Why is my beetle not starting?

Asked by 1beetlebabe Oct 13, 2014 at 11:20 PM about the 1975 Volkswagen Beetle

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 1975 VW beetle which I have owned for over 15 yrs. In the last year or more it
is not always starting. I have an auto electrician look at it as well as my normal vw
machanic look at it. No body can find what the problem is or it starts when they go to
look at it. The battery is fine, when I turn key on they oil light etc goes, turn the key
and there is nothing, n o clicks or noises. I can walk away from it and go back 5 mins
later and it will start or if not just push start it and it starts really easily. It is totally
random. It will go for weeks then all of a sudden not start. It is getting really frustrating
as I can never tell when it will do this. Any ideas??

3 Answers

45,175

sounds like a bad ignition unit. have you tried replacing the the place the key goes in ? the points in it may be worn out or dirty so it may only catch maybe 50% of the time.

Thank you, I have applied crc in where the key goes in. If it was this would the oil light, radio etc come on??

45,175

all depends on what part of it is worn out. but i would check the starter next if no one else has. cause it could also be the cause and most commonly is for starting issues.

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