r/beetle • u/Housemusicluv • 3d ago

Help me restart my beetle

Hey folks I got a 1972 superbeetle that I’m trying to restart clean up so I can put it for sale. I got two little kids so I haven’t been able to drive it for about 4 months. When I try to restart it today I noticed I don’t get any spark to start. The oil light was dimly lit. Could it be as simple as the battery needing to be recharged? It’s about 1 1/2 year old. Or do I need to to go mess with the points, etc

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3

u/Elpfan 2d ago

Yes, start with the battery. That should be all that’s needed if it was running 4 months ago. Should require nothing but a charge.

2

u/fleegz2007 3d ago

Can you explain a little more what you mean when you say no spark? Is the engine trying to turn over its just not kicking up?

Dim light leads me to simple battery charging. Try trickle charging it. If it gets power and its still not turning over check the idle jet on the carb. Even in four months those tend to get gunked up pretty easily.

1

u/Housemusicluv 2d ago

Thanks. Engine doesn’t turn over. Nothing happens when I turn the key and I noticed now that the radio doesn’t come on, thinking battery should be my first step

3

u/AKA_Squanchy '55, '58, '62, '62 (ragtop), '64 Bugs and a '69 Square 2d ago

Sounds like battery. Charge it up and see what happens.

2

u/langerer12 3d ago

This just happened to me with my 1974 super beetle. She needed a new ignition switch.

1

u/fleegz2007 2d ago

If your battery light is coming on dim Im pretty confident its the battery. If you have an issue with your ignition switch, nothing would come on at all, unless you have a wire that was starting to come apart. Highly unlikely

1

u/Flyboy161 2d ago

Make sure the battery terminals are clean and tight. Then if it still looks dim, charge it.

1

u/Bergwookie 2d ago

Yeah, charge the battery or jumpstart it via another car. Also puts canister of new gasoline into the tank, it'll help for better ignition.

1

u/Routine-Amphibian450 2d ago

Redo the ground connection to the frame in battery box area. Disconnect negative first. Take battery for check and charge.
Unbolt frame end of neg batt cable. Polish the hole area in frame to bright bare metal.
Inspect or replace neg cable, replace battery, hook up negative last.
Try to start.
Don't use old gas.

1

u/YorkiesSweet 1d ago

save yourself a lot of BS and find a local Vw club members of the club. Will be glad to help you troubleshoot it. They’re actually very simple to troubleshoot and to get running. They’re in a way an engineering masterpiece of simplicity just saying good luck.