Why Wont My Car Start 30 Minutes After I Have Just Been For A Drive ????

Just wondering if anyone has got any ideas, I recently got a 1982 Golf GTI 1.6.
The car will start fine and you can go for a drive and everything will be spot on how ever if you turn the engine off and leave it for half an hour or so it will not start, it turns over and has a spark but will not start
I don't think its getting any fuel…
If I leave the car then go back to it the following morning it will fire up straight away which is the annoying thing, it only won't start after the engines been running then you leave it for half an hour or so
The fuel pump doesn't prime up every time you turn the ignition on and even when it does prime up it doesn't necessarily start
Has anyone got any ideas as im struggling to figure out what it is??
Thanks in advance

I had this problem for oooohhhh, about 3 years on and off!!!

Pushing the car was the norm at times - especially when we drove to Germany!

The issue was solved with a secondhand metering head from Funk-Star, £30 (classic vs on the left) and a second hand fuel pump.

Try those and you may be on the right track.

Dan

I had a similar problem to this last year,I changed the distributor and got it tuned up properly on a C02 machine and it seems to have sorted it. there seemed to be so many possible causes of this problem, bit of a nightmare.

Have you servied the car? Spark plugs, HT leads, rotor arm, dissy cap, air filter, fuel filter, etc…..Or when was they last changed?
Fuel filler neck OK?
 

this is a typcial hot start issue, it normally ends up to be something in the injection fuel system

try this

next time it doesnt do it tap the metering head with a hammer (very lightly) if it then starts it means is a stiking piston in the metering head

this is the fault that dano had but he didnt want to take it apart so just swap it out

Sorry to hi-jack the post but I have a similar problem has a fully charged battery ( new ) giving off 14 volts on the multimeter, but it's just got tick tick when I try to start it I have cleaned the connectors on alternator and the bushes look good, I did how ever see the rotor arm and it did have some rust on the metal contacts would this be a cause ? Sorry again for the hi-jacking 

To save money on buying a replacement metering head you can do the following next time you get the problem….

Find a helpful
friend - or random passerby!! Undo the metering head. Get you friend to crank the engine and at the same time pull up the 'bellow' it should start and you know that the metering head is to blame. 

Baz that's something else all together

Sounds like your starter motor 

Will be the motor brushes, solonoid or copperlight bushes are worn.

Is there any way if telling they are ok  JB, or is it best to take it out the car and connect it up to a battery and see if it jumps and spins ? 

the haynes has plenty of tests for them

easy to rebuild as well if not

Lol will have to get ahaynes   thanks again JB , 

you can test them in a vice with some jump leads on them but you gotta hold on to them, as they have a right kick

earth lead to the mounting points of the start

then the live on the spade of the solinoid, it should click in and out

if it doesnt then its bad, replace the whole thing

next you can put the live onto the bit of braided wire coming from the solinoid to the motor, the motor should spin, if not the motor is bad,

if the motor is bad it is more that likely you brushes on the comm that are worn earthing out, or the bushes that hold the centre of the coil in place could be worn or not there, this causes the coil and armiture to touch meaning it wont work

everything is avaible to buy from here Wood Auto Home Page

new brushes are about £15, new bushes are a few £ each, a soliniod is around £15 and bit of time and bobs your uncle

some say just buy a news one but where would the fun be in that

Lol thanks JB, I'm trying to get her sorted for a mot, but with this new issue with starting needs first attention, will get on to that soon tho see if it's all ok, if I get in to any bother il post up and hope the brains of the GTIs will help, thanks again JB appreciate it, sorry again for the hi-jacking of the post, it's all yours again    

hot start often down to the fuel system loosing pressure after engine is switched off. most common culprits are faulty non-return valve in the fuel pump, or a leaky fuel accumulator. the NR valve is cheap, accumulator not so much!

another hijack sorry but have had a similar issue on 1.8 clipper with weber carb; runs like a dream but every now and then it just cuts out. have done everything thats been suggested -clean out tank, filter check lines,, fit metered bypass return between pump n carb  new manifold etc etc. did a test earlier by letting car run in garage for over half an hour, fan kicking in n out, engine didnt miss a beat. stopped engine and saw fuel filter empty im assuming from the pressure created due to high  temperature of the fuel pump. restarted engine no problem but within a minute stopped as no fuel had been pumped through. removed line, sucked fuel through, reconnected and restarted no problem. any ideas on how to stop it…

next time pop the fuel cap off, see if tank is under vacuum. perhaps its the wrong cap.

There are two cap types, vented and non vented, GTIs must have a non vented one fitted with "ohne blau lüftung" stamped on the metal part.

carby one I assume will have "mit blau lüftung" or similar

thanks for the reply though i have just watched it happening again with the fuel cap off; again only when the cars hot. drive it 10mile this morning in a cooler temperature and no issue at all. thinking of fitting a non return(check) valve in the supply as not sure there is supposed to be one in the pump or its not holding with the engine heat transferrring to the pump body.