I have a 74 baja beetle with a 1600 and one day on my way to work my belt broke and the engine got hot enough to melt the plug wires and stop running i got it home and replaced the plug and wires and it started up and ran but the day after that it wouldn't start i wondering if the pistons are the cylinders might have warped and when it ran for a little bit it wore the rings down and lost compression the motor cranks just no compression any ideas this is my first vw and i only had for about three weeks before this happened i really like driving and playing in it and hope to get it going again thanks for any help

Probably cooked the motor, Air cooled means moving air. When the belt broke you stopped moving air. I see a rebuild in your near future.

Dirtjunkie wrote:

Probably cooked the motor, Air cooled means moving air. When the belt broke you stopped moving air. I see a rebuild in your near future.

X2 . Adjust your valves a nd it should start. I have seen them get hot and the valve spring get so weak the won't acelerate until they get changed.
If it runs start building a new engine right away.

Thanks guys i was just going to replace the pistons and cylinders and have the heads inspected are rebuilt. A mechanic told me if there isn't any play in the crank pulley the bearings are OK is this true?

Maybe but if you don't have a good full flow oil filter they might not be very pretty and you never will know if it got hot enough to get center gap.

I gotta ask, did you not have a GEN light come on when the belt broke? I guess 74' would've had a an ALT light but still.. That's usually the first sign that the belt may have slipped off or broken.....

no i didn't have an alt lite come on it must not be hooked up Ive been asked that by few people but when i do get it going i will figure that one out differently need it. I order new mahle pistons and cylinders do they come already ringed in the cylinders thanks

Often you won't notice the tiny warning lights or even a guage. Mahle P&L sets come with the ringds but the cylinders need washing with hot soapy water and the rings clocked correctly.

I guess I'm just a nervous nanny. I'm always looking at my lights/gauges for fear of a problem. Maybe I need to install a buzzer...
Anyway, good luck with the rebuild if that's the way you go.

locutisj wrote:

I guess I'm just a nervous nanny. I'm always looking at my lights/gauges for fear of a problem. Maybe I need to install a buzzer... Anyway, good luck with the rebuild if that's the way you go.

Buzzer,horn large lights are good since ff your going fast enough your eyes ignore small lights.