Erratic running engine

Well guys I hope someone can point me in the right direction as i've reached the end of the line with this car. 1990 1.8 golf clipper. A weber carb was installed last year and the car run fine with no problems till spring time this year.
The car starts fine idles smoothly and runs ok till it heats up then it loses all power. You cannot pull away as the engine just dies. So far i've replaced:

Fuel filter
Rubber fuel lines
Rubber carb gasket
Fuel pump
Fuel separator
Plugs
leads
Rotor arm
Dist cap
Coil
All vacuum hoses
the car has had a new fuel filler pipe recently.  Timing is spot on and both the vacuum advance and the weights seem to be working. As I say it start first time on choke, idles beautifully, runs OK till it heats up them all of a sudden. and usually when driving uphill (maybe just coincidence) loses all power. Usually if left fore 30 mins you can start it and it will run OK again till it heats up, then it starts all again.

I'm not a car novice ,i've restored an MG midget and know my way about an engine but this has got me baffled. is there anyone out there in forum land that can help??

Any help will be very gratefully received.

Hi David,

I have something very very similar!

Look here:
View topic: Rough Idle Weber Carb - The Mk1 Golf Owners Club

Still no idea what's going on with it!

I'll keep a close eye on this for any responses. This problem seems to come up all the time and usually it is carb flange / filler neck.

One thing that has been mentioned before, a few people have talked about removing the fuel vapour separator…
this part:



I have never tried this myself though so have no idea if it works or not?

Cheers

Just found something to back that up as well…

View topic: Weber carb - fuel vapour seperator question.. - The Mk1 Golf Owners Club

Joe,

thanks for your input. Ive seen these threads when I did a search prior to posting and I thought that maybe after reading them that the vapour separator was the issue. Weber supply a new fuel line that goes from the carb and its only long enough to reach the separator, so Weber must assume that the separator is still needed. Anyway I tried blanking off the fuel return to the tank  - no difference. Runs for a few miles then loses all power just like running out of fuel.

Soo I will once again remove the carb, check the flange, check all the vacuum connections. I will also attempt removal of the tank sender to check the pick up pipe.

Does anyone else have suggestions????

Cheers for your help Joe

Have you tried re-doing the mixture settings from scratch?
It may be that it was set up and running a little weak, in the colder weather it would seem ok but in the spring as the weather got warmer it would begin to struggle, may also explain why it is fine at cold start up and dies when up to temperature.

Just a thought. 

kev,

thanks very much for your suggestion. I will certainly give this a go using my trusty colourtune.  I'm working now for the next few days so will try a retune Wednesday.

I blew the fuel line back to the tank today and the fuel filter does seem to have much more fuel in it. Whether this is the problem or not- who knows. Getting to the end of my knowledge here and clutching at straws!!!!!!!!

many thanks for replying

OK as a last resort I blew through the fuel lines from the fuel filter line till I hears bubbling from the tank. Did this a few times.

Low and behold filter is now full of fuel and car is running fine again.  Maybe this will help someone else who is experiencing the same symptoms

Next step is to look at your fuel filler neck (shine a torch down by the petrol cap) and look underneath then look inside the fuel tank to find out why it's blocking the fuel pipes.

mark, if only life was so easy!! Unfortunately whoever had the car before us maybe had the same problem and after that had had a look in the tank they deided to glue the fuel sunder to the top of the tank.  yes glue it. If I attempt to remove it and I did have a go i will undoubtedly break it. i will try and source a second hand fuel sender, remove this one and clean the tank and pick up lines. car is running OK but i'm sure that it will block again . At least i can call it a temporary cure. Will have a look through the filler cap though and see if i can spot anything

many thanks for your input mark, very much appreciated.

The filler neck is a weak point as it's metal and gets hit by stones from the road wheels and mud collects and sits on top of it and speeds up the rusting process. It's a good idea to jack the back up and take the wheel off and pull as much dirt off as possible and check for holes, if it's OK get a hose pipe out and wash the rest of the mud out. If there is any holes don't do this as water and dirt will get into your fuel tank and that's the last thing you want.

Once you look up inside the wheel arch you will see what I mean about a mud trap! I wash mine out before and after the winter but my car is a daily drive.

Can you see the glue around the fuel sender? They are difficult to get undone anyway.

thanks for that mark.
yes will do all that and make a thorough check like you advise of the underside at the fuel filler. Unfortunately I think previous owner has used araldite as the top and sides of the fuel sender are covered. I will get it off but don't want to attack it too much till I have a replacement. cant seem to be able to find a used one and the new ones are around the £145 mark.

Will take note of your remarks regarding the mud traps and have agood old poke around.

Once again many thanks for your input.

Is the top of the sender you can see plastic or metal and does it have 2 pipes coming out and 1 electrical plug ?

Try Volkswagenspares.com for a fuel sender. I got a new one off there for my GTI tintop and I'm sure it was around the £35 mark. 

Mark, yes it is white plastic with 1 inlet and 1 outlet pipe straight out  top with a 90 degree bend to horozontal and a 2 pin electrical connector.

Spen, thank you i will give them a try.

No problem! Just checked through some receipts and it was £53, not £35! Still a bit cheaper than £145 though!

Further to these posts we've tried everything, finally renewing the fuel sender. there was nothing in the tank and the old fuel sender was fine. As a lastresort I bypassed the fuel separator and plumbed the fuel line straight into theWeber carb. Result. the car is now running fine, no cutting out, full power, and running the way it should. Don't understand it at all, as Weber only provide a fuel line long enough to fit into the fuel separator. However, bypassing this has resored the car to full running order. Hooray

ok, try refitting it all back on and put a restrictor in the return line to the tank. a welding tip appears to be a popular choice. consensus is the car would have had one originally but somewhere along the line it goes missing. the 2e2 isnt so bothered but the weber doesnt like it!

Cheers for you post Rubjonny. We did try restricting the return line back to the tank but it didn't seem to make much difference. We also tried clamping off the return line but we still had problems. However we will give it another go. Will get back with results. Cheers for all the help frpm everyone.

OK I have just stumbled across this thread as my car has the same issue, it runs like a pig.

Can you run the car without the swill pot? (I'm guessing that's what your talking about taking off and plumbing straight to the carb?)

Tbh I have no idea what I'm doing.

Cheers mousey