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What problems have you had in VWs
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williamM
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very first vw (1954 sunroof beetle- in 66) had a trans problem in Susanville Ca. so took it a part with the ONLY vw book- the complete idiot- book and worked in a sandy storage she to split the case - find a bad bearing and a few gears- put it back together and it was wonder full untill reverse- ting ga ling no reverse- FOUND THE REVERSE SHAFT DOWEL-- in the dirt.

Jump forward to 71- had a 63 bus in the outback of Aussi- throw a rod- Google map it-(Katherine) so we sat for 2 weeks when the mechanic said the parts were missing. from his order.-THE next day word came down about a bus had crashed and the owner abandoned it. with a factory fresh motor - So off again with great motor.

1980's- borrowed dads ghia and the crank broke coming out of the drive thru- so drove it back to work, but towed it home- (friday) and dad says _ I want to drive it into NY on Mon.- so out goes my bus motor and dad get his car for Mon.

1986- Girlfriends kid has one of the first lowered tricked out beetles. It catches on fire in the shop--ya you do have to hook the fuel lines up. CO2 saves the day.

!995-new girlfriend borrows the hightop and blows a spark plug. took all day to reach her and screw it back in.

Built a guy a Baja and he sanded it

Built a trike and got a center main wrong- ya we measure EVERYTHING now. Just watch your internet NOS bearings- they have had 40 years for other people to fuck with them.

THEN THERE WAS THE SAAB 900- but thats another 3 year saga.
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73sedan
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steering disconnected at 70 mph on I-75 on way to Pasco Bug Jam last year. 73 Superbeetle. Just lightly pulled the e brake until we coasted to a stop just on the side of the highway. We giggled nervously for quite awhile after stopping. Can't imagine what would have happened if one front brake caught better than the other. Steering wheel just spun around and around.

Ended up having to remove the full tank on the side of the road. Pulled the column back to the yoke and retightned the nut. Freaky to say the least.
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williamM
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ABSOLUTELY the BEST wheel alignment ever- anything I drive would be headed for the ditch.
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flat4powerhouse
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

don't think i will buy another bug that just needs a starter.

1. bought a 64 that just needed a starter. Changed starter and the motor started right up. Tried to drive it around the block and it had no power at all. Tried to tune the motor still the same thing. Pulled the motor and tore it down, dropped valve on #3 and there was metal chunks in #2 that mashed up everything.

2. Bought a 68 that just need a starter. Well after a starter, new dizzy, coil, plugs, new carb, dash fire, wiring nightmare and stripped rear drum i got her running good
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williamM
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You got starter disease. It spreads like wildfire.
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william metcalf
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 3:17 pm    Post subject: Oil cooler in the fan shroud working? Reply with quote

In (1991) my buddy bought a 54 sunroof that had a 40hp in it. At the time we lived in Truckee CA, 5000 ft in elevation. We drove his 54 everywhere. Down to Sacramento in the 100 plus degree heat to vw shows, and back up the Sierra mountains to Truckee. We drove in the Nevada desert in the high heat as well. It ran great, but always had this annoying oil leak, but not big enough to be alarming. After a year or so, he decides to pull the engine and figure out what is going on with the leak. We were always suspicious that the leak was the oil cooler. When he pulled the cooler off, it had the plugs they put in them for shipping so no dirt will get inside. The inside was bone dry. Whoever installed the cooler never pulled out the plugs. We were amazed that the engine oil was Never cooled. Our faith in the air cooled engine became solidified!!! My buddy still has that 54, but now runs a 1600.
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mark tucker
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 8:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

banking. Shocked Wink
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Bret2094
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This thread is ancient, but I'll contribute since it got revived


Most of these were in my first year of owning a bug

1. Had a blowout from using 15 year old rubber that threw me into an oncoming lane( No damage)

2. Mismatched cap and rotor, causing the rotor to destruct

3. Bad coil caused me to die after 5-9 miles down the road

4. Left the lights on in parking lots both during an ACT test and twice at school. Had to get a push

5. Parking brake broke and the bug was sent flying down a hill into a pine tree

6 Welded the points together by leaving the key on to listen to the radio

7. backed the bug too far onto a set of ramps to change the oil, and caused the car to tun into a balance beam. 3 ton floor jack saved my ass

Come to think about it, all of those things happened the first year I had it. Haven't had anything dumb happen to any of mine since. I got wise and started actually reading manuals and heeding others advice


Bret
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Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)
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islandcruzr
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kadrones on my project ,1600 motor sucks big time, i'm no expert on carbs but these carbs suck ......
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lojoma
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In my '74 Super Beetle:

Keep in mind I was a teenager/college student with no money and no internet to tell me how to do things:

1) The thing always had a tricky starter. Sometimes it would turn over, sometimes not, especially if the car was warmed up. I remember one time it wouldn't start, I turned on the radio, and it started. My passenger didn't stop laughing for hours.
2) Didn't realize, but had a clogged drain by the wipers and water leaked onto the passenger floorboard and rusted it out. I discovered this when I drove through a big puddle and water shot in through the floorboards like a geyser. Fortunately date was not in the car at the time, but I was on way to her house.
3) Said tricky starter tripped me up at an interstate rest stop near top of Monteagle mountain near Chattanooga. We ended up pushing the car down the entry ramp to the rest stop (facing traffic!) and it popping the clutch to start it, and it started at just the last second. Scary.
4) Clutch cable broke late at night after work miles from my apartment. Thanks to "How to Keep your Volkswagen Alive", I had been practicing driving without using the clutch for just such a situation and got it home!

I do so miss that car.
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stanovich
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 13, 2015 8:34 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

in 1971 my 1954-6 vw fuel pump went out on the way home from work at 11:30p.What to do? I took a glass pop bottle with a(church key type) cap, poked a small hole in the cap with my pocket knife, filled the bottle with gas snapped the cap on, turned it upside down and stuffed it into the carb, ran and started the car it would run at idel for about a mile or so. I did that over and over all the way home about 10-12 miles
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Juanito84
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 13, 2015 9:28 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

stanovich wrote:
in 1971 my 1954-6 vw fuel pump went out on the way home from work at 11:30p.What to do? I took a glass pop bottle with a(church key type) cap, poked a small hole in the cap with my pocket knife, filled the bottle with gas snapped the cap on, turned it upside down and stuffed it into the carb, ran and started the car it would run at idel for about a mile or so. I did that over and over all the way home about 10-12 miles


Interesting. I wonder if you could have put the bottle up higher and attached it with a hose if it would have worked better?
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73sedan
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 7:20 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

Yup. My mechanical fuel pump gave out on me and I got home pretty much doing the same "fill the float, drive a couple of blocks" scene.
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Slow Motion
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 4:20 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

A family friend owned a small janitorial company with a fleet of VW squarebacks, and one beetle. These vehicles were not well maintained, and I spent a long day cleaning and repairing them, scrubbing moss off and giving them a coat of wax. Looked much better when I was done, just one more thing to repair, the beetle had two flat tires (and a flat spare). I took off the tires and went to the tire shop, where they repaired or replaced, cant rember now, and i went back and remounted them. Last thing, they needed gas...
Last car, the beetle, going to the filling station, and i feel a wobble i. The steering. I am thinking what the heck, when I see my left front wheel leave the fender and proceed smartly toward the intersection in front of me, one of the busiest in town. I hit the brakes, and then the front end hits the ground, Bang! It had been happy to stay up without the tire until then. The tire shot through the intersection, found an enormous mud puddle, and floated happily to the middle. I later found all the lug bolts in the hubcap, which was still on. Tonly damage was to my pride. Learned a good lesson.
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zombiebug
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 4:48 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

So,

1. Clutch cable goes out on my way to college. Pulled the bug apart in the parking garage. Mother drove to the other side of the state to get me the on,y clutch cable in stock in the state to bring to me. Got the bug back together at 2 the next morning and drove home.
2. found metal in the oil. Drove an hour and a half to a buddies shop for engine rebuild. Called me a week later to tell me if was so worn out the only reason it ran was because of oil pressure. The bearings were gone and it started to wear the case.
3. Bought the bug with a "brand new top end. Pistons, jugs, heads, valves, carb". Yea we're cheap so pistons we're twisted, toasted the heads, jugs and the valves wi the heads..
4. Coil died at school.
5. Generator died on the highway. Drove the rest of the way home on the battery.
6. Lower strut tower broke oh the highway. Couldn't figure out that scraping noise for a week.
7. Passenger side floor pan rusted throug in winter. Went to climb in the back seat and my foot goes through the floor. That sucks in the middle of winter.
8. Car wouldn't idle for crap. But if I keep my foot on it the bug runs so I figure it's the idle circuit and hop on the highway. Drove about 15 minutes on the highway before getting off. Still won't idle. Pop open the deck lid and see the fuel line from the carb has a steady drip right onto the engine. Yup that stopped me. Girlfriend and her dad show up at 12:30am to bring a rubber hose that is the closest thing to 5mm. Got it Hooked up and drive home.

It's about all I can think of right now.
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Manfred58sc
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 8:17 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

accelerator cable snapped in old girl friends 66 beetle in heavy traffic during rush hour. Luckily it snapped at the pedal end and there was about 1/4" of cable I could grab with pliers. So I hunch forward to work the gas while she shifts and drives. It was like a 100 degrees and the heat was stuck on to boot. Drove about 40 miles that way, laughing and complaining the whole time
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heimlich Premium Member
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 3:52 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

This was in my first bug I had as a teenager. It was raining and I was driving down the freeway about 60 MPH. The rear wheels slid out from under the car. All of a sudden I was sliding sideways down the freeway. I looked out the drivers side window and there were all of these headlights aimed at me. This was soon no longer a concern because the beetle started going straight again. I hit the wall in the middle of the freeway and then bounced off making my Beetle go in reverse. I ended up in the shoulder facing traffic. No real damage except the braided ground strap attached to the batter was broken.

The same thing happened in a sports car I owned except when I got to the shoulder on the other side of the freeway the car stopped and didn't hit anything. Since then I've learned to keep good tires on the rear of the car.
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Jay-Rod
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 1:55 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

Just got my first one..... I have pictures of the worst thing ive found so far....

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Other than that, my quiet pack muffler had a small crack that has sense spiderwebbed out and caused chunks of the outter muffler skin to fall into the muffler. Trust me, it sounds greeeeaaaattttt now......

Still head over heels in love with the car.
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EverettB Premium Member
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:46 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

Whoever did that needs a hard slap across the face
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heimlich Premium Member
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:45 pm    Post subject: Re: What problems have you had in VWs Reply with quote

At least it works. Mine came to me without a tube in under the hood and all that area rusted through the floor.
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