my 1971 beetle keeps losing power in 1st gear .. stoppin at lights etc.. help anyone?

Hi im new here.. I brought a 1971 beetle and it loses power all the time.. ive had engine tuned, bits changed and replaced? can anybody help? so fed up throwing money at it.. and still the same prob.. thinking of selling it if cant sort it..thanks x

Good morning and welcome to VVD!

There are plenty of expert vw mechanics on here that can help so don't worry! Where are you and does your bug just not idle/ cut out when you stop at traffic lights etc?

Cheers, Mikey.

Hi and welcome.

As mike says if by losing power you mean stalling as you pull up at junctions etc. the 2 most common reasons are either carb icing which caused ice forming in the inlet manifold, sounds weird in this sort of weather but can still happen in the summer as well as winter. VW did 2 things to avoid this the first to fit warm hoses to feed the carb with a warm air supply, if these are missing or the air filter has been replaced then this could be your problem. Check you have a third card or silver hose ( about 50mm dia) running from the base of the engine to air filter.

The second common case is an air leak in the inlet manifold/carb. Being a 1971 your car should a 3 piece inlet manifold with rubber connectors, these often perish and leak.

Who did the tuning, did they actually tune it or just rePlace parts?

If you post a decent picture of your engine bay I can point out all bits I'm talking about.

Hope that helps :-)

As Rob says, it could be an air leak problem. The carb throttle spindle bushes could be worn letting air in. If so, we sell bronze ones to replace the nylon ones fitted as standard. Let me know if you need some