strange cutting out?

hi there, have a slight problem with ma golf at the mo, last week broke down jus driving an the engine cut out which was quite annoying. i left the car for about an hour an came back to it and it started first time, got about two miles an it cut out on me agen, had to leave it over night this time but it started fine first time in the morn then got 1 mile and it cut out on me agen, then 50 yards an it cut out!

me an a mate towed it home but due to so much cranking my starter motor finaly gave up. thats now been replaced with a new one and i made a new battry + connecting lead. car will now turn over and starts beutifuly but will run for 3-4 minute then cut out of its own accord. then it will run for one minute and cut out then not at all for anuva 10 minutes!

i can hear the fuel pump priming and runnin (and yes ive got lots of petrol lol), i have spark during crank when it wont start 2. i have done continuity cheks through the whole ignition system (coil, ig amplifier, hall sender on dizzy etc) and found no resistance anywhere.engines had new plugs 3 months ago, coil dizzy cap and rotor arm 2 months ago, has been timed and tuned perfectly and i have new performance ht leads bein delivered tomoro. also fuel pump relay 4 months ago. tried  startin with spare known good ig switch too but to no preveil.
does anybody have any other cheks that i can do that they have done to their golfs or have had this problem before, im guessing its kinda electrics side orientated an thats not my strong point! any help will be appreciated.

cheers, boyle

Is there a fuel filter fitted?
Could simply be krap in the fuel.
Is it a mechanical fuel pump?

yes theres a fuel filter that was replaced bout 4 months ago, cdnt hurt to change it again tho, tank was run pretty dry at 1 point. its runnin an electric gti pump, i did forget to metion that its a 1.8 8v dx injection engine in my first post, my bad.

fuel pump gone mate

really? dam! how come it primes an runs then cuts out then,wdnt it not run at all?

pmup has failed and cannot make the correct pressure u will here it still running, but my bet is replace it and all will be good again

kool man, thanks for the help, prob will rig up a stand alone tank an pump i got at work and runn it off that first to test before shelling out ona new pump, does snd like a gd bet tho. safe

Is it a cabby or a tintop? I'm still a beginner at these things but the cabriolets have a separate lift pump in the fuel tank. I had a dead lift pump when I bought mine and it would run fine most of the time but cut out occasionally.

boyle_sbd said

kool man, thanks for the help, prob will rig up a stand alone tank an pump i got at work and runn it off that first to test before shelling out ona new pump, does snd like a gd bet tho. safe

I would hazard a guess that its the ribbon cable in the dizzy, mine had same symptoms and it turned out that the cable to the hall sender was just parting under vacuum which was causing instant cut out of the engine, would restart fine most the time, if you are able to swap the dizzy then try it  as there is no easy way to find the fault without dismantling the dizzy and flexing the wire with a meter on it. Hope that helps!

hi guys, ive kinda fixed my problem, after doin alot more wiring checks i found the coil negative wire abit burnt out, i then started removing connectors form the fuse box to find alot of corrosion in each plug, i removed the fuse box completely and took a look inside to find the whole thing full of blue and whit dust. severe corrosion and burnt out pin = no start hahah.

got a second hand fuse box from crazy quiffs the otherday, opend it up and there was no corrosion but gave it a good clean anyway an replaced the burnt out connectors in the multiplugs and fitted the new fuse box. after i gave my battery a good charge the car turned over nicely but still no start. fuel pump was not priming which was a bit gash so i bypassed it with a fused jumper wire and it evntually started . i let it run unitll hot and tehn turned it off. after leavin it for 5 mins it started again which was good. i then started playing with every thing to find the indicators made the  indicator relay go mental and not make the indicators work and when ii press the horn the indicator relay goes mental and the engines revs drop.DOH!
looks like ive got more electrical issues. im gessin in the steering wheel area hahah.more cheks tomoro i gess. im hoping that the fuel pump relay is shot thats why it wont work unless bypassed!