# New Owner of 1980 Dasher with a few questions



## ScottyinCT (Apr 20, 2011)

Hi everyone. I just got my first ever watercooled VW about a month ago - 1980 Dasher automatic, pretty much all stock, with just over 52,000 original miles. I bought it from a mechanic who fixed it up after getting it in an estate sale - basically a barn find. Seems pretty tip top. I've been driving and working on old beetles for a few years now and decided to get the Dasher as my "more reliable backup car". Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. 

I've got a few issues with it though. The po said I need to immediately remove the key from the ignition after shutting off the motor because if the points happen to be closed when the engine stops, current will be flowing and the battery will drain quickly and the points will wear out faster. The key can't even be in the ignition at all. He said all old cars are like that. That doesn't seem right to me. Did he wire something wrong? I never had that problem in my old bug. I suppose I could look at the schematic in Bentley and figure it out. The radio can also be turned on with no key. 

Anyway, the day I bought it, I accidentally left the key in the ignition after shutting it off and an hour later when I tried to start it, the battery was completely dead. I jumpstarted it and got it going again. I noticed the car kind of shook when stopped and idling in drive position, not as much so when in park. I decided to make sure it was all tuned properly. The first thing I checked was dwell and found it was at 40 deg while the book said it should be 44-50 deg. So I adjusted the point gap and tried to start the car and it wouldn't start. After fiddling around with it for a while, I discovered the points weren't making good electrical contact when closed, even though they definitely looked closed. I replaced the points and it started up again. I adjusted the dwell to within spec and then checked the timing. It looked way off, so I adjusted that (3 deg ATDC, if I remember correctly) but when I did that, the idle rpms were too low, something like 400 or 500 rpm. The book says it should be something like 900-1000. So I adjusted the idle adjust screw to get that right. So now timing, dwell, and idle rpms should be all good. But I still get shakes when stopped at idle. I also tried 93 octane fuel and it didn't seem to help much. When I installed the new points, I took the distributor out. I followed the reinstall instructions in the manual which involved turning the dizzy rotor 18 deg before shoving it back in. If I didn't get that just right, would my timing be screwed up? Did I or could I have done something else wrong? Thanks for your help. I'm not the best mechanic, but I'm learning. Also, is this the best/most active forum for Dasher owners? I tried the Dasher Owners Group (DOG) but it said they weren't accepting new registrations. Here are some pics of the car.


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## ScottyinCT (Apr 20, 2011)

Hey, why didn't my photos come through. Is there a problem with using photos posted on flickr?


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## ScottyinCT (Apr 20, 2011)

Nevermind about the flickr thing. I figured it out. Here are the pics of my new brown beauty.


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## borellsoffun (May 26, 2004)

Nice find, the car looks real clean.

This forum is fairly active and probably the most active one you'll find. There aren't a lot of these cars around.

I'm not a mechanic, but maybe a vacuum leak? My 87 Quantum has a rough idle too.


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## hieber265 (Nov 4, 2010)

That is a great find man! Looks mint, as for your problem I dont really have anything to suggest it's alot of the same tinkering ive been doing with my 84' quantum


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## dasherinoz (May 19, 2011)

Love the wagon! 

Sounds to me like you have electrical gremlins, the car should not have issues just from having the key in the ignition. Definitely check the schematic in Bentley's. Also, it may be the ignition switch is on its way out, happened to me. New ones can be found on germanautoparts.com.

As for the rough idling, I take it you're running carbs? How long has it been since they were serviced?


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## ScottyinCT (Apr 20, 2011)

No, it's fuel injected.


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## dasherinoz (May 19, 2011)

Have you cleaned the injectors lately? Could be gunk build up


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