Volkswagen: 79 vw bus engine problems, bus engine, delivery problem

Question
Hello Ron,

I have a wonderful little 79 VW bus that is having some problems.  Sometimes I will be driving along and the engine begins to "hiccup" for the lack of a better technical term.  It feels like the engine is losing power and sputtering.  It does this at all speeds, and some days it does not do it at all.  Today for example, when I drove into town, the engine sputtered for the entire 10 mile trip.  On the way home, it drove almost perfectly, only sputtering a few times when I was about 1 mile away from home.

Acceleration is not a problem, neither is engine power.  That's why I describe it as a "hiccup" because it will be going fine and then "hiccup" for a split second and then back to normal.  Sometimes it will do this several time in a row.

I've had this problem for about 3 years now.  On several occassions the engine has stalled and cut-off, and sometimes it will start back up, other times I've had to have it towed.  It's been in the repair shop about 4 times for this same problem, and each time they cannot replicate the problem, and they are unable to diagnose the problem.

Please help!  I don't want to get stranded again, and I need to feel confident about driving my bus!!  Thanks,

Chris

Answer
Hi Chris,

This sounds like a fuel delivery problem, or a bad ground.  I have had this problem on my '76 Bus and simply replaced the fuel filter as well as cleaned up the ground that connects to the body. (located right next to the fuel pump).

Try this, and let me know how you make out.