help please!

I have just bought an 88 cabrio 1.8, on the way home after about 30 mins of driving I lose power and it stalls, pulled over waited 30 seconds and it starts again. drive another 10 mins and same happens. eventually it was stalling every mile til I got home. I know its fuel starvation and that the fuel isn't  getting to the fuel filter under the bonnet as it keeps running dry. I've checked for crap in the pipes on the fuel sender, but can't find the fuel pump.
where is it located and anything else I should check?
thanks
lee

How do, welcome to the site dude.

Your fuel pump is going to be mounted on the front of the engine. I'm not sure if it will be a Mk1 fuel pump or a Mk2 type fuel pump which the later model cabrios (my 89 included) have.

The mk1 fuel pump can be disassembled and the internal filter cleaned.
The mk2 fuel pump can't be disassembled and is used in conjunction with a reservoir which is mounted right beneath the airbox on a small bracket attached to the front edge of the rocker cover.

If this is the pump you have, whip your airbox off and trace the fuel line coming from the top of the reservoir to the carb and disconnect it from the carb. Then turn the car over and if fuel spurts out then your pump is fine and something else is causing the problem.

Anyway, either way I'm assuming you will have a little transparent inline fuel filter near the driver's side suspension top mount, so you can just follow that fuel line on to the pump. Sorry but I can't find any pics, maybe somebody else can pop one up?

HTH
Mat

hi matt, thanks for the reply and welcome, I was under the impression there was another pump and filter near the fuel tank from reading other posts from similar problems, and that there is a thinball like filter in the end of the pump that connects to the fuel tank?

the fuel is struggling to reach the clear inline filter so im assuming there is a blockage between this and the fuel tank.

any help is much appropriated

lee

hi is your car a GTI? or a clipper, the info above is correct if the car runs a carb.

I've just realised the pump I've been refering to is the cis pump on a gti, and as mines a carb'd lump it won't have one!

any other ideas why the lack of fuel to the inline filter? I also seem to have air in the feul line after the filter.

the pump looks new But ill check it tonight anyway and tomorrow im gonna blast the fuel lines with an air compressor.

any other adivice is greatly appreciated

thanks

lee

take the sender out the tank, maybe a filter there, may also be crap in the tank check the fuel fillet neck for rust while you are on.

I agree this sounds like it could be the classic rusty crap in the tank ailment. Just had mine sorted a couple of weeks ago!

thanks for your help guys, I know there is some crap in my tank, but wanted to find the source of the blockage before attempting clearing it out, but I guess it could just build up aound the out pipe while driving.

any idea what's best to flush the tank and if there is any type of plug on the botton of the tank?

thanks again

lee

Well, you can try and clear the tank out by doing something like this

The Mk1 Golf Owners Club

Or you can take it off. Unfortunately there's no drain plug on the bottom so you'll have to remove the tank which is a very difficult job without the proper facilities as it requires that the rear axle is dropped out of the way!

Alternatively if you've the cash you can get someone to clean it for you. My local garage took the tank off, and sent it away for cleaning (a company that usually deals with people that put the wrong fuel in their tanks as far as I know) and then put it back on for me. Took about 3 days and the cleaning & labour were about ?49 each plus VAT. After the last of the crap has been through the fuel looks as clean as can be - before I had this done a paper fuel filter would go brown in about 5 weeks.

Cleaning out all your lines as you've said will help a lot too!

HTH
Mat

oh yes…only after having the car a couple of years and enduring endless
aggro did i look on this veritable forum and decide to have a look at the
filler neck!!
previously had to change the Pierburg carb as the bi-metallic strip was past it
(so i was told) ?!?! and had a weber put on.
there is a green plastic ball up under the bonnet by the bulkhead - dont know
what it is,sorry,some sort of vaccuum thingy.anyway it was binned by an RAC man to no ill effect.
the fuel seperator/reservoir (that bronzey thing with 3 pipes on by the front of the rocker box under the air cleaner housing) also gets full of merde and as
it is sealed unit the only option is to bin it and replace,GSF do them.
check your fuel pump works as mentioned above,if yes then this may be the
culprit - full of the remnants of your filler neck if you're unlucky  
hope this helps sorry am not exactly mechanical genius.
all this is relating to D reg (86 ?) 1.8 Clipper btw