VW Mk1 Golf Cabrio (Rabbit) stalling shortly after start

Hi,My brother in the States has been restoring an 82 VW Golf Mk1 Cabrio Rabbit (with VERY helpful advice from this forum!), and is now addressing the last problem he has before the car is ready to go.He's just changed the head gasket and reinstalled the engine, and all sounds as it should--except that it begins to stall after a minute or two of driving.  He presses the accelerator and that helps a bit, but then the engine ends up dying out.  If we wait a few minutes, the car will again start (albeit with difficulty) and then repeat this.He checked the carburetor with a wooden test stick and found very little petrol there, though clearly it had enough to start and run for a short time.  He has added a fuel regulator before the carburetor (see attached photo) in case that was the issue, and has tried opening as well as closing the regulator--to no avail.The car has a manual fuel pump (not EFI), and he has changed the pump but this didn't help.  He's also tested the pump after taking it off the car, and it's clearly taking in, and pushing out, air.I have an MP3 file for the sound of the engine running and stalling but can't seem to attach it here.  Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide!Tony

Are you running a swirl pot ? With a return line ? I fitted a new twin choke weber and removed the swirl pot and mine has been great ,but before removing the swirl pot mine was the same ? Only a suggestion,,,might be something different ?

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Deano777 said

Are you running a swirl pot ? With a return line ? I fitted a new twin choke weber and removed the swirl pot and mine has been great ,but before removing the swirl pot mine was the same ? Only a suggestion,,,might be something different ?

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My brother advises that it is "burn only".  there is no return.

No worries mate

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whats wit hteh fuel regulator at the front of the carb? the stock fuel pump shouldnt need one it supplies the right pressure out the box

rubjonny said

whats wit hteh fuel regulator at the front of the carb? the stock fuel pump shouldnt need one it supplies the right pressure out the box

My brother installed the fuel regulator because he was having problems with the stalling before and thought it might help.  He has tried adjusting the regulator so fuel flows freely but it didn't help.

ok move to the fuel tank side, make sure the level sender hasn't lost the pipes off the bottom of it and they arent collapsing, blocked with crud etc

check the fuel filter is installed the right way round and is clear.

the fuel lines look quite long and awkwardly routed, but maybe thats just the picture angle

rubjonny said

ok move to the fuel tank side, make sure the level sender hasn't lost the pipes off the bottom of it and they arent collapsing, blocked with crud etc

check the fuel filter is installed the right way round and is clear.

the fuel lines look quite long and awkwardly routed, but maybe thats just the picture angle

That is hugely helpful, thank you!  Do you have any tips for checking  the

That is hugely helpful, thank you!  He asked if you have any tips for checking  the sender  mechanism?  Do you take out the back seat and lift it out?

yep its under the back seat, then you rotate the sender to lift it up.

if its got a GTI/diesel tank the outlets are on the tank itself, theres a mesh filter inside a swirl pot in the tank. I'm not sure if the carb pump would be so happy to suck fuel out of the GTI pot but I guess it should be ok? once its cleared out you could put an electric supply pump such as a facet where the GTI pump used to be

rubjonny said

yep its under the back seat, then you rotate the sender to lift it up.

if its got a GTI/diesel tank the outlets are on the tank itself, theres a mesh filter inside a swirl pot in the tank. I'm not sure if the carb pump would be so happy to suck fuel out of the GTI pot but I guess it should be ok? once its cleared out you could put an electric supply pump such as a facet where the GTI pump used to be

Thank you John!

My brother asks if the electric supply pump you're suggesting would be in addition to the manual fuel pump?  

Or, are you suggesting putting in an electric supply pump where the gti pump was–and taking out the manual pump?

If you decide to put an electric pump on there you wouldnt need the mechanical one any more, get a blank off a GTI lump and bolt it on. the fuel regulator you bought would then be handy to keep the pressure where it needs to be

GTI type tank is covered here, along with general fuel tank cleaning tips. If the filler neck rusted out at any point then the tank will probably be full of debris
https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=how-to_2%2Ffuel-tank-cleaning_3&kfs103=30

rubjonny said

If you decide to put an electric pump on there you wouldnt need the mechanical one any more, get a blank off a GTI lump and bolt it on. the fuel regulator you bought would then be handy to keep the pressure where it needs to be

GTI type tank is covered here, along with general fuel tank cleaning tips. If the filler neck rusted out at any point then the tank will probably be full of debris
https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=how-to_2%2Ffuel-tank-cleaning_3&kfs103=30

This is HUGELY helpful.  Thank you!  My brother will aim to work on this over the weekend, I believe, and I'll let you know how it goes!

My brother has done further work and we discovered that the problem lay in the fuel tank itself–it was filled with rust, and the strainer assembly in the fuel tank is itself filled with rust.   

This meant that the car wasn't getting enough petrol to run, causing the engine sputtering.  

My brother has gotten a new fuel tank (the one on the car now is too badly rusted to use), but needs to get the strainer assembly (the orange part in the photo below) out of the old tank so he can put it into the new one.  However, this is square and he's trying to get it through a round hole.

How does he get this out?  

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

that is the GTI swirl pot assembly and unfortunately it doesnt come out the tank!

the good news is though you dont need it for a carbed car as they have the internal bowl as a reserve and if thats not enough you can add an external swirl pot. the factory carbed cars have one bolted to the front of the head after the fuel pump with a return back to the fuel tank

Hugely helpful!!

Could you advise where one might get an external swirl pot?  (Is the technical term "swirl pot", or is this a common name given to it?)

Thank you!

they're widely available in different types aftermarket, think Americans call them 'surge tanks'? VW would call it a 'vapour eliminator' part number is 026127177B

some good pics of it here:
????????? ???????????)) ? Volkswagen Golf Mk2, 1,6 ?., 1985 ???? | ?????? ?????? | DRIVE2

I've hot a brand new swirl pot if your interested mate .il put on a picture later

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Thanks for letting me know, Deano777!  My brother is in the United States and *might* be able to find one there–but please do post and I'll ask him!

No worries mate

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