Similar effects of carb icing but it's not!?

Hi people! I went out in my 87 1.6 carb cabby the other day and was fine the whole time, I thought I'd treat myself with another drive today and halfway to my desitination(20 miles ish) the car lost power and basically came to a standstill but would still tick over, I could drive it using about 1mm of the throttle and any more it would just baulk out! I've experienced these symptoms with carb icing many times so I pulled over and had a look and the carb wasn't cold at all an the car was fully warmed! I checked my vac lines were all still on an even checked the bolts on the carb mount and adaptor plate and all good! The only thing I didn't check was to wobble the mount and check for leaks! If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated as I need to get home lol! Oh yea it's got a weber fitted with the standard airbox but with no warm air feed at the min!

Thank for any help

A internally collapsed muffler can cause similar conditions.  Take the Air cleaner off and check to see if when you give it gas, the fuel shoots out of the throat of the carb.

Otherwise I would thing that if your tank had the internal anti-slosh baffle that it may have broken loose and is now possibly interfering with the fuel tank outlet.

The there is the Sheared Crank Gear syndrome which when I had that I could idle and any additional gas would cause it to stumble….

I suppose it could also be a bad fuel pump…..

Just a few things I have had happen to me over the decades……

Could be a blockage in the fuel pick up, try taking the fuel pipe off at the fuel filter in the engine bay then blow down the fuel line going to the petrol tank.
May be worth having a look in the fuel tank and checking the filler neck.

Hi, thanks for your replies! I went back out to the car yesterday and tested the rubber carb flange and everything was ok there so I took it on a lap round the block an it felt amazing to drive, so I stayed out until it was properly warm and still all ok and was all good for the rest of the night and got home nicely! Now I am baffled! I'm going to have a look in my tank and check the fuel pickup etc, also going to change my fuel filter seen as they are cheap. The filler pipe is all good as only fitted a end one in August. If happens again I'll look at fuel pump, what is 'sheared crank gear syndrome'? Sounds drastic lol!
Thanks again for your replies

87cab_bb said

What is 'sheared crank gear syndrome'? Sounds drastic lol!

It is when the Front Crank gear (pin) shears itself, and the timing gear can move at a different time than the crank.

Hard to diagnose, but lets just say, remove your belts and covers, if there is any lateral play in the lower Crank timing gear, something isn't right.

My issue was that the PO (previous owner) let a "Certified VW mech work on the car."  When I purchased the car drove it 400miles home, no issues.

3 weeks later the car started to act the posterior.
1 month later, I found that the PO mech had used 110 ft/lbs on the main crank 12pt bolt.  The bolt bottomed out in the crank, and bent.  It eventually backed out just enough to allow the crank gear to slip.

This slip would allow the car to idle, but giving it gas would sputter lunk, act like kids that are bratty…. The timing was spot on about the first 7 times I checked….

Farging won't start.
fargin won't start. | VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum

Spun gear repair.
Here is my complete Crank Fix.. | VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum

My Crank bolt (only had a 1mp camera then) what you can't see in the pic is the bend at the very end.


Crank that was destroyed.