YAY!!! I had it running with the DLIDFIS for 2 min, and then it died! Plugs are all oiled and gassed to hell!!!

I think the car is running so rich at idle its flooding out, and also couldnt burn off all the oil from de-flooding. also think i need to adjust the timming.


But the starter keeps over heating i think!

What is ATF/MMO???

Search, Marvel mystery oil and automatic transmission fluid...

Old thread to....

Hey guys. Recently bought an 83 fb. ported to a 69 vw beetle.

It was running the week i bought it, but whilst joyriding it one day it overflooded ( I think). So I waited for a week and then did the Atf/mmo treatment that was recommended by many. I wish i never did it. The engine is still not starting. It cranks, I tested the leading spark plug grounded to the car fender (while getting a nice jolt in the process!!) and it has spark, I also have three clear Ptsshhh! sounds for comresssion. Now I'm worried about not getting the damn atf out in time for destruction of my new fb!

On a side note, I'm such a newb. It has a two barreled holley carb on it that needs an adjustment to make it run a little leaner. But i have no idea how to do this. The haynes manual does'nt cover these and I don't know what to adjust. I'm this close to sending it to a shop (if anyone knows of any good ones in san francisco area). Any ideas?

this should be stickied to the top...

How the hell do I sticky this to the top?

that requires a moderator..and w/2 posts that isn't you :D

oh yes, to further perpetuate my story (that is'nt gettin any comments) :cockblock when i pulled the spark plugs, they were sooo oiled up! the two upper ones were completly oiled, while the two bottom ones were just kind of. Ordered new ngk's hopefully that will give me some better fire if thats the problem. Not sure if a flooded engine can foul sparks so fast, we'll see....

Yes it will. Crank it with the plugs out to blow out the excess fuel.

Just reminding the offious though, make sure your ignitors are unplugged when you do this. If they aren't... a fire will start, you will be left without eyebrows etc etc...

Automotive work isn't without its hazards. :devil:

So I cranked it without plugs. ( ignitors are the wires that connect the sparks right? if not, Imma lucky guy) Some of the excess atf spat out at my right tires, and not too much fuel was seen/ smelled. Cleaned the red atf off the spark holes and tire, reconnected all wires and plugs and gave her a crank. Did NOT wire clean the sparks, but did try to dry them off. No F***in kick. No ignition. what the hell. Sounds kinda funny when cranking it, like the coils are low. Could be the sparks, please god let it be fouled sparks. We'll see about the weds. when i get the new ones.

ignitors are located on the distributor. there are tow of them. they have boots covering the connectors. you need to ground a plug to the body with the wire connected to it and crank the engine. do this for both the lading and trailing side. this is a cheap way to test for spark.

Well, when I DID do the spark test, all I did was ground the spark to the fender with the regular wire on it. And only did it for the leading (L1) spark plug. It sparked, and then shocked the hell out of me. I yelled to my assistant to stop cranking but he did'nt and I let the plug off the grounded fender. Whoo what a jolt. :ylsuper:

Yeah, they'll do that. Thy make special insulated spark plug boot pliers for that shit.

I think it's safe to assume you've got spark. Move on.

Found the problem. The carb. is flooding the engine.


There is a two barrel holley on a stock intake manifold. The intake is just too tiny for the two barrel which is just letting to much fuel/air in to the chamber. Adjusted the air/fuel needle to lean it out. Still won't start without a flutter of the gas peddle.

Heres the new thing:
I already have a new weber carburater and intake manifold!
The guy who sold me the bug just gave it to me, said he could'nt figure it out.
Now I have the question of which carb. I have (can't find a definitive number on it) and which manifold I also have. No number on the manifold whatsoever. Tried running the carb number on the racing beat website, no avail.

Also, how the hell do I install these parts? So many factors are being spit out at me from racing beat, that i'm afraid to go to town with this thing. Atleast it starts! :rlaugh:

i have similar problems on my 12a in the back of 911, was flooded now cant start it. good reading pele, ill try removing the plug and see if i have good ignition first. the T and L plugs that are closer to the trannny, are they #1 or #2. and i cant find anywere a simplified diagram that shows the wirring of the igniyion systme. please help

remember 1 is the housing in front, 2 is the rear housing. good luck and holy thread revival search!

hell yeah for SEARCHING :D and yes 1 closest to RAD. and 2 closest to tranny.

oh and remember that the T is for Top plugs and L is for lower plugs. Read the FAQ's stickied on the top of this section. good luck!

i aslo belive im flooding, the atf was it poored in from the carb with butterfly valve open, or was it trough the spar plug hole? when i got this engine it had a transformer with the ignition setup, why is that, and the 2 vacum bulbs attached on the distrubutor are open, does this matter?, and last last time it was running before i flooded it overheated(forgot to turn the radiator fans on) still looking for wirring help from the 12v comming from the ignition key, to coils/ignitors

thanks in advance, and if you guys know a good mech in SO CAL thats mobile,

sorry to bring such an old thread back but since this is "End all for no start" thread i really need help figuring this out. i have a 85 SE and it starts after all the unflooding steps. BUT (big "but") when i shut it down and leave it a while (i mean for over 30 mins) it wont start anymore. if i shut it down and try to restart it right away it starts right up. but wait about 30 mins and it will not start at all. :scratch: any help would be very appreciated.

Fuel injectors often leak as they age. Fuel drips into chambers after shut down. Remove the driver's storage bin and unplug the fuel pump plug while the engine is running. Let the engine "run out of gas". Turn off ignition wait 30 min, plug in pump and try to start. Some people install a switch. Real solution is to clean the injectors.

ah i see... the fuel drips into the chambers due to the pressure in the line when the engine is shut off. i will try your suggestion with the fuel pump to see if it helps. this switch that you mentioned, is this avoid replacing or cleaning the injectors?

Yes.