1.1 stalling/losing power whilst driving

Hey guys,

so I've got an extremely annoying problem with my old 1100 series 1 engine.

On my way to my MOT my golf began stalling and losing power about 2 minutes after running, car just lost power (not instantly) but slowly, losing revs and eventually cutting out. Waited around 30 seconds, and started again and ran fairly smoothly. 2 minutes later, same problem.

Car funnily enough passed MOT fine once I got there, mechanic said the points need resetting and it needs timing properly. Did these things pretty much the same day, car still loses power after 2 minutes, but didn't cut out fully this time, the car seemed to recover.

The weird thing is, the car has never stalled whilst its been still, it idles absolutely fine, and revs very nicely up to temp. The problem ONLY occurs when the car is on the go?? Initially I thought it was a fuelling problem, so I blasted some air through the fuel lines, also had a quick look inside the tank and it looks okay. Replaces the fuel filter also.

Car has a new weber carb (original airbox still), new coil, fairly new ignition leads (don't seem to fit that nicely), fairly new spark plugs, new dizzy cap and rotor arm, new points after mechanic recommended it. I also did the timing and adjusted the dizzy.

The problem persists, and is massively stressing me out! Just want to get to run my golf without it stalling every other minute. Car is on 3/4 full tank now and still loses power.

Any suggestions AT ALL would be massively appreciated as I am losing the will!

Thanks chillibong


 

Kinda sounds like the problem I had with my 1.1

Turned out to be the points that were worn down/burned in + also make sure to change the condensor with it

Here's a little clip of when I had this problem
- YouTube

Done both of those things, and it seemed to make it run a little better but still stalling.

Will double check them both again tomorrow to be on the safe side.

I agree with D_Martijn . Replace the condensor anyway as they are cheap, even if the MOT man fitted a new one it doesn't mean it's not faulty! Also, if he re-gapped the points instead of fitting new he may have set them wrong, as points wear they burn a hole in one contact but it builds up on the other so when you put your 16 thou feeler gauge in the gap will be wider because of this build up on the contact.
Keep us posted, it sounds like a simple fix! Good luck.

Gee remembrances of setting the points on my MG, and AHS weekly, as well as adjusting the valves about once a month.  I suspect that is why I didn't have very many issues…..

Right I'll have a look at the dizzy tomorrow, I have a donor dizzy I might put new points and condenser on it and see if the problem persist.

Thanks for the suggestion guys.

Could be fuel starvation, is your inline fuel filter clean?

I initially thought it was fuel starvation, had a new filter when I put the Weber on it, checked the fuel filter and it seems fine no gunk, just a few tiny bits of grit.

Hi Chillibong,
I had almost exactly the same problem on my 1.3 Driver, and, like you, I thought it was electrical/coil/condensor/points/dizzy/ Etc and I changed and checked all-and it made no difference! So, you need to go back to fuel issues in my opinion as after I did that I cured it completely.
I believe your engine (like mine) is loosing power and cutting out when it needs sufficient fuel to work. Like you I had an under bonnet filter which was clean though it did not appear to carry much fuel ion it. I assumed this was normal initially. I changed the mechanical pump on the head for a decent VW one (after market are not so good!) and that changed nothing.
I disconnected the fuel  line before the under bonnet filter near the carb and opened the tank filler cap, then carefully blew with my mouth back into the tank. There was a big resistance… then suddenly it was easy to blow back! and I could hear bubbles for the first time as I blew into the tank. This told me a lot of rubish had been dislodged by blowing against the flow, so into the tank I went. Unlike you, I had little bits of rusty metal floating about and these I removed with a magnet on a nylon rope.
When I looked up the rubber tube that takes the petrol to the carb end, there was a large lump of rusty dirt 3/4 blocking it, so despite blowing most of the blockage back earlier, this had remained in place and logically was starving the engine of fuel just when it needed it most! It had remained in place. I fished this out. Re-assembled everything, and when started, the first thing I noted was there was this time quite a lot of petrol in the fuel filter under the bonnet where before it had been difficult to see much.
Problem solved.
So despite you using your air line (best not to as could blow pipes off) I would recheck the fuel inlet pipe in tank and make sure after that your breath alone is sufficient to make bubbles in the fuel tank. Also make sure the lines from tank to fuel pump are not cracked/perished as alternatively you could be short of fuel 'cos the pump isnt sucking  fuel strongly as it should.
Hope all this helps, let me know.
Marcus.

 

Daytona said

Hi Chillibong,
I had almost exactly the same problem on my 1.3 Driver, and, like you, I thought it was electrical/coil/condensor/points/dizzy/ Etc and I changed and checked all-and it made no difference! So, you need to go back to fuel issues in my opinion as after I did that I cured it completely.
I believe your engine (like mine) is loosing power and cutting out when it needs sufficient fuel to work. Like you I had an under bonnet filter which was clean though it did not appear to carry much fuel ion it. I assumed this was normal initially. I changed the mechanical pump on the head for a decent VW one (after market are not so good!) and that changed nothing.
I disconnected the fuel  line before the under bonnet filter near the carb and opened the tank filler cap, then carefully blew with my mouth back into the tank. There was a big resistance… then suddenly it was easy to blow back! and I could hear bubbles for the first time as I blew into the tank. This told me a lot of rubish had been dislodged by blowing against the flow, so into the tank I went. Unlike you, I had little bits of rusty metal floating about and these I removed with a magnet on a nylon rope.
When I looked up the rubber tube that takes the petrol to the carb end, there was a large lump of rusty dirt 3/4 blocking it, so despite blowing most of the blockage back earlier, this had remained in place and logically was starving the engine of fuel just when it needed it most! It had remained in place. I fished this out. Re-assembled everything, and when started, the first thing I noted was there was this time quite a lot of petrol in the fuel filter under the bonnet where before it had been difficult to see much.
Problem solved.
So despite you using your air line (best not to as could blow pipes off) I would recheck the fuel inlet pipe in tank and make sure after that your breath alone is sufficient to make bubbles in the fuel tank. Also make sure the lines from tank to fuel pump are not cracked/perished as alternatively you could be short of fuel 'cos the pump isnt sucking  fuel strongly as it should.
Hope all this helps, let me know.
Marcus.

 

Thanks Marcus for the response, I ordered some new points and what not anyway, but I think you could be right! I'm going to go back to the fuelling side of things and check.

I seem to remember blowing down my fuel lines a while ago and had the exact same thing, there was a resistance and then I could blow through but I assumed it was now clear.

I'll go back and check the tank, use a magnet, and check all the pipes (plastic and metal) and attempt to clear them out!

Thanks again!

There is a sock filter over the pick up pipe in your tank, that could be clogged with rust. On idle your engine gets enough fuel , but under power it needs more fuel and cant get enough due to blockage. if your fuel pump is the sort that comes apart there is also a filter in there.

your pump could also be going bad and not able to pump larger amounts of fuel on demand.

Id go with fuel issues too.


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I had a similar problem a few weeks ago, adjusted points gap and new condenser sorted it for me (eventually!) they did have to do it 2 times though as the new condenser part was naff the first time.

does it die, refuse to start for a bit, then is fine if you leave it for a bit? if so, it could be carb icing. will be worse if its damp, rather than cold out.

pull the airbox off, but keep all the wee vacuum pipes connected (might be easier said than done) look at your warm air feed flap, make sure it opens when the engien is started. fi it doesnt move make sure its not siezed and all the pipes are good. check the warm air feed pipe is there, if its rotted off or shroud is missing the warm air system wont work properly