Kepping losing power and stopping

I can drive my golf a few miles and will run fines then all of a sudden will keep spluttering and if i let foot off throttle it will just cut out. Not sure if this is a fuel or ignition fault.
Has anyone had similar problems or have any suggestions on common faults as to what it could be

Cheers

could be that the points are fooked

Have looked at points and does look a little pitted so rub it down with sandpaper and reset gap and still playing up. Now thinking coil or condenser.

Hi there, did you ever manage to sort this? I have the same problem!
Cheers,
Zack

Sounds like it could be fuel starvation. Have you checked the pick up inside the tank? Sometimes these can get gunged up (perhaps because of rust in the tank) and cause intermittent problems like this. Check the state of your inline filter, which could also indicate if there is a lot of rubbish in the fuel system.

If you leave it for 5+ mins is it Ok again until next time? If so sounds like muck in the tank via a rusty filler pipe.

Yeah I've checked all of this and it isn't that filter there, I wish it was!!!! Basically you'll drive along for like a mile or two and you can go from like 5th to 3rd and it'll pull like a rocket. Then randomly you'll lose all drive, so the engine is still running sort of but it won't rev with the gear or anything. Then once you reach a stop it'll cough, splutter, backfire, misfire, die and not start again for ages.
So ill tow it home, leave for a few minutes and then do the same thing.
I've put a weber carb renew kit thing one (all the little gaskets etc in the carb) I've tried fuel pump, coil, that rear sender unit, taken off the vaporiser thing that sits on the rocker cover, got a condenser and HT leads on order to try. I've not tried spark plugs because they are brand new and have only done about 30 miles over about 5 months. Also a garage stuck an inline filter on the line going from the pump to the carb and you can see that is usually topped up with fuel now. they also turned up the amplifier. I have considered the immobiliser might be messing about but surely that would be a problem that would stop it starting all together?!
It is strange how it starts, ticks and for a bit runs and pulls spot on, but then loses all drive and then starts messing about?!?!
Any ideas I would be grateful because me and the garage are running out of ideas!
Cheers,
Zack

I'd say fueling
Have you checked the pick up pipe filter in the tank?

Check the rubber flange which the carb sits on, they can crack at the sides as the carb moves about and let way to much air into the fuel system.
Wobble the carb while its running to see if anything changes or spray some carb cleaner around the flange to see if the engine note changes.


Looks like this, GSF and I think Euro car parts sell them as its a common problem.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MK1-CADDY-Carb-flange-Pierburg-Golf-Mk1-2-1-6-1-8-Carb-82-/390758623777?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5afb076a21

Yeah mate replaced the rubber, ran better but not fixed it and that pickup pipe is fine aswell! How weird is this huh!!!!

Zaxe256 said

Yeah mate replaced the rubber, ran better but not fixed it and that pickup pipe is fine aswell! How weird is this huh!!!!

Is this on your GX? What carb are you running? Is it the 36TLP? You should have discarded the rubber flange altogether when installing this, it just has a little card gasket at the base, otherwise it sits too high and the air filter box wont sit right on the bracket on the front of the rocker cover.

If the air filter box isn't fitted correctly (or isn't fitted at all - some people discard them altogether in favour of a K&N pancake filter) then warm air isn't redirected to the carburettor when the engine is cold. The MK1 golf doesn't have the inlet manifold preheater like the MK2, so it is reliant really on this supply of warm air. Otherwise a phenomenon called "carb icing" is likely to occur, which can manifest as a loss of power and cutting out, so this might be something to investigate?

Similarly, sometimes the coolant connexions to the carb are bypassed when the weber is fitted instead of the pierburg. This is because the Pierburg has an automatic choke which uses the temperature of the coolant to guage the level of choke required at any given operating temperature. However, although the Weber doesn't need this coolant flow for the purposes of the choke, since it has a manual choke,
it does fulfill an important secondary function of warming the carburettor.

If you find that either (or indeed both) of the above are true of your car, you almost certainly will be suffering from carb icing.

Had very similar issues with our Mk2 Polo, it would run fine for about 5-10 miles from starting then would loose power and roll to a stall. It was starting to get a bit scary - it cut out at 70mph in the outside lane on the A64 (no hard shoulder) so that was bit of a brown pants moment!

Then after trying to fix it I took it for a test drive and again it cut out about 10 miles from home with no phone on me  and it wouldn't restart so I had to walk home. Drove back to the car with the missus and a towing bar and the thing restarted.   

Tried the obvious stuff, new ICU, rebuilt the carb etc etc. Finally traced it to the Hall sender in the distributor. New Hall sender unit and it's been fine ever since.

GavB95 said

Had very similar issues with our Mk2 Polo, it would run fine for about 5-10 miles from starting then would loose power and roll to a stall. It was starting to get a bit scary - it cut out at 70mph in the outside lane on the A64 (no hard shoulder) so that was bit of a brown pants moment!

Then after trying to fix it I took it for a test drive and again it cut out about 10 miles from home with no phone on me  and it wouldn't restart so I had to walk home. Drove back to the car with the missus and a towing bar and the thing restarted.   

Tried the obvious stuff, new ICU, rebuilt the carb etc etc. Finally traced it to the Hall sender in the distributor. New Hall sender unit and it's been fine ever since.

The OP is running on points and condenser though.

Unclear who has what to be honest pal, the OP 'millfischk69' isn't the person with the current running issue on this thread.

Either way, only trying to help here. If Zaxe256 chooses to disregard my post fair enough. It might help someone else searching for a similar fault in 5 years time.  

This is really great stuff everyone! Cheers!
Although what is a Hall Sender?

This is on a 1.8 8V Clipper Cabriolet
Engine code is EX I believe if that helps,
Air box is on properly etc and its running what I believe to be a 32/34 dmtl Weber carb. The rubber underneath it looks like it definitely should be there!
This stuff is brilliant by the way so any more advice is really greatly appreciated,
Cheers again,
Zack

I'd look inside the tank via the round hatch under rear seat and confirm to myself 100% that there is no water, rust or road debris swilling around in there. There used to be a few threads that had pictures of how to get in to the tank and all of the cr P that can get in and cause havoc but they have either gone or the links to the pics are no longer valid.  

GavB95 said

Had very similar issues with our Mk2 Polo, it would run fine for about 5-10 miles from starting then would loose power and roll to a stall. It was starting to get a bit scary - it cut out at 70mph in the outside lane on the A64 (no hard shoulder) so that was bit of a brown pants moment!

Then after trying to fix it I took it for a test drive and again it cut out about 10 miles from home with no phone on me  and it wouldn't restart so I had to walk home. Drove back to the car with the missus and a towing bar and the thing restarted.   

Tried the obvious stuff, new ICU, rebuilt the carb etc etc. Finally traced it to the Hall sender in the distributor. New Hall sender unit and it's been fine ever since.

I'm sorry man, you're quite right, I hadn't noticed that we weren't dealing with the OP anymore. Though I'm a bit mystified 'cos the chap we're helping now, Zaxe256, said he had ordered a condenser, but I'm sure the EX engine was electronic ignition, in which case your information on hall sender trouble is totally relevant and potentially useful to him.

So does this mean I shouldn't be buying a condenser? It is on order so I haven't fitted it. It's just a friend of mine suggested replacing it so I thought for like £3 I might aswell get it, haven't looked to see where exactly it goes though, haven't had a chance.

Also I'm sure there is no rubbish in that tank however how can I tell if there is water? I don't see how water can get there and if it did then I would have surely seen a fair bit of white smoke? 

Also what is a hall sender?

Cheers again Gents  
Zack 

That guy hitting his head against the wall picture thing is meant to be a guy poking out his tongue by the way!

No worries Campwitte.

Zack, the hall sender or sensor as it's sometimes known is built into the distributor if you have electronic ignition. If you look at the distributor there should be a black plug with 3 wires on the side. 

The hall sender is basically a magnet in there that sends a signal to the small ignition control unit under the rain tray. The magnetic pulse via the ICU tells the coil when to spark.

The hall sender wires in the distributor are very thin and once warm any damage can result in short circuits = no spark signal. 

It's possible to test the hall sender with a multimeter. Google search and there's a guide on club gti, it's in the Haynes manual too. 

Do all the tests and check as much as you can before buying any bits, hall senders aren't cheap!