ok here we go again i went to wellsville yesterday unloaded the rail and headed for scooby for some fun on the hills and as soon as i left the truck and headed through the village i could tell something wsnt right when i got above 2 1/2 to 3 thousand rpm it just started cutting out missing and maybe even some popping was in there we made it to scooby and hit the hills to the right of scooby and with allot of clutching and reving the f out of it i finally made it to the top. i pulled the idle jets out thinking they were clogged but all were clear and open i also just synced these the week before got them set good and plugs are burning brown. i put new petronix ignition in it, new plugs and wires i have all new wiring that is soldered and shrink tubed this thing ran wonderful the last time i had it out in july. i just recentley set my valves so i know they were good and also just put new pistons and cylinders in it at the beggining of the year. the only thing i didnt replace was my coil i have what looks like a flamethrower coil on it (blue in color) this has been on the buggy since 2000 if not earlier and sat without being ran for atleast 12 years. it did alright on the trails were i could go nice and easy but the smallest dam grade i tried going up it would run like crap and as the day went on it got worse i barely made it back to the truck then i decided it was time to load it up and head home. needless to say i was p/o. you guys think its time for a new coil im wanting to check my floats still i dont know if they are set wrong but was leaning more towards the coil because like i said it ran fine a month ago when i had it out last but whats your thoughts? its a 1915 with 009 dist timing is correct on it with petronix ignition and dual empi 40 carbs. and if i buy a coil will a stock one from autozone or advance be alright to use with the electronic points or will it be lacking what the petronix needs thanks

Get a $20 vacumm gauge and by looking at the needle bouncing and looking at the coresponding chart it will tell you idle mixture, rings, oil rings, valves warped or burt, valve guides, bad sp. plug wires,intake leak,etc. THEN $15 volt/ ohm meter and check coils, elect fuel pump, points, sp plug wires,wire continuity/or ohms resistance and even set timing.Google "How to use a vacumm gauge". All this used in conjunction with a compression gauge and a fuel pressure gauge is majic. Run all them drunks away from your motor.But back to your question, maybe your positive coil wire could have something dragging the voltage down such as a small short or another electrical gadget running off the same wire.I think if you disconnect the neg battery terminal with motor and every thing "off" and ignition "on" but disconnected at the coil. Put the neg and pos leads of the voltmeter between the cable and the neg post and see if you get continuity from a "maybe" short thru the fame and back to the neg cable.I think. But coils play all kind of games when they are going out. Google "How to ohms check an air cooled vw coil".

but a 12 volt coil is a 12 volt coil. pull a part has lots of good coils for $5.Old vw rabbits celicas datsuns etc.

My buggy has done the same thing to me 2 different times. The first time it was the ignition switch, I hooked a jumper wire from the battery straight to the coil and it cleared up. Replaced the switch problem solved. About a year later the same thing happened, I put a new switch in and assumed it was fixed, nope. I pulled the distributor cap off and found the ignition wires rubbing on the pickup, wore a hole straight through the wires. I would check these two problems, its a simple fix.

Listen to passat2800 and your going to burn up your electronic ignition. A 12v coil is not a 12v coill. When using electronic ignition it must be paired with a internally resisted coil. Use a regular coil and you will be changing your igniter often. I would also stick with brand, if your using a petronix igniter I would use a petronix coil.

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If it ain't broke ill fix that

X2

I agree with Kevin on the ignition switch. Most of the ones they sell for buggies are cheaply made and allow dirt and moisture in easily. Put a sealed marine switch in if possible. Also if the floats in your carbs have'nt been set,I guarantee they are too high.

the float levels where set to run on a 1776 and i have been running these style ignition you can get at auto zone its the key switch one and it seemed to have done well for me so far but maybe ill give the marine switch and check the other things out first and go from there thanks guys

Well my bad , excuse me..for chimming in to help.I bet most coils are internal anyway.I just bought Lonies' old 2180 a/c buggy last week and it could use 94 jugs and new stock heads.After shipping, tax,machining chambers to fit, a gasket set, oil and rtv I'm looking at $750.Could use a $200 exaust aswell. $700 could get me a w/c motor with the trans and giant clutch attached to it.With the exaust still attached.Guess I'll be calling Southern Buggies tomorrow.

just lol. Helping someone diagnose a buggy on here is like "Everyone is in the jungle wanting to cross a muddy creek but we are not sure if any alagators are in it.There goes DD swimming across to show every one it's safe, but GULP, ole DD gets ate by the alagator and he instantly becomes a
dumb a$$. If he made it across, he is a hero.

thanks passatt i appriciate your advice still any is better than none gives me an idea atleast where to start

also i tested my coil its a bosch coil my primary was reading 3.3 ohms my secondary is reading 6.0 ohms does that sound like a good or bad coil to you guys

check my post in this thread for some coil info links

http://www.woodsbuggy.com/index.php?opt ... =3&t=13955

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Just Stand On It!!!!

Chris

DD I wasnt attacking you, I know that you prolly know more about buggys than I do by far. Ive just been down that road and it burned my ignition up after about 5 minutes. I bought another ignition and the same thing happened, thats when I went back to the blue coil and petronics and the problem went away.

Oh no. Just the community challenge of fixing these buggies dailey. I bought a 2180 buggy with MSD and dual webers last week and it pops violently when you crack the throttle and hold it steady.Not while accelerating or letting off.Maybe it is in the jets but I don't feel like it. I appreciated the info and swapped the coil, no luck, and tomorrow I am going to change the ignition switch like was mentioned earlier(or bypass it temporaily).Im also going to use the hose connector off my compression gauge (disconnect the gauge) and hook it up to my big air compressor while each cylinder is at top dead ctr.Then put a hose in my ear and stick it down the carbs, exaust and then the oil filler cap and listen for hissing.(Yall be very careful doing this, if it aint at tdc or you move the wrench slightly on the crankshaft pulley nut , it will rotate violently!).

I finally got around to checking the spark off the coil i disconnected the coil wire off the distributor and held it close to the latch for the distributor cap and had spark there it looked blue possibly but only threw off a spark like a spark plug would should there be a stronger brighter spark then what a spark plug puts out?

It wouldn't hurt to look at the 009 to make sure a dirt dauber hasn't made a nest or that the weights are not sticking. If the spark doesn't advance properly she will pop violently. I had also seen the bearings go bad on the shaft causing an erratic spark due to the pentronics firing at the wrong time. you can check the advance with a timing light, Also look for a carbon track in the cap or a worn button.

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Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

I could either embarrass myself or praise myself here , but here goes. Just going by what you told us in your 1st post.You need a hot plug to burn off extra fuel and oil and carbon deposits. If too hot of a plug it will pre ignite and mis fire prematurely.My NGK plugs are BRKR"5"E(Passat) . 5 is HOT, 6 is med and BRKR"7"E is cold. 7 will run great but will smut up too easy if something ain't rite.Now, talking about plug gap.Wide gap will make a hotter spark , but you will not always "have" a spark. Low end you need some good wires and a good spark to lite off that rich fuel.ThoseAuto Zone wires are often bad out of the box. Make sure the spark plug ends are removed and clipped off a 1/2 inch and re twisted by hand.Kids working after school make these wires in Mexico, so listen to me. So, what I am trying to say is maybe your plug selection is good but your gap is wrong.

Timing is good on the motor and passatt i put a set of wires on right before i took it to wellsville that was the first ride on them the other plug wires were in good shape and ran awesome i think the new set i put on was a empi brand not a fan of anything empi but ill put my old ones back on and see if she runs like she use too maybe that will solve my problem idk though my plugs were burning nice and brown im gonna tune them again since i was pissing with them on the trails 3 sheets to the wind last time so im sure it wont hurt to set them where they were thanks guys

Yes, your plugs ARE nice and brown, but a slightly too hot of a plug or too much gap and you'll get the occaisional misfire and it WILL NOT change the color.Color is long term. Google plugs and learn up on them. Oh and I despise all these EMPI Scat etc Chineese and Mexican built products.Go Bosch so you can count on and rule out diffugulties.

Well Stated Passat. Bosch plugs, wires, German cap, and rotor = no problems. I have had problems with Pentronics but they are really rare. Thats why I run WC no distributer or carbs to screw with. Great advice from everyone.

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Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

Well im still tinkering with this thing lol. I set my float levels they were bottomed out on the gasket so i set them at 10 to 12mm closed and tried the jumper wire didnt run any better unfortunately. So i then went ahead and swapped distributors put another bosch 009 on it didnt help thought maybe my duals were way out of wack so i threw one of my weber 44 singles on but still cutting out so i tore the heads off to check for cracks both looked good to the eye found a little milky oil in side the number 4 cylinder which was telling me i may habe got water in there. That got me thinking of when i wash it off with a pressure washer i probably loaded the carbs with water i have trash cans for carb covers wasnt directly at airfilters while washing it but definetley water in there i cleaned them out and gotta put the rest of my stuff on the motor and set my distributer and maybe see what happens then if none of this works i may throw a stock set of points and condenser in and see what that does

I didn't read real accurately through the posts but have you checked the fuel filter if you have one?

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

Ya just changed it last time i had it running the old filter was barely letting a trickle through

when my 1835 was doing that it was the electronic ignition went wit stock points problem solved