect. So now I'm thinking which route to take with this discovery

[Eric&Barb]

Would completely drain the brake system and replace all the brake fluid with new. That way you know the brake fluid is then good for 2 years or 30,000 miles which ever comes first.

Definitely do consider going with dual circuit now and have that extra safety.
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[TinCanFab]