Mk1 caddy misfire issue

Hi there,

I got a good deal on a 1990 Mk1 caddy with a 1.6 petrol engine and 82k on the clock, around 2 months ago.  The caddy is original (still on stock suspension height which is a rarity !) Apart from a 5 speed and weber carb. When I bought the car it had a very rough idle which would vibrate the whole car badly (hence the low price ) but would still drive fine above idle in all gears.

Got home and replaced and reset the points as they were badly pitted which cured the rough idle, changed the coil, leads and plugs, as well as oil, air  and fuel filter change.

After this the caddy ran perfect for about 2 weeks, drove 300 miles in a day with no issues. Then it develops a screeching sound from engine bay upon cold start that disappeared  after 5 seconds. After a few days of this I came back from a Drive and she refuses to start, so I look inside the dizzy cap and the contact bushing has snapped it's spring and flung off into the bottom of the distributor and the top of the rotor arm looks worn which i assume explains the screeching. I then replace the dizzy cap and rotor and she starts right up but now has a misfire under acceleration .  I replaced the cap and rotor again thinking the previous ones must be faulty but still has a misfire.  

I'll happily admit that I'm not an expert and the caddys older than me so points and manual chokes etc is all  new to me, so frustration gets the better of me and I take it to a local garage to get it sorted.  After I've explained everything that's happened they insist it's a fuelling g issue not a misfire and change the fuel vapour separator as they say it looks past its best. This does nothing for the problem so take it to a local guy who restores old vw's  who diagnoses a split carb flange.  This gets replaced along with a fuel line that had a leak but the problem still persists. he recommended a compression test and a pertronix ignition but figured I'd see if anyone else has had this problem before spending more money without being sure.

The engine starts fine with choke out and idles perfectly.  For the first 5 - 10 minutes of driving there is only a slight misfire at the top of the Rev range and then after this period she judders and misfires whenever I put my foot down but still idles fine when I pull over. When warm she fires up straight away with the choke in.

This is my first vw and it's getting me down. Any help appreciated  ! Thanks in advance

Is it not just a advance and retard fault on dizzy
Is vac pipe ok
Or is there not a little peace gone in side jammed it up when got mangled
All it sounds like it's not advancing timing

A 1990 cabby should not have points? I thought you should have 1.8 engine in there as well…
1979 is when VW started to switch over to electric ignition.

What is the engine code (2 letter stamped into the engine block just below cylinder 3 spark plug), do you have a picture inside the dissy cap and engine?

Thanks for the replies, engine code appears to be BM360 . . Does that sound right  ?

 

Here she is in Gloucester services a week before the trouble started

Very strange seeing points in a newer car… I did not them in my 1978 Scirocco but have now changed over to the Accuspark electronic ignition for £25 it's a well worth upgrade but if you have wear in the dissy you will still get problems.
If you hold the dissy shaft (the bit the rotor arm fits on) is there any play, a little play is fine but to much will throw the gap out on the points etc.

You condenser also look old and rusty (the metal round thing on the side of the dissy which you plug the connection from the points into) you should always fit a new one when fitting new point.

What make of points did you buy? cheap ones are no good and fail far to often, Breu or Bosch are good ones.

How did you set the gap on the points? A dwell meter is the best way if you have one as it's or accurate than feeler gauges.

Engine code…
http://www.clubvw.org.au/vwengines

I can't seem to find a BM engine code so not sure if that's right?
The engine code can be found here.

  

Link to condenser and points.
Not sure what make the parts are from tierod69 on eBay so may be worth checking but I've used them lots and they are usally good quality stuff.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK1-SCIROCCO-CADDY-PICKUP-IGNITION-CONDENSER-060905295-A109-/221159421173?hash=item337e20f4f5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-T1-T2-CAMPER-VW-GOLF-MK1-SCIROCCO-IGNITION-CONTACT-SET-POINTS-SET-C866-/190626746754?hash=item2c623d5182

avs spares do list there make but no sure they have condenser in stock as no price listed??

http://www.vwspares.co.uk/g1electrical.php


Another thought, you can check the vacume advance for the timing works by running the engine and then remove the rubber hose going to the dissy and you should be able to feel suction on the end of the pipe which in creases with engine speed, then stop the engine and very carefully unplug the other end of the pipe as its plug on to a bit of plastic and suck on end with the dissy cap off and you should see some movement in the dissy.


Worth smearing a little grease on the end of the points which are in connect with the dissy shaft as this will reduce wear, only a little bit of grease or the gap will change when the grease starts to wear off.
There is also a little felt pad on top of the dissy shaft, that should be oiled, yours looks a little dry so put a couple of drops of engine oil on it, only needs a small amount.

 

More reading for you….
Info on Accuspark electronic ignition kit.

http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&type=misc&id=electrics_2%2Felectronic-ignition_16

Been over a year since fitting it and please with the results, smoother tick over and a bit more responsive higher up the Rev range. No points and condensers to buy every year an no adjustment needed. But you need to find out why you have the misfire before splashing out on the kit as something not quite right with your car.

Thanks for the reply , this is very helpful as I'm still new to this  !

The only other code I can find in that area is wwo next to the volks emblem,  is wwo a known engine code  ? The parts are all stamped w.Germany but has been assembled in yugoslavia.  

The rotor shaft feels very stiff with virtually no play.  The points I replaced the pitted ones with are beru and I originally set them at .4 with feeler gauges but were reset by a local guy who restores beetles and campers so are most likely accurate.  I went back through changing the coil,  leads, plugs,  rotor arm, dizzy cap and points today just to eliminate them and the problem is still there so fairly sure it's a problem in  the distributor as after the dizzy cap contact bushing flew down inside of it the misfire began.  I've bought and received the condenser you suggested but cannot release the screw on the old one as it's in a tight gap between the engine block and distibutor body.  . Will I have to take the whole distributor out or can I rotate it slightly  ?

Also I've found that the it will idle and drive on 1st and second with no misfire but from 3rd to 5th it misfires erratically  . . Could this be the weights are out of balance  ? How could I reset these  ?

I looked at the accuspark and am impressed  . . is there much difference between accuspark and pertronix ?

Also my friend has got an entire distributor spare but is for a golf/scirocco with factory electronic ignition but same dizzy body/cap/rotor etc as mine  . . Could I just replace the entire distributor with this onew and get the same effect of the accuspark this way  ?

You can't just swop the dissy for a later one with electronic ignition as you need a hall sender as well, a electrical box of magic living near the wiper motor, it's the brains for the ignition system. It is possible but you will need the wiring loom as well.

What has happened with your dissy is someone has removed it and the oil pump has turned, so it's sitting in the wrong place. I did notice this in your pictures but it's not really a problem in the running of the car.
If you turn the dissy you will throw out the timing as that is how you set it.

I had the same problem when I rebuilt my engine as when I fitted the dissy in and tried to set the timing I could not turn it far enough as the advance vacum was hitting the block.

You get it to sit in the right place is straight forward, undo the 13mm bolt holding the clamp and remove it, pull out the dissy and you will see a flat key on the bottom of the dissy shaft and a slot ( or could be the other way around?)down the hole which is the drive for the oil pump, if you get some long nose pliers and turn the oil pump drive about 45 degrees anti-clockwise and refit the dissy, it can be a little fiddly getting it back in as it has to fit on the cog and the oil pump drive so they may turn or you may need to twist the dissy a little while slowing it in. Fit the bracket back on but only loosely as you will need to turn the dissy the adjust the timing.
If you are lucky you may be able to just start the car and it might run then turn the dissy to get a smooth tick over then either use a timing light or set the timing by ear and driving.

It may be best to get a garage/your chap who did the other work for you as this should be easily done in an hour.
If you look at my picture about the engine number you can see the angle my dissy sits is different to yours.

Another thought, is there an inline fuel filter, I think there may be one just below the air intake in the picture but can't see properly?
Any dirt grit in it and has it been changed recently?

looks like this.
http://www.carparts4less.co.uk/cp4l/c/Volkswagen_Golf_1.8_1988/p/car-parts/car-service-parts/regular-service/fuel-filter/?503440077&1&ca494633104e5abc177a4ef80ff1dd17386ccaf7&000140

Its just strange it only misfires in higher gears???

 

I can't comment on Pertronix in a golf, but I've fitted it to my other motor and, without wishing to tempt fate, have been more than happy with it. Fit n forget.