Golf MK1 1.5 JB 1983 won't idle

Hi everyone.

Just bought one of my dream veteran cars and it needs a lot of love. 




I really wanted a GTI, but here in Norway they are really hard to come by. So my MK1 1983 1.5 will do just fine.

When I bought it the car was idling very rough then stalling, and after a compression test I found that cylinder 3 and 4 had some sort of damage or head gasket leak.

I have now changed the head gasket and the old one had a broken seal between cylinder 3 and 4, so now that problem is gone.

The problem now is that when I cold start the car it won’t idle at all. It starts up and falls down to 300-400rpm’s and just dies.

I've changed a lot of vacuum lines and still not anything better. The previous owner didn't know anything about cars, so I'm trying to figure out if he’s done some fiddling around with the car.

Things that I have done without the idling getting better:


All new Bosch spark plugs
New head gasket
New Bosch spark plugs wires
New  Bosch rotor arm and distributor cap
New airfilter
Taken out some of the old fuel and put in new fuel
Change the old broken gasket on the fuel pump

Anyone have any idea where I should start? I’ll upload a YouTube video soon if that helps you help me hehe.

Thanks all

Welcome along  

Sorry can't help.

Car looks very nice though  

Ian

Check and replace any vacuum lines.
Check the tank for rust blockage.

Start with the obvious - does the accelerator pedal open the throttle? And adjust that.

It could also be a blocked exhaust. If you can start the car then you'll hear it (they normally stop the car revving up or giving lots of power, but won't stop it running/starting unless really bad).

And….check that it has spark to all 4 cylinders. Check static ignition timing too.

And….mixture or fuel delivery.

borednow Thanks  

Briano1234 I think I have checked all the vacum lines, but I'll double check it one more time, thanks

paul_c hmm, I'll try that too. Thanks!

I presume you have a Pierburg carb?

If so, You should check all the auto choke on the carb. There's a thermo 'wax stat' which sticks and can be reset, there's a pull down unit which can fail, and also make sure that the seal is good between carb and manifold as they can fail as well.

YouTube have some videos to show you how, plus there is a good guide here on the forum by rubjohnny which is very helpful…

Good luck