I have had my precious Golf Driver running on a 32/34 Weber for a while now. Three months ago I noticed the rubber mounting plate had split so I replaced it. The car was running fine but the other day it just wouldn't idle and kept stalling. The engine would run if I accelerated but would splutter and cut out as soon as my foot was off the pedal. My first thought was a blocked idle jet so again I removed the carb to clean it, however I found that my new 3 month old mounting plate had degraded rapidly and I could even see bits of rubber trapped in the 'hedgehog' heating element spikes beneath the carb. Firstly, does anyone know where to get a good mounting that won't degrade? Secondly, should I be worried that rubber bits could have gone into the engine and this is what is causing the problem? I have included a link to a picture of the degraded rubber plate. http://postimg.org/image/74qq9gddr/ Any help very much appreciated as I am a little worried now. Many thanks, Jack
I'd say your running issues are mount related! As for the bits of rubber, vacuum and remove what you can. Whatever has gone in will get burnt up and spat out. If that is a genuine part, I'd take it back! Even some pirate ones bought on fleabay offer 18 month guarantees! I wouldn't be overly worried, however a mount should last a little longer than 3 months.
From what I've read people say VW heritage mounts are better than GSF/ generic ebay but it could just be luck of the draw.
As above, I wouldn't worry too much about ingesting rubber, if you want you could take out the spark plugs and inspect for damage, they're probably the most vulnerable to debris related damage. You can check that the valves are undamaged by doing a compression test.
I'd trust a genuine flange from VW to have better quality rubber (Indian rather than cheap domestic Chinese), but I wouldn't guarantee it, and you'll whince at the price difference I imagine..
Thanks for you help guys. Reassuring that the rubber hopefully hasn't done any further damage. I found this on ebay. To me it looks like an original part. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390543991215?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT Do you think this will be better?
I suppose it might be genuine, but I can't see any reason to believe so from the one photo in the ad. Very expensive for a used part if it isn't best quality.
Went with a new flange from VW Heritage. If this turns out to be another leaky flange I will not be best pleased.
I bought one from GSF and a year later took off the carb for a clean and noticed it had split quite badly. Disappointed that it split after a year.
