QuestionI JUST PURCHASED A 76 BEETLE WITH A FACTORY FUEL INJECTED ENGINE. THE FI ENGINE WAS INTRODUCED TO BEETLES IN 1975. MY QUESTION IS SINCE I PURCHASED THIS CAR A WEEK AGO, I'VE HAD VW ENTHUSIASTS TELL ME THAT THEY PREFER THE CARB ENGINE TO A FI ENGINE ANY DAY. MY MECHANIC WHO HAS BEEN WORKING ON VWs SINCE 1964 TOLD ME THAT HE PREFERS THE FI ENGINE BUT TOLD ME THAT IT CAN BE MORE COSTLY TO REPAIR THAN A CARB ENGINE AND THAT THE FI ENGINE IS MORE COLD-NATURED THAN A CARB ENGINE. IT APPEARS TO ME THAT A FI WOULD BE MORE RELIABLE IN COLD WEATHER THAN A CARB SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE AN AUTOMATIC CHOKE TO WORRY ABOUT. HE ALSO RECOMMENDED I ADD FI CLEANER TO THE ENGINE EVERY TIME I GAS UP WHICH I THINK IS A LITTLE TOO MUCH. ANY OPINION ON THIS WOULD BE HELPFUL. THANKS, CHRISTIAN.
AnswerYour mechanic prefers the expensive to repair system that you bring to him for repair*
But your enthusiasts recommend the more reliable, cheaper to repair system.
who do you trust?
Read up about the car, I know nothing of the fuel systems on VW's.
The most reliable system in my opinion is points and carb.
The least reliable is digital microprocessor ECU with 40 sensors
Auto-choke is nothing to worry about, if it fails you can take off the airfilter and choke the engine "manually" so to speak, you can't do anything like this with FI.
Given that, these early electronics tended to be very robust.. eg for "transistor" see "Lump of germanium with 3 nails hammered into it".
Get on the owners clubs and read some reviews of the systems, I'm not very interested in the beetles.
