GTI 1.6 Starting for the first time in 10 years!

Hello,

i am now the proud owner of a 1.6 GTI, in need of restoration. I may be going home this weekend, which will be my first chance to get a proper look at it. The car had basically been driven into a garage 10 years ago and left there!

B4 i moved it to my garage, i only had time to check if the engine turned over….. and it DID! i want to see if it will run, there isnt any reason why it shouldnt, as there were not any mechanical problems b4 it was left.

Anything obvious i should check with the engine b4 i try to start it with fresh petrol, a new battery, and some wd40?  as in the past i have only ever tinkered with carb'd cars.

cheers James

i'd be inclined to drain the oil and fill and drain and fill again. new filter too. cambelt would be a very good idea too.

wack a new blet on for the price (?8ish) just incase it snaps! also wip the plugs out and spray  wd40 down into the bores just to help lube it up as wooders said drain the oil, wack a new filter on, fill up with fresh oil, drain and put the fresh oil back in again just to help lube it up even more, put some injector cleaner in the fuel and fill with some fresh fuel,  turn it over a few times by hand with the plugs out (easier to turn over) spray a tad more wd40 in put the plugs back in and try and fire her up! dont be alarmd if it smokes a tad as this will be the wd40, once you know its all good, its worth doing a fuel filter etc.

good luck! and report back and let us know!

simon

Thanks guys, i was thinking about the filter aswell, plus the belts a good idea too. The mileage is well over 100k, im going to rebuild it anyway. Its just nice to have a restoration project that can be moved around when it needs to be.

Plans for the car are as follows:

Totally original, with slightly breathed on engine (four branch manifold elc), and a drop on coilovers.  
The car is in need of a full respray, wings, boot lid, and sills. Everything else is rust free. Which is good! lol

i will post back when i try to start her up!

Cheers James

Do as the others say, with…

After turning by hand . Keep plugs out and crank untill oil light goes out to make sure there's oil circulating before start up. With it being dry for so long the bearings in the cams and crank will need lubing.

Also whilst the plugs are in your hands, give em a qucik bright with some wet-n-dry. You will probably want to replace them anyway once shes runnging..

Also, check to see the meter flap is moving ok. it may be stuck after so long.

TT

After about 15 mins of fiddling about, with a new battery, plugs, fuel and some oil down the bores, it started! Now the engine runs ok if u keep the revs above 1500, but drop below and it will cut out. And it won?t restart for love nor money. What?s next to check, could it be the idle control valve? Or something more sinister?

i'm on easter hols now, so i actually have a chance to mess about with it for a couple of weeks.

Any ideas?  :dontknow:

Does it only cut out when cold or does it do it when fully warmed up too? If only when cold then probably aux air valve, if when fully warmed up either timing or fuel starvation I would have guessed.

Check state of fuel filler neck. If rusted may have dropped sh1t into the tank. Will need cleaning out, fuel lines blowing clear, new fuel filter, check intake on pump to see if small mesh filter there too.

http://www.vwgolfmk1.o…5&highlight=injector+test

Have a good read of above on how to check your fuel delivery.

Also check spark is strong and constant.

That's something for you to start with anyway.

Cold start 5th injector problem or (more likely) problem with "idle" throttle body - that's the smaller of the two butterflies - liberal carburettor cleaner may help.  Could be a missing vaccuum capiliary pipe somewhere…