1976 VW Beetle with FACTORY FUEL INJECTION?! - Diag and Repair

Taylor gets a weird friend in the shop with a simple issue that turns out to be not so simple...but still has a simple solution?

[@baritonebynight]

I had a '76 VW in silver just like that one! I sold it my sophmore year in college (1994) when the fuel injection started to go to a handy friend for $800. I miss that car....

[@willpipho4558]

Truly a tragedy, the efi really is great if you can get it working right. I sure like it on my 78 bay anyway!

[@VWJawbreaker]

Your love for super beetles is quite strong. 😂

[@wickedwerks]

I will tolerate a flat window super but the ‘73+ make me shudder 😂

[@muzzcovw7674]

Double relays are EASILY available! Not sure where you looked. I have several good spares if you want to try one

[@wiesshund-games]

Not only that, i can make one as well. Shame to see it get converted to carb. That FI will happily rocket that bug down the highway at 120mph

[@ApertureAppliedScience]

Dude wanted any excuse to put a carb on there because he’s more familiar with it. And you’re right, those relays are readily available from any VW supplier. It is a shame the customer has to suffer from his lack of knowledge on EFI.

[@vwcoco]

Firstly what a nice beetle . Good luck in getting it working

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

I came home from the hospital, in a brand new silver/black 1977 Beetle sedan. I almost painted my 76 silver, but my ocd said no.

[@greedo2660]

I had a '76 bus with a fuel injected 2 liter. Drove it all around the western US, and it never gave me a lick of trouble.

[@cphipps79]

I have been waiting for you to work on a fuel injected beetle! I own a 75 super with stock FI! Exciting!

[@wickedwerks]

Glad you’re excited! Everyone else seems pretty upset 😂

[@cphipps79]

@@wickedwerks I mean I’m excited you’re working on a FI car. I would never remove the injection system. I would find a working double relay from thesamba or someone on there. I’ve had to replace mine and it runs decently now. The issue with mine was the fuel pump wouldnt kick off. So one evening it built up so much pressure, it popped a gas line off and pumped the entire tank of fuel out into my drive way lol

[@israelmicete295]

it is not a 1976 it is 90'S Mexican. you could fine those up to 2004 with fuel injection and air conditioning.

[@markj.7369]

Taylor.Please dont take the FI out. That bug is so original and nice. Im sure you can find a double relay. There are too many late beetles still out there. There has to be a wat to repair it. Please do t switch to carb. God Bless

[@blackseabrew]

I inherited a 78 Super Beetle. Didn't really want it but I ended up with it. I ended up with it in 2012. Shoved it in the garage mainly because it didn't run very well. And after two years of off and on troubleshooting turned out to be the key cylinder. Then I shoved it into a container because I was traveling overseas and just now back to getting the dang thing running again. Fuel system is full of crap so will end up replacing every line and probably the tank. Mind you my stepfather paid big bucks to have this car restored back in 2011. The guy slapped a crap paint job on it and made it look good but didn't do a dang thing to make sure it ran right.

[@motorlibro]

I did a 'fudge' on a Mercedes where I connected the fuel pump to the starter solenoid to give it that 'kick' during cranking. Worked OK...

[@CapitolLimited]

The cold start injector or "5th" injector is only suppose to operate when the starter is cranking and the engine is cold. It is controlled by the thermo time switch. It should not be spraying fuel into the manifold when the engine is running at all. If it was, the cold start injector is faulty and flooding the engine. The air flow meter is in the power circuit to the fuel pump, along with the double relay and the starter soleniod. When the engine is being cranked the flap inside opens and is suppose to engage the fuel pump. If the flap is closed power to the fuel pump is cut off. So its quite possible the issue you were having is a stuck or faulty air flow meter. Sometimes if the engine backfires the meter flap sticks shut. Also power to the fuel pump circuit, to the air flow meter, double relay and back to the pump comes off of a wire on the starter solenoid. If its not connected no juice will get to the pump. Has to be connected to the terminal on the solenoid that does not get power when the car is shut off.

[@mystere485]

I have a '78 white/black/black Super convertible with fuel injection waiting in the wings. Certainly putting a carb on it has crossed my mind. But recently i have been dealing with a fuel injected 78 seville with the olds 350 and bendix fuel injection. They do run soo good when they run!

[@muzzcovw7674]

Nice! My favorite VWs have L-Jetronic F.I. Been working on them for about 35 years. Any questions hit me up. Jay, 5150 knows how to get in touch with me. Currently building a 1904cc stroker using factory FI. It's a super simple system. The green car in my pic is a 75 FI standard. Sounds like a temp sensor 2 issue... or a vacuum leak or fuel pressure issue

[@riverbluevert7814]

Taylor - MuzzcoVW is the person I recommended for you to contact about L-Jet FI.

[@muzzcovw7674]

@@riverbluevert7814 Thank you sir

[@TheDoublelouis]

I'm having this same issue. 1977 Fuel injected factory Type 1 Beetle. Can I email you ?

[@harryharker9564]

I just love the old way so good luck with the carb conversion.

[@djambrosia]

And here's me converting my bug from twin Dell's to fuel injection😂

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

Are you using the original FI setup or aftermarket?

[@djambrosia]

@@vintage76vipergreenBeetle Aftermarket. I went with throttle bodies and an EMU Classic ECU. I tried the standard T25 EFI system for a laugh but predictably it went doolally due to the performance camshaft.

[@ernestthelumberjack]

My Wife has a 75 hard top with the original efi. Just stopped working on me. Fires for a second and dies. Can't wait to try to diagnose that mess

[@paulwills9742]

I had the same type of trouble as this. It would stall and refuse to start when hot but would start when the engine had cooled. The problem was the fuel pump, it was failing when it became hot not the car.

[@cjjones1556]

Oh no. I could see from the engine view that the S boot was not moving when cranking. Was it well attached to the throttle body. If not, then no air thru the air flow meter that opens the flap that energizes the pump. Next time, with the ignition on remove the boot from the meter and stick a long screwdriver I. The meter to deflect the flap. When deflected, you should hear the fuel pump working.

[@my83roadster4me]

My Ford pickup did this for a long time until I finally figured out it was the fuel pump going bad. Going from fuel injection to carburetor is like going back in time.

[@tylerhiggins3522]

My first car back in 1989 was a 1975 standard, first year of fuel injection. On a level highway I buried the 100mph speedometer and was still increasing speed. Ended up finding a much nicer 1972 autostick with no motor, made it a 4 speed and deleted the fuel injection for a carb. Now I have a 1974 standard after over 20 years of no VW, I know the earlier bugs look better (had two 1966 way back when) but I have a soft spot for the late model VW and love driving them.

[@Brando-Green]

Nooooooo!! Don’t ditch the FI, that’s not right. Double relays are still available. I’m so pissed that you would do this! Hackery!!

[@thomashankins7466]

I’m surprised at the 76 Fuel injected comment. We bought a brand new 1977 standard sun roof beetle that was fuel injected.

[@ollie1464]

Feeling injection is great in these cars.If you know how to diagnose and make repairs when needed. I have a 78 super beetle convertible and also a 76 Sedan like the one in your video. When they're running good they drive amazing considering the power or lack of.

[@johnharrington4963]

I have been looking for a KZbin channel that really knows the FI system. I was disappointed when you threw in the towel. You seem very knowledgeable about VW’s and I’m sure you could become an expert in these systems. There are a lot of people out there that could use your help!

[@muzzcovw7674]

If you do take out the F.I. I'd be interested in the parts. It would be a shame to do that though

[@hazyincolour]

what a little gem of a beetle. shame that the relays consign the rest of the FI to scrap.

[@joebruno2675]

That double relay is easy to find. Lots of cars use that relay. Without that relay you lots of classic cars would be junked.

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

What's going to happen to that FI system?

[@TheAcidsython]

Honestly kinda sad to see such a stock FI beetle have the fuel injection removed. I daily drive a 77 Standard beetle with FI, which proves they're reliable and easy to maintain when taken care of properly. If the owner goes through with removing the FI, Id be more than happy to take it off their hands. In the first half of the video, you admitted you didnt really know anything about FI. Ideally you should have told the owner that, so they could taken it to someone who knows what they're working on. Best of luck to you!

[@wickedwerks]

You’re assuming I didn’t tell them that and that the customer wanted to keep the FI themselves.

[@farcohollis1369]

My 79 doesn’t like hot starts. Fuel injection seems to flood it. Hold the pedal to the floor and it starts right up. I’ve heard about unplugging the 5th injector during summer.

[@ApertureAppliedScience]

I don’t understand how people can flat out reject something as vital and revolutionary for the engine as fuel injection. This is like watching someone say “I prefer hand cranking my vehicle because it’s more reliable.” While technically true, you miss out on any new developments when you refuse to adopt something new because “it’s too much work” when in my opinion retuning or rejecting a carb every few months or every time it rains is WAY too much work compared to a proper EFI system.

[@wickedwerks]

@@ApertureAppliedScience I’ve never had to retune or rejet a carb every few months in most cases. Yeah, some of the larger Weber setups require a little tinkering but for the most part are pretty reliable. The Solexs, when rebuilt properly, are bulletproof. While I agree with you, modern EFI is more efficient and reliable. I disagree that THIS EFI is efficient and reliable. It’s archaic and it’s trash. In my opinion, I’d rather have a carb fail on the side of the road than the factory FI. I can usually make the carb work well enough to limp home. Unless I have a complete factory FI setup in the trunk and/or all the tools to diagnose it; I’m fucked if it breaks. Even more so, the customer would be too. They wanted a reliable car, I gave them a reliable car. It’s now daily driven and has not had a single issue for over a year.

[@oiygfdxssfgg]

Those dual relays are interchangeable with other car companies with the same BOSCH fuel injection system.

[@alanhubbard1868]

If you live in the lovely state of California, or any other state that happens to still smog test 75 to 80 VW's with fuel injection You Can't remove the stock fuel injection. Now here is where someone with thin skin will get mad at me. The Fuel injection in this Beetle is the Great Grandaddy of any fuel injection system used today, and is Dead Simple, and any mechanic that can read should be able to fix it, except for new car mechanic that need a code to diagnose a problem. Unfortunately the parts are getting harder to find, and yes sometime during Covid Double relays became NLA. I think this car has already been converted to a carb by now, which is sad, but also maybe a relief to the owner, who now has a drivable car.

[@inbetweentheday]

i have a 76 bug... the same model you're working on, and it's been a great running car. I was thinking the car had an aftermarket fuel pump that was causing a flooding problem

[@johndodds7949]

I had a BMW that did something like this!

[@TheDoublelouis]

I have this exact problem with my fuel injected 1977 hard top type 1 beetle. Wont start hot.

[@oscarcaballero2319]

wow, that full injection model is rare to see, converting a beetle carburetor to full is easy in mexico, they were manufactured from 91 to 2003 including their last version in 2004 when manufacturing in puebla ceased, in mexico there are many spare parts, computers etc etc even complete engines Full

[@wickedwerks]

As I recall, the FI systems used in Mexico in the 90s were very different to what was used in the US in the 70s.

[@type2ryder417]

You missed a great opportunity getting it to work. Did not even test the relay. Plenty of parts changers, so few mechanics.

[@wickedwerks]

Thanks for watching!

[@ramarakeshv]

Beautiful condition. FI is a fantastic system. You have to know how to fault it. Don't carb it

[@rosshumphrey4672]

Why the hate for the super?

[@rustybucket9165]

Nice car! Has it been restored?

[@wickedwerks]

It does appear to have been, pretty decent job too!

[@israelmicete295]

@@wickedwerks it is not a 1976 it is 90'S Mexican. you could fine those up to 2004 with fuel injection and air conditioning.

[@israelmicete295]

it is not a 1976 it is 90'S Mexican. you could fine those up to 2004 with fuel injection and air conditioning.

[@wickedwerks]

@@israelmicete295 1975 was the first year for Bosch fuel injection on Beetles in the US market.

[@jameshaliday1929]

similiar to 1985 Honda XLR 600 R hot start headaches ,its fuel ,need more fuel

[@philcappellini2820]

In general the 1968-1979 Beetles/Super Beetles are the least favorable of all bugs ever produced. However, if there was one model within the late beetle grouping that might be worth a bit more in the future. I believe it will be the hard top FI Beetles. So if you convert it to a carb, I would hold on to the FI stuff. Thanks for the video!!

[@jameshaliday1929]

no brainer,fuel starvation replace all lines and pump ,but ,fuel leak or suckin air first pressure test system,and by the way when workin corrctly the kraut EFI is excellent and out performs your dual webber business

[@akmalmahmoud5918]

I prefer the old VW Beetles with usual carburetor version! , I wish you good luck

[@akmalmahmoud5918]

I do have a 1302 vw in Cairo, Egypt. It is easy to do simple maintenance by my self just in case in the desert highway. Is the injection carburetor the best for beetle engine? thanks, It would be better to present a video about benefits & comparison between two types of carburetors. BR

[@israelmicete295]

it is not a 1976 it is 90'S Mexican. you could fine those up to 2004 with fuel injection and air conditioning.

[@ollie1464]

Fuel, not feeling..

[@dcmflydude6320]

Go for it. Carbs are THE original fuel delivery on bugs

[@Brando-Green]

Actually, it’s so wrong to remove the FI that I’m unsubscribing. That beetle is so original and nice, you’re ruining it. You can’t get preheat with the conversion so it’s going to fun like shit in the winter. Ugh. I’m sickened. I’ve got a ‘76 and ‘77 late beetles - they’re my jam. FI is awesome and easy to maintain. Okay - see ya never.

[@wickedwerks]

Thanks for watching! Drive safe ✌🏻

[@mysterymonkey]

I actually added fuel injection to my 73 standard, would you like a cuddle?

[@Brando-Green]

@@mysterymonkey It's about keeping them original; hackery on an original VW is so wrong. They made less '76 beetles in Germany than they did in 1950. Plus, the general consensus on The Samba is that only hacks remove FI for carb conversions when there is a problem, and that FI systems work great when a mechanic who understands them works on them. Also, you lose the pre heat when you convert a FI beetle to carbs, so they run like absolute shit. Anyhow, I am disappointed and just can't watch anymore of this channel. Always down for a cuddle tho.

[@riverbluevert7814]

@@Brando-Green I'm an all out Bosch L-Jet enthusiast. I had a lot of fun learning about the system and getting my 1979 Beetle convertible to run smoothly. And it's smoooth as silk now. The L-Jet is the first highly mass produced and reliable electronic fuel injection system, a significant and important step in automotive development. That said, the owner and his mechanic can do anything they want with this car.

[@dbo9277]

I had a 78’ convertible in college, bought it with 90k miles, drove it another 100k and it just keeps going and going. Sold it with 225k to a guy who shipped it to the UK. I bought another one 5 years ago and will never sell it!!!

[@lasvegasira]

I have a 1977 Beetle standard that I'm currently restoring. I'm so, so, SO happy that the previous owner swapped the engine for a 1600 carbureted motor out of a '73.

[@jasonking6548]

A fuel injected VW Beetle.. So the best thing to do is shout at it ,if that fails pray to a god any one of them will do.. Still not working...? Try shouting at it again... Still no go..? Rip it all out as you said you'd done previously

[@muzzcovw7674]

It is such a SIMPLE system, yet so many are too lazy to spend a few minutes to learn it... because it's something "new" 🤣

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

@@muzzcovw7674 Where do you get the parts to keep it working right? Do you build your own relays, sensors?

[@muzzcovw7674]

@@vintage76vipergreenBeetle I've been able to find parts pretty easily. Some I've been collecting for years. Temp sensor 2 is super easy to find, double relays are readily available... if not cheap. Fuel pump, pressure regulator etc all easy to get. The AFM is the most difficult. Unfortunately many are fooled with needlessly and it Effs them up. I'm looking into getting replacement resistor boards for a couple spares I have. Somewhere I have the info bookmarked.

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

@@muzzcovw7674 I won't mind a FI set up in my 76 Bug. But would like it to be more like a modern car with a OBD set up.

[@muzzcovw7674]

I have a link to a video showing a setup using a microscope system along with some of the original fuel injection Hardware. I'll try to find it later. It's something I was considering as a future project if I ever decide to go bigger than 2 liter

[@qleverone]

I'm betting money it's the timing. The timing on those air cooled engines are finicky and prone to springing various gremlins like temperature. If your timing is off it could not only affect running temps but start ups too.