hello i have a mk2 golf 1.8gl automatic originally it had a pooberg carb but it has at somepoint be converted to a webber 32/34 progressive twin choke. the car has been great and fine to drive for years but it recently started to develop a little hicup while driving, just like missing the odd beat, in the space of three days that got worse and worse and now is so bad that sometimes it wont fire up and when it does as soon as you touch the throttle it cats out, the harder you stab the throttle the more chance it cuts out, if your gentle it wont but it runs with a misfire type hicup so far i changed the leads, cap rotor arm, spark plugs distributor and hall sender, coil and tch modula thingy lol all vacums are new ect from investigating, the fuel looks to be pumping nicley and it does seem electrical im running out of things to replace and test anyone got any ideas or is it something silly im missing excuse the spelling im in a rush lol
Check that the accelerator pump on the Weber is working (if you haven't already) by operating the mechanism with engine off and looking/listening down the primary barrel. If that seems OK, have a good check of the big vac hose that leads off the inlet mani towards the brake servo non-return valve. Sometimes these split on the underside where it's hard to see.
maybe you've already checked it but have a look at the carb base gasket. If you manage to get it running carefully rock the carb, if this causes any spluttering etc. then its time to change it. You say you think its not fuel but follow the lines back there could easy be an inline filter lurking and I'm nearly sure in the inlet to the carb there is a small basket filter that sometimes blocks. If you have the old vapour canister ( small pot usually mounted on front of head) these are prone to filling up with silt. Steve
OK running out of ideas, replaced spark plugs, dizzy cap rotor arm, replaced coil, replaced distributor and hall sencer, replaced tch-i unit, took car to my local auto electricians, t&m,s spoke with ray he it one of those proper old skool geniuses he put the car on the scope and check all the ignition system found no faults, check the carb no faults, after a long time of checking and testing he said he belives its a hydralic problem, basically a sticky valve or two, so i removed the head and replaced that, Still no joy car wont start, ive rechecked all the timing and still no joy, ive got lovely sparks on all spark plugs and all the plugs are getting wet with fuel. but still not starting grrrr, Ive gone back over and check things but still cant get it to start, im at a loss any ideas????
There isn't some kind of interlock system on the autobox that prevents starting in gear for example ? Are you 100% sure the static timing is right ? all marks lined up and the contact end of the rotor inline with the mark on the dizzy body?....... are the plug leads in the correct order ? rotor pointing at No1 etc.... All the parts you swapped out, are the known to be good? strange you have spark and fuel and it still won't fire up S
Hi yes i know! yes everything that is replaced is new except the distributor but that has been tested and the old one was tested no faults found, last night it just about started i just kept trying and trying, but it would only start with random and rapid pumping of the throttle, it didnt like any choke and i had to keep the starter wiring to give it any chance of firing then when it just about got going i had to hold it at over 2k it ran smooth then if you ease of the throttle gently say to 2k 1500k it gives the odd hicup/miss, then if you bring the revs down to 1500 or less it stalls. carb problem? if so any ideas?
If all is good with ignition / timing etc then it has to be the carb playing up. Did you check the base gasket ? Steve
took the carb off today and stripped it fully cleaned it out and air line put all back together, the car sometimes starts and sometimes wont start for love nor money, if when it does start and run, i can very gently increase the revs upto say 3k or whatever and its fine vut if i stab the throttle hard anything below 3k it will stall it, but if i gently build the revs upto 3k 3.5k then stab the throttle hard its fine so it seems the secondry choke side of things works but something amiss on the primery side? im really at a loss??
Just been testing it some more and i would actually say that if you load it up at all rev ranges it wants to stall but if gentle its ok, and after reading on some other forums maybe a lazy fuel pump????
could be.... When I ran a weber I used a huco electric pump instead of the engine mounted mech pump. If it is the pump it fits with the symptoms you've had, they are cheap and easy to change so it sounds like thats your next step. S
I've heard of people bypassing the swirl pot on the front of the engine to see if that solves a problem. Worth a try? The fuel pumps to seem to fail eventually, but they're not that expensive new. Pressure testers for carb fuel systems are less than a tenner. Might be well worth investing. I think your problem sounds like fuelling rather than electrical.
Hi all ive since replaced the fuel pump still no joy, done a compression test and all pots are about 60psi, basically i could fart more compression than that, yet, as im permantly trying to turn it over today it sometimes starts and just about ticks over then dies then wont even try and fire just turning over, then for no reason at all it will fire and just about run, then 5 mins later if i try and start it nothing just turns over??????????? my head hurts now any ideas?
Could the crank sprocket have moved round due to woodruff-key failure, leading to wrong valve timing?
I dont know because when and if it does fire it seems to run fairly smoothly but i still have the original problem of as soon as i touch the throttle it will die, and it doesnt like the choke at all.
so to me it seems an itermitent compression problem? one minute no compression so just turns over and wont fire or start, then next minute for no reason at all good better compression enough for it to fire and run just, but then touch the throttle and it dies.
in edition to the above i put a little oil into cylinder number one via a syringe then redone the compression check and i got 100psi, better but still not great i would like to see 120 minimum, i then put a little oil into all our cylinders to see if that would create enough combustion to start but still no diffrence, most of the time i turns and turns but doesnt fire, then occasionallyu it would fire, and just about run, but the problem now seems to be getting worse the more i try, when it does now fire and run it seems to be running on about 2 cylinders lol then it will clear and run on 3 or 4 then it will stall, and still if i touch the throttle it will stall.
Strange your seeing exactly the same low compression on all cylinders. I'm not quite sure of the routine but write up what you are doing and someone will tell you if its right or wrong. According to haynes you should have minimum 7.5bar.....around 110psi and ideally above 10bar...140ish psi. Are you 100% sure the static timing is spot on ? a tooth out will make it difficult to start and 2 teeth nearly impossible. Too much advance will cause problems too.... No signs of head gasket failure? Guess you are really scratching your head with this one but keep at it.!!! Steve
timing is 100% spot on, this morning gave it 4 or 5 turn no joy then it started and ran with gentle rev let tick over then just stalled, then wouldnt re start, then after 5 or 6 goes re started then if gentle on throttle would rev but if reved hard died, let tick over fo as long as it would then it stalled again.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? arrrrrgggg!!!!!
I never did get to the bottom of this, so i scrapped and broke the car for parts and made good money. Thankyou to everyone that tryed to help with advise ect it was much appreciated... Since then i have now picked up another loverly mk2 golf 1.8 auto And it has been amazing for many months however guess what!! it has a problem Basically the car has covered a genuine 51k 1 owner from new all original receipts and full dealer service. The car drives and looks like new! performance is spot on much better than the old one i had. But the other day i came upto a junction stopped pulled away and noticed a loss of power, no hicups or mis fires just seriously down on power, the engine sounded retarded, i pulled up and also noticed the tickover was low. It almost seemed like it had slipped a toothe on the timing. Apon futher inspection i check all the timing and i am happy that it is timed correctly, as i had lots of prctice on the old one lol! i think now im a timing god haha Anyway the timing is perfect when set up with the engine off however when i run the engine and check the timing on a gun the timing mark on the lower pulley is about an inch out from the one on the lower camcover! so no im thinking its a vacum problem? Ive checked all the vacums and carb mounting gaskets and cannot find anthing wrong any ideas??
