1.3 Small block engine cutting out

Hi All,

I am having an intermittent problems with my golf and hoping someone could shed some light on where to look first.

The car is a 1.3 mk1 golf driver, pieburg carb with auto choke.

I am having an issue which doesn't always show its head, but when it does it causes me grief!

Basically the car idles fine when the problem doesn't occur, but if the problem is there then the revs will drop to low and the car will cut out. if i can get the car moving then it will be 'ok', so i can do that by revving rather excessively.

When the car is moving it can usually be fine, however at time i do notice that when i put my foot on the accelerator pedal it can sometimes seem sluggish and not quite getting full power. At its worst the revs can actually drop and the car will splutter and shudder.

When i bring the car to a stop the revs can often drop and the car will cut out, again can be countered by revving more.

Often when i pull away from a stop i have to over rev aswell, otherwise the revs just drop and the car cuts out.

Like i say this doesnt always happen, and i do seem to notice it more when i am low on fuel (but i dont want that to be a red herring, as it does seem to do it whenever it wants!)

Any Help would be great, i happy to get under the bonnet and tinker, but i dont have the knowledge to really know where to start with stuff like this!

Thanks all

1st check the rubber flange between carb and inlet if it has one, top issue on a 1.6 but not sure if 1.3 is the same. make surwe the warm air feed pipe from the shroud on exhaust manifold to airbox is there, check vacuum hoses from carb to airbox are good, and make sure the flap in the airbox actually opens when car is running

rubjonny said

1st check the rubber flange between carb and inlet if it has one, top issue on a 1.6 but not sure if 1.3 is the same. make surwe the warm air feed pipe from the shroud on exhaust manifold to airbox is there, check vacuum hoses from carb to airbox are good, and make sure the flap in the airbox actually opens when car is running

Firstly thanks for the reply, good to see you are still active on this forum, always such a great help.

I will check the bits you mentioned. When checking the rubber flange, i assume i need to remove the carb?

Warm air pipe is there and intact.

Vacuum hoses could be an issue so il double check those, as too the flap on the air box.

Will report back when i can.

yeah for a decent look, on mine I just undid the bolts and moved it carefully to the side didnt need to disconnect anything.  just dont tip the carb on its side else all the fuel in the bowls pours out if the flange is really bad the idle will go to pot if you give the carb a good wobble while the car is running

A different but common fault gave me similar symtons when I first had my 1.3-and that was on a Weber.

I did everything as rubjonny suggests but it just got worse .

In the end it was the classic fuel starvation caused by a very nearly blocked pick-up pipe in the fuel tank. Its easy to test for this:
remove the fuel filler cap
hopefully you will already have an 'inline 'plastic fuel filter between the tank line and carb near carb
undo jubilee clip on fuel tank side of the filter, then carefully! and with caution blow down (blow down only!!) the pipe-or use method in last line…
it should be easy and you should get little or no resistance , and, hear air bubbles in the tank.If that is so its not what I suggest! reconnect all.
If its hard to blow or very hard you would need to clean out inlet pipe in tank-but before that gently increase the blowing pressure and it may push the dirt/rust back suddenly into the tank ((mine did) then its easy to blow and hear bubbles in the tank.
You then would still have to get into tank with a magnet and clean out rusty bits .
reassemble all and it might just cure your problem.
Note if you dont want to blow down …try a bicycle pump instead. Iots safer for you.
Marcus.

I would agree with both of the above suggestions. Carb flanges and inlet manifold gaskets are a fairly common source of uneven idle and general poor running. 
Crud and rust in the tank is also another real possibility if you have an old rusty tank. I had no end of trouble with rust in mine after I let the car sit for a couple of years but managed to fish out most of the crud without removing it I then added a fuel filter with a magnet in it in the engine bay and dropped a large magnet with some stainless wire attached to aid removal  into the tank to hopefully catch any remaining rust and its been fine for the last year or so. 
Pierburgs can be finicky and we're always a bit of a problem. Mine is in a box somewhere as I gave up and fitted a Weber but I believe all the common service items are available to give them a good clean out and refresh as it may just be it has some crud in the idle circuit or the auto choke is playing up. 
Also don't rule out an ignition fault, worn points or aging ht system! A lot of idle/ poor running problems are as simple as a failing condenser, worn points or failing aftermarket electronic ignition modules. 

Yup, sounds ike the idle jet on the carb may be blocked with rubbish.

Had this problem with a Derby years ago. Check for rust in the tank and replace and clean out the fuel filters.

Ian

surely the the pipe from the ex. manifold
would not contribute to this problem
easy way tho test induction problems
would be a quick squirt of brake cleaner
around the area in question would give
you a clue ?

never heard of carb icing then? you've not lived till you've experienced it for yourself

rubjonny  I had this issue with a mk2 polo. Drove me up the flaming wall!  

Multiple call outs to the RAC, but was mysteriously 'fixed' by the time they arrived.

Went to a VW specialist in Burton and they looked in the bonnet, cam back with a bit of pipe and some cable ties and sent me on my on my way. No charge and he only said about three words. "aha" when he opened the bonnet and "there you go son, no charge, see ya"  

Ian

yeah mine used to conk out at the same set of traffic lights every morning if the pipe fell off, then there was the fun time it cut out on a motorway sliproad. last time it just sloooowwwwwllyy lost power in the fast lane of a motorway which was fun.

amazing how fast the ice can build up as well. was working on my wifes SPI polo when idling airbox off you can watch it grow on the throttle plate!