Help bringing a GTi back!

I just picked up an 83 GTi yesterday! The guy sold it to me for a steal because he didn't know what happened to it, he said if just doesn't give much power. So I got it towed back to my house and decided to give it a go, fired right up with no issue but when I give it gas it won't go above 3000 rpms and if I try to drive it just loses power and can't go above 20 mph and drops. I have changed the fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel lines, air filter and spark plugs, timing belt was changed a year ago. My last thought would be that it's the carburetors? What else could it be? I'm planning on completely restoring this

I'd forget the Carburettors being the fault. It's Fuel Injected.   Did it start acting like this after the Timing belt was changed ? Check the Timing.

Drop the exhaust at the manifold and see if the rpm can increase, as this sounds as if the muffler is collapsed internally.  

Sure it will be loud for the test but it is one that had me stumped for a few days on a toyota that I owned once.

Welcome! That is a lovely looking GTI you've got.
Being stateside, I would HIGHLY recommend getting a Bentley service manual for your Mk1.

As for your described troubles… paging Dr. Briano1234   

Thank you guys! I smoke tested it today and nothing so i'm going to drop the exhaust here in a second and i'll let you know

Briano1234 said

Drop the exhaust at the manifold and see if the rpm can increase, as this sounds as if the muffler is collapsed internally.  

Sure it will be loud for the test but it is one that had me stumped for a few days on a toyota that I owned once.

Fausto said

Welcome! That is a lovely looking GTI you've got.
Being stateside, I would HIGHLY recommend getting a Bentley service manual for your Mk1.

As for your described troubles… paging Dr. Briano1234   

Sadly no luck, we took the exhaust off today but it didn't help. So another guess I had was the fuel pump again maybe? I order a Bosh one that will come in tomorrow that I'll install after work because maybe the off brand one just isn't doing it? Not really sure. Also ordered a Bentley manual!

I would verify that you are statically in time, by aligning all the timing marks.

I would look at the air plate and see that it is cree to move and not sticking, a car that sits can lacquer up and a restrictive air plate can cause fuel flow issues to the injectors.

Vacuum leaks can cause issues as well, the injectors may need to be cleaned, and the seals replaced to verify that you can spray a cone of fuel.

Duty Cycle is also an issue with the CIS system.

Don't willy-nilly swap out parts, as the fuel pump is at 75 PSI to the fuel Distributor.

below is a good link to mk1 information that you need to look at.  The first is based on the Cabriolet, but the engine/suspension/tranny information is the same as the Westy.

The Second link has a wealth of links.

www.cabby-info.com

Tech Groups

From personal experience and the exact same symptoms I would say it's a vacuum issue, either a stray pipe somewhere or (bearing in mind the age of these cars) a split or perished hose or line somewhere 

Briano1234 said

I would verify that you are statically in time, by aligning all the timing marks.

I would look at the air plate and see that it is cree to move and not sticking, a car that sits can lacquer up and a restrictive air plate can cause fuel flow issues to the injectors.

Vacuum leaks can cause issues as well, the injectors may need to be cleaned, and the seals replaced to verify that you can spray a cone of fuel.

Duty Cycle is also an issue with the CIS system.

Don't willy-nilly swap out parts, as the fuel pump is at 75 PSI to the fuel Distributor.

below is a good link to mk1 information that you need to look at.  The first is based on the Cabriolet, but the engine/suspension/tranny information is the same as the Westy.

The Second link has a wealth of links.

www.cabby-info.com

Tech Groups

When I get home tonight after work I will make sure all the timing marks are in line and I will also clean the injectors and replace the O-ring surrounding them. I had my buddy use his smoke machine to test it and could't find any holes or cracks. Thank you so much for both of those links as well! I

WATERNAIR said

From personal experience and the exact same symptoms I would say it's a vacuum issue, either a stray pipe somewhere or (bearing in mind the age of these cars) a split or perished hose or line somewhere 

I had a good buddy of mine use his smoke machine to look for any leaks and we couldn't find any. I still plan on replacing a lot of the hoses anyways just because of age as well.

So I noticed the fuel dopple nipple was leaking a little so after waiting on a new one and installing it today and seeing if that was the cause no luck I recorded a short video to show you. It's also not idling as nice now.
- YouTube

These two parts looks strange. There can be seriuos vacuum leaks.
1.Yellow "T" piece doesn't looks like proberly sealed. And seems that he is not needed there. (or missing some components, which he connects). Also check connection to brake booster.
2. Pipes from valve cover. One which goes to intake manifold taking uncounted air. Try to disconect it and blind. See what going on.
Smoke test cant show some parts for leaks, it depends where you hooked smoke tester. 
Also you should chek ilding screw o ring.


 

First step should be to take good look at vacuum system, and correct routing. You can change many parts, but with vacuum leaks you wouldnt be able to find main.  

Why do so many folks remove the upper air card over the radiator, it allows the thing to re-cycle engine air over the Radiator at idle increasing the airflow…..

Templates can be found at www.cabby-info.com
Looks like from the picture you are missing the idle stabilization valve, and the vacuum line to it (should be on the Strut tower to the left as you look at it.)
Once of the nipples seems to be missing a cover.

Vacuum leaks are the bane of these critters and a little one no matter how small can cause havoc, bad idle, poor fuel economy, and generally making you pull the hair out of your head.

im not sure but if there is no A/C, ilde stabilization valve was not originaly intsalled.. 

Over here there was an idle Stabilization valve, and for a/c equipped cars an Idle boost valve with a/c on, one was white, and the other black.. so folks got used to calling them the Salt and Pepper shakers