Right i've made a bit of progress with the pinking I know there is a particular procedure to follow when changing the timing, but i thought id just have a go the old skool way. I marked the position of the distributor, warmed the engine up to full operating temp, then just adjusted the distributor by a millimetre at a time, and took the car out for a quick blast after each adjustment, until i got it to not pink at all. I've only ended up moving the distributor about 1-2mm clockwise to get the right setting. Does anyone know if theres a problem adjusting the timing without disconnecting blue temp sender, reving to 3k, 3 times then making adjustment
Not apart from not knowing where the timing is set, no. You'll need to plug the hoses to the ISV if you want to rule it out BTW - if it's sticking open it'll still be an air leak, plugged in or not.......
Right, im really not going very well with this problem . Cros40 very kindly sent me a spare ISV he had laying around (nice one mate ), but unfortunately, i think its from a 16v as its quite a bit smaller, and it dosen't seem to run right. Anyway, i managed to get what looks like a newer isv (compared to mine anyway) off a crashed f reg 8v from my local scrappy, and a airflow meter to while i was at it. I fitted the isv, reset idle speed and took the car for a blast and its made no difference to the throttle on/off jerking at all. Then i tried the airflow meter, and again no difference. So either its nothing to do with either of those parts, or both bits are knackered like mine could be. So now im thinking it must be something to do with the fuel side of things I have noticed a couple of things that might help point me in the right direction. In the morning when i start from cold, ill rev the engine a little, and its like its trying to over come some sort of resistance (won't rev as high as it should for a few seconds, then the revs increase and it seams to run fine - almost like its running on 3 cylindrs for a bit). Also, i find that the jerking off the throttle is worse when i have been cruising with my foot on the throttle, but if i let the car just roll without me applying the throttle, but still in gear so its reving, it won't jerk anywhere near as much when i apply the throttle Could this be injector related, im trying to think of anything now
i had the same problem with my 8v gti, found that the 3wires going into the distributor were f*cked. The car used to missfirepink the lot. Got a spare off an engine i bought off ebay for 52. Needed head to modify. The wires were actually inside the distributor. Worth a look. Edited by: cookie26
Cheers cookie26, i haven't really thought about looking at the dizzy yet, but it is a possibility. When you say the 3 wires were f*cked, do you mean they had snapped, or were just dirty etc. Mine look fine and ive taken the plug off and it looks clean enough. I think these wires control the hall sender, so i wonder if that might be buggered The main problem i get is the engine jerks on and off the throttle, and sometimes the car kangaroos on deceleration, making it a sod in traffic. The pinking problem seams to have dissapeared since i tweaked the timing a little
the wires were actually in the dizzy to the hall sender, the wires were not making good contact. It was a pain as the wires were really short i tried to bodge it but was no good the second handdizzy had to be fitted. Just thought it sounded exactly the same problem i had. The wires were movingwith the vibrations, the plug was fine.Took me a few months to find fault n im a qualified mechanic, although only had 2 golf gti myself. Great cars and would only buy a vw or audi in future. Edited by: cookie26
Cheers mate, ill have to look at that. I do find that the problem with my car does only happens every now and again, so it could be a broken wire.
Definitely sounds like a set-up issue IMO...... The overrun cut-off & FTE are checked as per the haynes guide...something along rev to 2K with the Wide Open Throttle switch held & the engine should surge??? Its all in the book......... Perhaps a continuity check of both switches too, as the wiring can break between them... Pinking sounds like its going lean &/or the timing is over advanced..A digi should take up to 9degs adv no prob (@2250rpm with blue temp sender disconnected) Also bear in mind that the mixture screw only sets the idle CO%, the spring tension in the AFM may be overly tight, causing lean running.. By the same token id check the fuel system....lift pump/new fuel filter to ensure you havent got a delivery problem..
Cheers Chris, yeah i found the guide in the haynes for the overrun cut-off & FTE i that seems to be fine I've got rid of the pinking by just tweeking the timing with a bit of trial and error till its right, and i changed the lift pump today (will be getting fuel filter done soon too) The only thing now is just getting it to stop jerking between idle and throttle. I went away with the missus this weekend to wales and it was awful in traffic, the car just won't pick up smoothly (if im crawling along in traffic without my foot on the throttle, i'll apply it and the car just jerks forward, and then jerks when i take my foot off). It also kangaroos a bit between throttle on/off, but not at all if my foots already on the pedal, it accelerates really smooth I have had the car set up about 4 times now in the last year, each time folowing the correct procedures for setting timing, co and idle. It will be fine for about a week, feels alot better (but not completely gone), and then it just comes back to being as bad as it was. What could this be? Anyway, im getting that annoyed now (and the fact that i need some more power), so i think im goona stick in a 2litre 16v lump
Anyway, im getting that annoyed now (and the fact that i need some more power), so i think im goona stick in a 2litre 16v lump [/QUOTE] Not before you sort this problem you're not, I need to know to, I am still none the wiser why mine does it!
I've only just fixed this problem on my 8v I adjusted the timing and now the car breathes fire, it wheelspins in 1st and no more digi lag The base CO & idle were miles out after, so I used my gas analyser to reduce the CO back to 1.8 with the PCV pipe disconnected & plugged & blue temp sender disconnected, & engine reved over 3k 4 times. Now the revs gradually fall when you dip the clutch rather than drop instantly so now on/off throttle in traffic is much better! Edit: Although the base idle wouldn't go any lower than 1200rpm, so I think the timing is still off a bit, and my economy is still mostly the wrong side of 25mpg. But then that could be down to me using all of my new found power Edited by: rubjonny
Hi cros40, don't worry mate, ill definately get this problem sorted, then ill go for the 16v lump By the way, have you read rubjonnys thread about the digifant co problem, sounds like he had the same problem as us and now hes got it sorted I think im gonna get myself a basic gas analyser and just run through the set up procedure for timing, co and idle myself. Then i can just keep tweeking the settings until it runs right, ill get back once its sorted
The other thing to try is a different ECU..as some cars were worse than others for hesitancy/lag on pull away & gear changes....(sometimes termed "Digilag") Pretty sure you can pick em up cheap on our favourite auction site...
By the way rubjonny, how did you adjust the static timing? Did you just tweek it at idle speed until it sounded right after taking it out for a blast? Thats what i done on mine so just wanted to make sure it was alright
I had very similar problems to what you have been describing and despite trying alsorts of different things to try and sort it i ended up binning the engine and fitting an ABF instead.... much better option tbh!
Yeah that is my plans for the new year, i just got to keep an eye out for a golf, ibiza etc with the 16v lump in. Im just trying to sort this for now before i get so pi@sed off i wrap the car round a tree
static timing is just resetting the pulleys to the correct marks, what you're doing is fiddling with the ignition advance
Right guys, people that are interredted might want to sit down for this Firstly, since i first started this thread, the main problems that were annoying me was the slight pinking i would get when applying the throttle, and the jerking from the engine on and off the throttle, but there was no jerking when accelerating through the rev range The first thing i did was get a second hand ISV and airflow meter, fitted both and found that they made no difference whatsoever. Next thing i did was to adjust the ignition timing slightly to get rid of the pinking. I know that there is supposed to be a particular way to do this (warm up, disconnect blue temp sender, rev to over 3k 3 times and check @ 2250rpm), but i just did it with the engine idling and kept tweeking the timing and taking the car out till i got it right. By doing this, i completely got rid of the pinking. Today i finished uni early (what a bonus the student life is), i bought myself a Gunsons gas tester, so i could set up the mixture and idle speed as these both would have altered since messing around with the timing. Just to make sure i was doing it right, i set up the ignition timing using the above procedure with my new timing light to spot on 6 degrees btdc. Then i set the mixture and idle speed to their correct values and by using the procedure in the FAQ's. This took me a while to do this as the Gunsons gas tester takes a little while to calibrate, but once all set, i took the car out for a blast, and............ Preety much all of the jerking had gone (probably needs some minor adjustment to get it as good as possible) I was well chuffed, but there is one problem, the engine is pinking again now. It only happens on initial throttle So, i went backhome, and just tweeked the timing towards the same direction i had done previously when i managed to get rid of the pinking (turned the distributor clockwise only slightly), took it out for a blast, and the pinking was reduced, but now the engine is jerky on and off the throttle again.... So i have two main questions: 1. If i have set the timing right along with the mixture and idle speed, why is the engine pinking again i.e. could it just be engine wear, meaning it might need to be set to a slightly different setting than standard 2. After tweeking the timing for the last time, and the engine started to get jerky on and off the throttle again, does this mean that i need to set the timing, mixture and idle speed all at the same time as it was fine when i did this earlier this afternoon Now you can relax guys, after i get some answers Cheers for all your help so far guys!
