Stuttering & Carb Spitting Fuel Issues!

We've been trying for quite some time to get my other half on the road in a 1.3 Golf we bought last year whilst the GTI is being restored.

Since doing the headgasket and a few other bits that needed replacing in the engine bay like plugs, HT leads, thermostat etc we kinda gave up trying to get it on the road after not having much luck with it.

However Si starts a new job in 3 weeks and MUST have a car on the road.

A few months back on the way to MOT garage, the car would get a couple mile down the road then start to bog down and stop, and would struggle to move an inch or even keep running.

A friend of ours came round to help with re-setting up the carb as it appeared to be majorly overfuelling, stunk to high heaven and the plugs were black. He got it ticking over constantly on the driveway for a good half our or so at around 1000 rpm. However we didn't notice at the time it was running fumes by that point.
So we filled it up week before last, took it for a spin round the block, seemed to be running a little better, not bogging down but was slightly hesitant and you could feel stuttering. We tried adjusting the carb again, and also the dizzy position as revs were around 1500 and really erratic, but it got to a point where they would drop that low it would stall. It was refusing to hold revs, and certainly couldnt hold it at 1000.

So our friend came over again on tuesday so tinker with the carb again, he managed to get the revs down again but then after starting it so many times, it decided to stall and wouldnt re-start. Every couple turns of the engine the carb would spit a mist of fuel out the top, and the engine refused to fire.

This weekend we had another look at it, put new plugs in, and tried to start it, but the carb was still spitting fuel, no luck starting it up, refuses to fire.

Have checked the timing marks on the bottom pulley, is level with the tooth towards the front, cam pulley mark is at the bottom on the outside (i think, i may have that the wrong way round depending which side you look at the pulley! lol)

Any ideas whats going wrong with this? I've really had enough of it, some guy has offered to buy it for local youths to go banger racing in it, im really fed up with the car but don't like the thought of it being destroyed in that manner, even though im half tempted to do it myself after all this hassle    :evil:

Please explain any help in simpleton terms  :mrgreen:

Much appreciated, Rache

The carb spitting or spluttering is usually down to timing, the timing belt may look correct but even if its one tooth out its makes a difference (well it did with me) and i strongly suggest you change your contact points, get the gapping correct and condensor on the distributor as that's what can be causing your hesistant revving problem, also set the ignition timing. While your at it have a look at your inline fuel filter in the engine bay and check to see if theres any dirt or piece's of rusty bits in it, if there is you have a rusty tank which will need cleaning out.
And from personal experience the standard solex carb that come with the golfs are utterly rubbish.

Have checked the fuel filter which is all clear, the carb is a Webber. We're gonna take a look at the timing again tonight, got a strobe timing gun from my dad which may help i suppose

Can you buy the condensers seperately? Or would we have to buy a whole new dizzy with it on?

you can get condensors seperatly but while your at it stick new points and rotor arm on aswell (if you havn't stick a new dizzy cap on aswell)

gsf have got free delivery on at the moment so may be worth getting the parts on order. (they'll be with you next day. i had mine delivered to work)

oh yer sounds like timing. you can't set it without a strobe really.

What are points?

It's had new plugs, HT leads, dizzy cap and rotor arm

Thanks guys, will check it out and let you know how we get on, am ready to give up with this car almost  

points are non electronic ignition which your's may not be. they live inside the dizzy underneath the rotar arm if you have them and they've not been changed can easy be these.

pull your dizzy cap off and have a look under the plastic cap thats there.

When you say the plugs are black do you mean sooty black (dry) or oily black (wet) ?

From what you explain it sounds like the timing is in the right place but you didn't mention where the rotor arm is facing when the marks are lined up, the metal bit on the rotor arm should be facing towards the front of the car (towards the condenser unit/vaccum unit) when the marks are lined up.

Check valve clearances as it is an important part of the timing but often overlooked, also try changing inlet manifold gasket as if it's loose or leaking it will cause eratic idling.

If the above fails and you have already changed the parts mentioned in previous posts, then run a compression check to see if the problem is further down the engine ie the bores and pistons.

I've got a mk1 1.3 CL that I've been doing a full engine rebuild on after much chasing my tail around replacing bits and pieces , all I say is it can be a bit   but don't give up on it   especially if the rest of the car is in good condition  .

Ok didn't get a chance to look at it again last night, am picking up a new condenser and coil on my way home today just in case, but it makes sense the timing being out somewhere.

I'll check where the rotor arm is too as i think we were told previously to line it up in line with one of the HT leads, although i can't remember which number is was now was that long ago :roll:  ops:

Plugs are black & sooty but dry, no oily wet residue, but is it normal for them to get darker from 4 to 1 (or visa versa)?

Can you confirm where the cam pulley mark on the outer edge should be please when the bottom pulley is in line with the front tooth? Is it supposed to be in line at the bottom with a fin sticking out underneath?

Once we've checked all that and stuck the new bits on we'll get our mate to come round with his compression tester

Cheers for the help guys, hopefully will get it sorted soon, my other half only has 3 weeks till he starts his new job and im pretty sure he wouldnt be happy walking 22 miles  

get a strobe and do the timing that way rather than static timing it.

Ok will do  

When looking at the engine from the front of the car (Crank pulley on the left) the notch out of the pulley should be lined up with the front marker.

How to tell which is the TDC (top dead centre) marker :- You should see what looks like a triangle shaped marker (a) which is flat on one side then a gap and then again another flat side (b), this second flat side (b) inside the gap is TDC.

[___________]
..\.]……..[…../
…\]a….b[__/          ignore the dots it wont display proparly using spaces!

When the notch on the crankshaft pulley is lined up with marker (b), the notch on the Camshaft gear should be lined up with the marker which is built into the cambelt cover (the little dot on the gear should be pointing down at 6 O'clock).

When this is set the rotor arm should be pointing towards the condenser unit should be somewhere around ten O'clock when looking head on at it, this is spark plug no One top left looking head on. then working anti-clockwise should go 3 (bottom left), 4(bottom right), 2(top right), and back to 1 again.

This should be set enough to start the car and use a stroboscopic timing light to set the timing further.

Don't forget to check inlet manifold gasket (the bit the that goes into the back of the engine that the carb is attatched to).

Thats a great help hun, very clear and i think we did it all correct intially, whether or not it is still correct we will soon see.
Bought a new condensor and coil last night for the sake of completeness, will be fitting those tonight and checking it all over as per your instructions

Many thanks  

Got home late last night, too dark to check the timing etc but other half had fitted new ignition coil and ignition condenser, still the same so that was a waste of money lol
Will hopefully get a chance to take a look tonight depending on what time i can get home  

Mk1Bungle said

Thats a great help hun, very clear and i think we did it all correct intially, whether or not it is still correct we will soon see.
Bought a new condensor and coil last night for the sake of completeness, will be fitting those tonight and checking it all over as per your instructions

Many thanks  

Did you change the contact points too? Are they gapped correctly?

No i don't know if it has these. When we changed the cap and rotor arm, the plastic cap was missing, all we could see was a metal disc with a screw through the centre, we've never messed with dizzys so didn't touch it for fear of something coming off or it not being put back in the right position

Hello Rache,

Is this the same car I was helping you with last July - Reg No. ends in DPH ?

Andy

Thats the bugger! Been really busy with the GTi and my Leon, not had much chance to get this sod on the road, but its now a must!

Good news though i found the problem, we check the timing marks which seem correct as pictured below:


(Above image taken from front of car so looks slightly off but isnt when you look at it head on)

Checked the HT leads were in correct order - Check
Replaced ignition coil & ignition condenser for ?22 - Check

Checked the Rotor arm pointing to correct position - Check……er no hang on a minute, thats well out!


Could not figure out how it could be so wrong, until i took the rotor arm off, which was brand new.



Notice the orangy powder on the end  :dontknow:

And the notch missing out from inside the rotor arm!!



 

Not sure how this broke but we've been majorly stressing over this over something that simple, we did not even consider it being this since it was a brand new part!

Anyway we got one off of another dizzy we have laying around and hey presto it fires up.

Only prob now is it's revving a little too high and we're not good with carbs, have twiddled with the idle screw and fuel mix screw on the carb a little, can get the revs to come down to around 1200 but it cant hold it

We're hoping our mate can come over again to set it up again

Thanks for your assistance guys, will let you know how we get on with it, fingers crossed it doesnt decide to start bogging down again a mile down the road on the way to MOT garage and end up having to tow it back with my beloved Cupra  :twisted:

Hello Rache,

I wondered what had happened when things went all quiet last year  

Sounds an odd one - are the rotor arms identical ?

Also, if you haven't changed the points and set the gap/dwell angle, you should do so soon (after the MOT). You've pretty well done everything else and these small block engines are very sensitive to the points gap/condition.

Then you need to set the ignition timing with a stroboscopic timing light - this could help bring down the revs.

Keep asking

Andy  8)

Yep they're identical

I dont get the whole points thing im afraid  ops:
Tell me what page im looking at in Haynes and ill take a look
I've got my strobe gun ready to go  

4 pic down. remove the 2 big screws and have a look behind it.
when the square cam rotates you will see an arm move and open a gap between 2 electrodes. the arm and electrodes are the points. these can be changed and altered. they cost about 1.50 from gsf so worth changing while your there. to gap them you.
take dizzy cap off. take bearing support plate off.
put car in second and let the hand brake off (do this on flat ground)
pull the car forward and backward till the arm is ully opened by the cam.

using feeler guages check the gap. think it's about 0.08mm from what i remember but not sure.
if not correct undo the screw that holds the points and adjust till they do.

think it's under ignition in the haynes manual if that helps.(look for the distributor in the haynes manual)