i have decided, there is no point trying to improve my cars performance due to my lack of finances but i can probaby make it run smoother. anybody got any advice for checking my carb is running smoothly as it should be and/or tips on cleaning it Tony
Does the carb have any known problems? E.g. cold-start problems, high fuel consumption, poor smoothness through the rev range? Has the carb got a VW type part number somewhere near the 2E marking, to help identify it more accurately? I think it'll be a 2E3, so less complex than the 2E2, and probably easier to deal with. A can of carb cleaner is a fine starting point, liberally applied in bursts with engine idling fast enough to keep going. Some parts of rubjonny's FAQ will certainly apply, go through that carefully as far as poss. Replacing vacuum hoses will almost certainly be worthwhile, replacing the mounting flange could be good too. Checking the various heaters in the choke, near the idle outlet, and under the carb in the manifold is a very good plan. Then if you want to go deeper, try borrowing or buying a Haynes Carburettor manual (4177, or, best 1785) which covers your carb. This will give you a step-by-step guide to servicing. A kit of gaskets, o-rings and a couple of other bits is available from here: http://www.fpuk.co.uk/products/carbs.htm, I think it's their p.n. G044. Check that carefully with them on the phone, with as much info about your car and carburettor as you can get together. If you can get any additional info from them about which bits belong where, so much the better; my kit came with no contents list. Some parts are bleedin obvious, others not so. You may be able to get kits from elsewhere with more info supplied, dunno. Cleaning is best done with the carb in half at the gasket, with as many of the 'bolt-on' bits removed as possible (except any that might be maladjusted by removal and replacement). Ultrasonic bath is probably best for cleaning, someone made some good suggestions towards the end of this thread IIRC: http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128840 If you want to get some confidence up before you start, it could be worth trying to get an identical, or close to identical carb from a srappie, and practice on that one before launching into your 'real' one (or of course just refurb that one, then swap it in). Best of luck, Pete
cheers for your help, it does have minor problems (not sure wether to attribute them to the carb or other means yet though) such as on cold start it can take a while to catch and sometimes when i let the throttle of it gets very close to stalling. i can live with all these and i thought cleaning up the carb would be good thing to do just to get it running a bit smoother
ive got the same engine with the same sort of problem with ruff idling. i bought redex fuel system cleaner. let the engine idle then poured the redex slowly in to he carb whilst holding the revs quite high. jus dont pour too much or too fast as u will flood then engine. it now idles a lot smoother
I just used a load of carb cleaner on a regular basis and changed the air/fuel filters which costs about 5-6 from eurocarparts. The carb cleaner helped keep things working tidy but unless you spend money on a good tune sometimes it can suffer from poor running conditions, luckily mine wasn;t too bad
