Hi Guys, I think this is the right section to post in or maybe i should have posted in the electrical section. I have a 1983 Mk1 golf 1.8 gti The fuel pump randomly cuts out. This has never happened when accelerating, only when cruising along steadily (maybe thats just coincidence.) The engine does not cough or splutter its just all of a sudden dead. After a minute or two it starts again on the turn of the key as though nothing has ever happened. Little cow! So this is where Im at so far: A few months ago I noticed the fuel pump was not priming when switching the ignition on to position 1. I noticed that if you jiggle the key between off and position 1 quickly somtimes it would prime. So changed the ignition switch, you never know, but this did not solve the problem. It was around that time when the pump started randomly cutting out. I have driven it until it has cut out. Quickly bypassed the fuel pump relay and the pump starts and engine will run. That suggests its not a fuel pump problem or lack of spark. I changed the fuel pump relay but it did not solve the problem. Changed the dizzy but that did not help. Changed The ECU thing in the scuttle bay. Did not help. The Coil is only about 6 months old so I have not changed this (yet!) As said if I bypass the fuel pump relay the car will run without problems. So it must be something that tells the relay when it should be on or off. Has anyone got any suggestions what I can try please ?
check the red/black wire(s)to the coil, one of these is the rev counter feed to the fusebox which is what triggers the fuel pump
I have just checked the coil end and the connections look good. Checked behind the fuse box and all red/black wires look good. I will take out the clocks and check the connections out tomorrow afternoon when i get more time. I did removed the shelf under console and look up at the connections to the clock and noticed there is a blue/white wire which is sleeved, all melted and crappy. I think the blue/white is to do with console lighting so shouldnt be the running problem? I shall check the wiring diagram when i get a chance.
its just the one from coil to fusebox you need to look at, while you're there check the relay socket for corrosion. if you have the later fusebox its D/26 you need to look at for your rev counter feed to the fusebox. i take it the rev counter works just fine once the relay is bypassed? if so that would suggest the feed from the coil to the fusebox is ok. in that case i would concentrate on the relay socket, plus the fuel pump and wiring as perhaps its drawing too much current and overheating the relay?
Yes rev counter works okay when bypassed. Fuel pump is noisey so will look into that as well. The fuel pump is not priming also so that could be the relay socket playing up maybe. Thanks, I shall let you know how i get on.
not all of the relays prime the pump, the main thing is it runs the pump when cranking/running. for a short term solution you can use a 17 or 18 relay in the fuel pump socket to make the pump come on with the ignition, its not safe if you crash but its a step up from a loop of wire at least
Still not fixed. I have changed the fuel filter. Loads of brown **** came out of the old one. I cant afford a new pump at the moment but it runs a lot quieter now it seems. Do you think this could be anything to do with it in the pictures below ? The green wire coming out that box thing in the middle of the pic does not go anywhere. What is that box ? The two wires dangling down with the terminal box seems like the should plug in to that connector. One is brown and one is pink. What does that connector plug into ? And this is where the brown and pink go to inside the dash. The ones at the back with the black sleeving. Looks like they go through the bulk head.
Loads of brown **** in the fuel filter might suggest that you have the age old Mk1problem of a holed filler pipe neck filling your wonderful Kjet with dirty water which will kill it if you let it continue. I would be very tempted to take the filler neck off and inspect it carefully for a split or hole. A split/crack is much more difficult to detect than a full on hole but has just the same disastrous result in wet weather
hmm some kind of immobiliser id say, follow those 2 wires to where they come from and rip it all out -> bin. re-join any cut VW wires
As suggested, this indicates the filler neck is rotted out. If the filters that bad, then the gauze inside the swirl pot in the tank is probably full of rust too. If you remove the gauze, some debris will go to the pump and wreck it. Its very difficult to guarantee that all debris is out the system with these, even if removing the whole tank. As a precation, i would fit an Audi 80 fuel pump pre-filter between the tank and pump to protect the pump before looking at the gauze. These have the following advantages; slightly better filtering properties than the gauze, you can see the contents (they're translucent) and the contents doesnt end up in the pump when you change them.
Ok thanks. The filler is plastic and i dangled a magnet in the tank and it seemed pretty clean in there. I've just remembered that about 5-6 years ago when i bought the car it needed a new fuel pipe from the tank to the pump. I made a quick fix by using radiator hose and then forgot all about it until now. Do you think this could of melted away inside and caused sludge. By the way it turns out that the probabal immobiliser was actually a electric aerial power supply !
Pipe sludge would probably be black, not brown. The sludge could be in the swirl pot, instead of the bottom of the tank. I would change the tank to pump pipe and fit the A80 filter too.
I know this is random, but I had the same symptoms and it turned out to be the power feed to the pump. Somehow the wire had managed to rub against the bracket holding the pump to the car and was cutting out whenever I went over a bump. I did all the things you've listed, to no avail, until one day it just died completely and blew the relay. It made quite a bang!
