Denis: If it is a stock PIC 30/31 it does. Chokes normally only cause idle problems as described when the engine is cold. Therefore I did not bring the choke up. But, yes it should have a choke. And the way to check if it is working properly is to pull the aircleaner, depress the throttle to the floor and then look at the choke butterfly. It should be almost closed. Turn on the key, give it a few minute to let the choke electrical element warm up and repeat the press throttle down. Buttlerfly should now be open. If butterly is stuck open it will cause the exact problems as described: but only if the engine is cold. If it is stuck closed it will cause the engine to idle too fast when the engine is warm; the opposite of what the problem is. And damn: It's hard to tune an engine over the internet. Or do brake work either for that matter. --- On Tue, 9/27/11, Denis Dodson <coocoo@xxxxxxx> wrote: From: Denis Dodson <coocoo@xxxxxxx> Subject: [tcb] Re: t@p pain and jeapordy To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 8:45 PM I still want to know if there is a choke on this bus. If there is it could do all the crap described. From: tcb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tcb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of sammie smith Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 8:41 PM To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tcb] Re: t@p pain and jeapordy Carl: I think is one of a couple of things on your carb. Here are a couple of things to do. First: On the right side of the carb there is a jet. You can see it, right side of carb, little about 5mm looking brass plug. This is you idle mixture jet. If it is clogged it can cause the problems you are experiencing. Remove it with a screw driver. Take it out, blow through it with compressed air to clean out any debrie that might be in there. Use low volume air and/or hold on to it real tignt, you don't want to blow it out of your hand and across the garage where you can't find it. Put it back in. Second: Adjust the carb. To do this first back off the screw on that ratchet looking thing until the screw is not touching the ratchet piece, then locate the two adjusting screws on the left side of the carb; they are inside a recessed fixture on the left side of the carb. The top one is a large screw, the bottom one is a much smaller screw. Get a screw driver that will fit in the recess and screw them both in until they bottom out, not tignt, just enough to seat them. Then back the top one out 2 1/2 turns and the bottom one 1 1/2 turn. The top large screw is the idle adjustment screw. The bottom one is idle mixture control. Crank the engine. Then adjust the large screw until the engine is idling properly. Then screw the bottom small screw in until the engine starts to slow down, then back the screw out about 1/2 turn. You can then readjust the large screw to get the idle speed you want: backing it out increases idle speed, screwing it in slows it down. If the problem is in carb adjustment or mixture control this should fix your problem. Carb adjustment should be the last thing on a tune and all of the above is assuming you have points and timing properly set. For example: If you have the timing set way retarded it will cause idling problems like you have described. Also: A vacum leak can cause the same type of problem. But simple things first. Make sure your points and timing are properly set (set the points first then the timing) and then do what I said to the carb. -- On Tue, 9/27/11, Cari Smith <cariandpaul@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: From: Cari Smith <cariandpaul@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: [tcb] Re: t@p pain and jeapordy To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 5:05 PM Denis, As far as I know the choke is the flap at the top of the carb right? Is there a way to test to see if that's the culprit? On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 6:31 PM, Denis Dodson <coocoo@xxxxxxx> wrote: Really. Does it have a choke? From: tcb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tcb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of sammie smith Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 6:27 PM To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tcb] Re: t@p pain and jeapordy We have lots of good VW mechanics on this list but they are mostly not mind readers. Tell us what year model bus, what engine, what carb.etc. --- On Mon, 9/26/11, Cari Smith <cariandpaul@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: From: Cari Smith <cariandpaul@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: [tcb] t@p pain and jeapordy To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Monday, September 26, 2011, 5:51 PM The other Paul Smith and I have worked to get the bus back to road worthy shape in time for T@P, but we are getting down to the wie. Here's our problem. We have a fuel/air mix problem that we can't seem to kick. Symptoms are a bus that does not idle correctly and Paul has to 3-foot it at all stops. That's one on the clutch, one on the brake, and one on the gas to keep us from stalling. The first and easiest answer is to adjust the idle. The screw does nothing and based on our Muir book, we cleaned the carb. Now will hold a fairly steady idle , but it's too low. When you engage the transmission it dies. Or when you rev the throttle, on the way back down to idle it goes too low and dies. So far we have: cleaned carb with carb cleaner, cleaned air filter, replaced fuel pump and rod, replace valve cover gasket (unrelated), replaced spark plugs, checked timing, run compression test... all is good. The only thing we havent replaced is points, but I surely would have thought fouled points would show up in the compression test. Any words of wisdom, we're caught between takinging it to a mechanic down the street for God knows how much moolah, or skipping Transporters altogether, which really means we would still come in our pontiac and just camp in a tent. Help! Cari smith