Mk1 1982 1.6 GTI not starting

Hello guys, it looks like this few weeks have been a total headache with the golf, first my speedo and battery not charging and now she won't start, the story goes I did have her started yesterday, I wired the exciter cable to battery and she was charging up and was running, today I went to start her up and she just turns and doesn't fire on closer inspection the exciter wire was corroded and moving it snapped off, could this be the reason? , the fuel is going through as I can smell fuel and also when I removed the spark plugs they smelt of Fuel, the fuel relay clicks, when I turn the key and when I turn it back off the pump can be heard priming, there is a full tank of fuel in here, I'm just stuck where to look next, my next idea was to spray easy start in to the intake and see if she turns over and runs, the AA Man replaced my fuel relay fuse with a blue 25amp and I drove  it back ok started it up a good few times ,it's only today it decided to play up I replaced the red 16 amp fuse for the fuel relay just to see if it work but same thing, is there any suggestion or anything else i could try, hope someone can help everything just seems to be going wrong with her lately and it's just stressing me out, appreciate all the help guys 

Hello guys I refitted the exciter cable, checked for at the plugs and I got that I even sprayed easy start in inlet and still nothing even had a diesel car on it with jump leads still nothing just keeps turning but not starting is there anything else I can see or look at any wiring or anything else thanks guys 

Hello guys I refitted the exciter cable, checked for spark at the plugs and I got that I even sprayed easy start in inlet and still nothing even had a diesel car on it with jump leads still nothing just keeps turning but not starting is there anything else I can see or look at any wiring or anything else thanks guys 

is the fuel pump coming on at all?

When I turn the key to start it the relay clicks  but no pump sound, then when I turn the key back to off position , I then hear the pump, the spark plugs smell of fuel, i did clean them up and put them back but still nothing, the speedo is out but don't know is that has anything to do with it, or could it be a damaged wire in the loom?, what will be the symptoms of a faulty ignition switch? All help is appreciated 

Sounds like fuse box or wiring issues, the 1.6 suffered worse than the 1.8 check the fuse bix, the pump connection can burn out


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Hope fully have a look at the fuse box the fuses seem ok , I will have a look at wiring see if there's any burnt out wires or connections hope it gets sorted 

Had a look at my speedo which I removed and one copper strip seems to look like it's been burnt don't know it that's might mean something been shorted ? 

BAZ-GTI said

Had a look at my speedo which I removed and one copper strip seems to look like it's been burnt don't know it that's might mean something been shorted ? 

Probably the light circuit, very common unfortunately, the bulb on the heater panel gets knocked out when removing the dash, or the cig lighter one, so drops on earth and can fry a lot of wires as well as the dash pcb


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The heater panel bulb is a bit off it turns on when side lights are on but goes In funny mode when the main lights are on it goes off and sometimes comes to life other lights are working, but number plate lights have been removed as was getting new ones but rest are working, I got spark at the coill main wire to distributor, one of the blue connectors is kinda melted to the fuse board don't know what that connector is for also how would I bypass the relay for fuel pump so it works when the ignition is on at the moment it comes on when I'm switching it back off many thanks just need it sorted 

rubjonny is a wiz with wiring looms 🙂

RUBJONNY lol where are you 👍👍👍

Wiring issues are quite common on older Automobiles.
Wiring gets knicked, brittle, corroded, connectors get loose, connectors get broken.

Earths on the Autos VW, had a unshielded stranded ground (EARTH) lead that ran under the Battery to the Frame.
This wire is subject to Corrosion, Road moisture spray that includes Corrosion producing salt and the like.

This Corrosion can get between the strand and grow because of Electrolysis.  As it is coating the bare individual wires, it starts to insulate then, and lowering the current capacity of the Earthing wire to the car.

It can also start to cause intergrainular corrosion of the base metals, as there is the natural issue of differential metal corrosion Steel to Copper, copper to lead…electrolysis added increases the deterioration of the connection.

Avid and Raving advocate for proper grounds.

I have seen grounds that go bad.  The friendly and devious electron can use anything it can that is lower resistive to get to POWER.  

Things I have personally seen are Fried Clutch Cables, Fried Instrument clusters and lights because the "Speedo Cable" was used in the Starting Circuit and had melted the Speedo in to a mass of plastic and bits.
Sensors that are mounted to the engine, and provide a Ground path to the Cluster, and ECU.

Electrons are Devious, and Devoid of guilt if they have to fry things to get to the Power, they don't care what they ruin….to get there.  Spurious grounds are easily controlled….. through Proper Grounding.  

DVOM's can test for continuity, but they can be fooled in to thinking it is good, when under load it isn't.  In the Old Timey days we checked for valid ground in Buildings, cables, and airframes with a device called a Meggar.  It produced a High Voltage Pulse (Hand Cranked) to send a smaller version of a Lightning Bolt down the cable to test for grounds, and we would find Marginal issues quickly.

Vw in their wisdom, used connectors on lamps and switches that were Bare, as the clearance of the connector to the switch or Lamp was tight and that a insulator was too big.  

A lot of Lamps, and Switches, have these bare things attached, one that comes readably to mind is the 4-way hazard switch.

Heat Shrink Tubing cut to fit and shrink around these go a long long way to insure less shocking results.

They also didn't fuse the Interior Lighting Circuits Directly in earlier mk1's that they did in the latter ones.

A direct path to ground on the gray/blue wire can wreck havoc.  A burning wire can burn or melt the insulation off of anything it touches.  

To correct it you have to Isolate the wires that were "touched" and splice in a new one or insulate them again with Heat Shrink, or Tape.  

When I have had that issue on my rides I usually use Vinyl Electrical tape UL certified, and over wrap it with "Friction" tape as that is more likely not to come unglued over the years, I find it usually gets Stickier….and can be a pain in the posterior to remove. Vinyl Electrical tape can get Brittle, and come untaped because of Chemicals that you might spray around them.

Removing all connectors and cleaning them when you are around them only can make them more better.  I occasionally will remake them, or tighten them with a pair of pliers.

Ok, enough of the bad ground rant.

Trying to find where the issue occurs is looking for the most burned area.  Usually a Switch, or where ever there is a Frame member that has knicked a wire.

All the lamps run in Parallel to the switch and if it was the last lamp that shorted can cause the whole run to get toasty.

A lamp that Flickers, can be a flaky connection, or a precursor to systemic issues.  

Lamp Filaments that break the right way when hot, can re-acquire connectivity and work when turned on, then open up again and go off.  They can drop and Short out the light, and start the whole world burning.  

On the VW's over here, I have seen 2 distinct types of heater Facia panels,  One with a integrated bulb, and one on early Scirocco's with a separate bulb holder.

On my Cabby I have the Integrated one, and have had to replace the BULB with a LED.  

I know I haven't assisted you in the repair, I have just recited a few of the things I have seen.   You are going to have to investigate, and repair.   

A DVOM, and the wiring Diagrams are going to be your friend.  On Older Cars you have to get dirty.  

I got my Education on 50's and 60's  British Leyland cars
I learned all about Lord Lucas, Prince of Darkness, Well if Lucas was the Prince, then Bosch was his second cousin.    Lucas used the Wires to Protect the two fuses on my Sprite, and MG.

Why not do the relay trick with the fuel pump relay to of info and threads about it (not sure if you can with the older fuse box) or bridge the 2 larger connections where the fuel pump relay is but the fuel pump will run even with out the ignition on but atlest you can check if the pump works. You can start the car with the connections bridged as that's how I got home a couple of times when a relay has broke.


Edit….. just found this..
https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=helllllpppp%2F1800-gti-wont-start
 

Thanks mark1gls, I just did that and it started thanks so much and thank you volkswarren and Brian for your help so glad we have a close mk1 community a MK1 lives on thanks guys do appreciate it, the AA Man put 25amp fuse On the relay where I believe it a 16amp so hopefully buy a new relay and put 16amp in to get it proper thanks again guys

At least you know the wiring is ok, now you just have to find a new relay and keep your fingers crossed it works.  

Lol yep wiring is ok but I spotted a few damaged / naked wires so will hear shrink them so no other issues Occar, so at least I found more issues that could be addressed now rather than later lol thanks again guys