Running On Empty(ok, 2 Cylinders)

I recently purchased my first VW, a 69 VW Baja bug. I originally thought I had a carb problem and rebuilt it because I had fuel leaking out the exhaust pipe but that didn't fix it and upon further inspection I see I have fuel in the oil and its not firing on all cylinders. I am getting spark to all cylinders but I noticed the exhaust pipes were not getting hot on the two on the passenger side. Where do I start looking?
So 1. I am getting spark to the cylinder
2. It will start and run but has no power..:banghead:

Adjust the valves. (cold .006)

Make sure the plugs are good, and the porcelain isn't cracked. You may be getting spark, but it could be getting lost to ground.

New points, condensor, wires and cap. Spark may be present, but not hot enough to fire.

Set timing. What distributor do you have? Timing and tune up specs are based on the distributor, and NOT what the year or model of engine you have. It's possible that the distributor has been changed somewhere along the line.


Check compression. 100 PSI or over is good, but you can get by with anything over 85. If under 95 or so, plan on a rebuild soon.

Cylinders should be +/- 5 PSI of each other.

Once you check these basic things, if it still doesn't run, come back and we'll see what else we can do. The gas in the oil is from that side not firing.

Could be a defective fuel pump: The diaphragm could be split and leaking gasoline into the crankcase. If that were the case the oil level would rise and the oil would smell like gasoline. However, I doubt that raw gasoline would be dripping out of your tailpipes. It's probably just water condensation during warm-up. If it were gasoline, you'd probably see flames shooting out the tailpipes as you cranked the engine over.

Hey All,
I replaced the rotor, cap, plugs, wires and points. Checked the compression and it was between 105 and 110 on all cylinders.
It is now running on all cylinders but still has very little power but more than it had (I can actually get it to move a little now). I am pretty sure its in the timing because it wasn't running right so I rotated the wires and it ran better. So how do you set the timing on a VW. Can you use a timing light. If I understand correctly you line up the notch on the pulley with the split in the case and the rotor with the notch in the dizzy. I tried that but it doesn't seem to be right cause I had to rotate the wires to get it to run.
The numbers say the firing order is 1,4,3,2 Cylinder one being passenger side toward the front of the car, two being same side toward back.
Four is back of car left side, this is according to the numbers on the shroud. I was told it has late model (72) points so does that mean that the dizzy has been changed and I am trying to set it wrong?
I think if someone can help me get the timing set right the problem will be licked.

Thanks

Your number one wire should be located at the notch in the distributor. If it isn't there, then something is very wrong. You should not have to relocate that number one wire anywhere else. I think that it's possible that you now have the number 3 and the number 1 wires 180 degrees off. Pull the spark plugs out of the engine. Using a ratchet and socket on the generator pully nut turn the engine over by hand while you hold your fingertip in the number 1 spark plug hole. When you feel compression at the number 1 spark plug hole the timing mark will be at or near the crankcase split. The distributor rotor will be pointing at the notch in the distributor case. THAT is your only number 1 spark plug wire position. If you notice, the timing mark is also on the crank case split when the number 3 spark plug is supposed to fire.

You didn't mention valve adjustment. Adjust all valves to .006" With the engine cold, start with the timing mark at the crankcase split with compression at number 1. Adjust number 1. Turn the engine over backwards 360 degrees (using the ratchet and socket on the generator pully nut) until the timing mark is once again at the crank case split....adjust number 2. Again turn the engine over backwards until the timing mark is at the crank case split...adjust number 3. Again turn the engine over backwards until the timing mark is at the crank case split...adjust number 4. It's that easy.

Is the condensor wire okay? A valve guide with a slot hacksawed into one side is used to seat the lead-in wire to the bottom of the distributor. I've seen some backyard mechanics just leave that lead-in wire hanging loose. It can short-out to the distributor body that way.

Do you have a dwell/volt/Ohm meter? The dwell for new points is 45 degrees, however anything between 40 and 58 degrees will work. If you don't have an Ohm meter, the point gap should be .018" . A light smear of high temperature grease (like brake grease) will keep the rubbing block from wearing out too fast and changing the timing. The spark plug connectors should have 1,000 Ohms resistance. The distributor rotor should have 5,000 Ohms resistance. Do those spark plug wires glow in the darkness of night when the engine is running? If they do, throw them away.

If you do what I mention above and your engine still isn't running, then I really won't have a clue as to what the problem is. It's such a simple engine. If there is gas, air, compression, spark and the timing is correct, everything else keeping it from running isn't the engine. In 5 years working in a VW agency, we only replaced ONE defective ignition coil. Could yours be defective, sure...but not likely. Wires...yours are probably "shot," but the engine should still run with more power than you describe. I assume that the carburetor isn't plugged-up. Is it? Did you pull the fuel pump to check for a defective diaphragm? How is the fuel pressure? From what you mention about gas dripping, I'd check that first, followed by all the above.

It did turn out to be the timing. I was lining it up with an imaginary notch and once I used the correct one everything runs great. I still have to tinker but its pretty much running great. I gather from your and other posts that you have to adjust the valves occasionally on these motors so that is next. Thanks for the info on how to do that.
Thanks for everyones help. Hope I can help someone in the future.

Yup, the rocker arm clearance is supposed to be checked ever 6,000 miles. You normally don't have to do any adjustment if you adjust the valves at the same cold engine temperature every time. The rocker arm to watch is the number 3 exhaust valve. Originally, when the '68 VW came on line, the valve adjustments were .004, but that caused many stretched valves, especially number 3 exhaust. You can actually measure the length of a stretched valve against a new one. The neck of the stretched valve looks narrower, because it is. The length could be .030" longer than a new valve. Eventually it breaks.

Number 3 cylinder gets all the hot air from the oil cooler. The factory decided to increase the clearance to .006 so that the valves stay closed just a bit longer for better cooling of the valves. *The heat of the valves passes onto the valve seats. That decreased the problem with the number 3 exhaust valve stretching and finally breaking due to overheating.