Mk1 Golf 1.3 1980 Fuel Issue HELP PLEASE!!

Hi all,

I don't write alot of posts but i literally am crying out for some help and advice. The lowdown is i seem to be starving of fuel for some strange reason, the car was running perfectly until the car ran out of fuel, this was not intentional but the fuel gauge sender had been messed with and was reading incorrectly. Filled the car up, fine started up ran no problems then this week it struggles to start to the point where it wont start now.

I have cleaned the tank, cleaned the lines new in line filter new pump cleaned the carb, injectors da da da… and still it seems to be starving? The in line filter always used to be full of fuel however now it literally is like a drop in there.

Anyone with any tips advice anything please let me know as i am at a point of despair! She ran beautifully up until now…

Try pouring some fuel (about 1/2 cup) directly into the carb then try & start it. If it starts keep it going at some fairly high revs and see if it clears, sometimes there is still crud in the lines. Another area to look is actually inside the tank, remove the rear seat, the fuel guage sender and 'fish' around inside the tank with a magnet on the end of a piece of wire for metal, you'll be surprised by how much comes out. Good luck

Cero said

Try pouring some fuel (about 1/2 cup) directly into the carb then try & start it. If it starts keep it going at some fairly high revs and see if it clears, sometimes there is still crud in the lines. Another area to look is actually inside the tank, remove the rear seat, the fuel guage sender and 'fish' around inside the tank with a magnet on the end of a piece of wire for metal, you'll be surprised by how much comes out. Good luck

i have done exactly what you said with the tank. ive had the sender off several times and fished around with a magnet and got as much as i can get out.. however ive since had a mess around this morning and there is definitely fuel getting into the carb as ive had the inlet hose off and by cranking the engine fuel is firing out however the in line filter is still not filling up? which makes me wonder does it actually fill up in the first place? was it that i just had a blockage before which was causing it to fill up?

All of these issues makes me wonder whether i have an ignition fault however i had problems with this first so i replaced the coil, leads, points, condenser, plugs etc and it cured it. i adjusted the points just now just to rule that out however still no good. The engine is firing and trying to run but as soon as i let go of the key it just doesn't want to know.

Im literally bummed as to what is causing this!?

Sounds like a faulty ignition switch - the fuel filter should be around half full unless the engine is running - you could always take it off and see if it cures it, but I think it's the ignition switch

Cero said

Sounds like a faulty ignition switch - the fuel filter should be around half full unless the engine is running - you could always take it off and see if it cures it, but I think it's the ignition switch

Where do i find this ignition switch? ive ruled it out that it is not a fuel problem, i have been told that the ballast wire may have an open circuit as it starts on the starter but fails to run once the key is released. However the wire shows continuity so im puzzled as to think maybe this is not the issue. maybe this ignition switch is the problem. if you could let me know where this is please?! Thankyou for the help so far!

its on the back of the ignition lock, you can check the ignition feed by pulling the switch then bridging the red wire to the black. then get a thick bit of wire and bridge the red to the red/black, that will trigger the starter motor. obviously pull the wire when (if!) it fires up

And the problem is cured, turns out the fuse box was faulty. luckily i had a series one box given to me years ago, plugged her in. fired straight up! what a relief!  

Thankyou for all the suggestions.. got there in the end!