1993 Clipper - stalled after first start of the year

First time in the 30 years I have had the car that there is an issue. Taxed the car from the first of May, so was ready to take it out last night. As it has done over the last 30 years I have had it, it started first time but it was running rough and I had to keep the accelerator pushed at 2k rpm to avoid it stalling. Was not running smooth though but at the end of the 5 minutes running it was smoother than right at the beginning.

I then slowly released the accelerator and the car stalled. After that, it would not restart anymore (just starter motor running).

The car has just had annual services, cam belts every 5 years at the VW dealer for the last 30 years and the mileage is at 39k. Things like spark plugs have not been replaced for a number of years now, and HT leads never. The fuel is E5 Super unleaded only.

How can I best tackle this, my thinking is to replace the spark plugs and HT leaks first but are there other things (fuel filter?) that I should do as a first step to see what is going on? Does the rough running on first start of the season point to any area?




 

As an update - had left the car overnight, just started it and it started first time again but the same rough running (seems slightly less then yesterday but still would not want to take it out).

Engine type and Fuel, 1.8 2h, and Digifant or Carbed?

Fuel is E5 super unleaded, engine type - not carbed, where can I find the number (Manufactured May 1993)?

I thought it was a K-Jetronic system though?

I would of thought that the 93 would be digifant not CIS, but folks on that side of the pond did so really different engine / fueling systems that we got over here in the Stated.

a stock looking 93 digifant looks like:


89 cis.


Why, because I have a lot of DIgi and weird running and stalling experience as I  owned 2 of these as daily drivers.

This is my engine, so I think you are right about the Digi

The Above red is CIS.

The Blue is a 93 Digi.

Take a pic of your engine bay so we can all get on the same page with issues and resolutions.  It helps us help you quicker and easier.
 

Hopefully my picture is visible above your last post?

I am not great on CIS, but.
Vacuum leaks are a Bane, have you tested for them.
Residual pressure in the fuel system is another.
Is there a loud whine from the right side rear wheel arch when this happens?  
A sign that there is a Fuel issue as in a in-tank Pump that the connection hose is loose holed, or that the pump has failed and is an impediment to the primary pump.  

A primary pump overtly restricted, so then there is the
WUR, the Accumulator issue that is on the Tank.

Restrictive or stuck air Plate.  
Idle by-pass screw on the back of the throttle body if it can be turned easily by hand is a sign of a bad o-ring, so you are leaking un-metered air (vacuum leak) Throttle body short expansion side is know to crack in the pleats so you may want to have it inspected for leaks with a strong flashlight to look for shine through the outside by wiggling it, same for the longer one.

You need a upper radiator card on that thing it will make your radiator more efficient.

As I said don't have too much CIS hands on, was strictly a 90's Digifant as well as a 80's diesel headed Rabbit/Golf or Cabby driver for the last oh 2024-1980= 44 years. 4, and 5spd as well as 010 autos.  All of mine had A/C.

Now I did own a 89 CIS cabby, never ran it, stripped it for parts, and made about 1500 bucks off of a car I got for 250.

I will differ you to more knowledgeable CIS guys, and ask?  Have you checked out
www.cabby-info.com as well as
Tech Groups

Thank you, I only discovered the issue last night so have not done any tests yet as such.

I do not hear anything at the right rear wheel, I do hear a buzzing at the right front of the engine which I assume is the fuel injection system.

Need to get a good document on the engine as I don't know where the vacuum hoses are. The car has not needed anything yet in he 30 years so this is a first issue I am tackling.

Will need to find out where the parts are to check for leaks that you mentioned.

Thank you for your input

Latest it that I had it running for 30 minutes fine at idle. However, when pushing the accelerator from 1000 rpm to 1500, the engine almost stalls (and sometimes does) but I can restart it again every time now. Above 2000 rev all seems good. 

Checking all the pipes etc, what is that lose blue cable from? 

Coming from this sleeve 

That's a DX engine with Bosch K-jet tonic fuel injection.

Looking at your picture has the fuel filter ever been changed? The metal canister just behind the car battery.

Your other pictures I can't see a blue cable but the braided fuel line going into a bit of blue plastic is the 5th injector which only works for a few seconds when the engine is cold to help with cold starting.

A VW dealer service should of included new spark plugs, HT leads, Dissy cap and rotor arm at some stage as they are meant to be changed every few years.

There is 2 fuel pumps on your car, one just in front of the drivers side rear wheel which if you look underneath ou can see, you should be able to feel it and hear it working when the engine is running, the other fuel pump is a little lift pump inside the fuel tank which helps the fuel out of the tank, if this one fails the main pump underneath the car get noisy and the car won’t accelerate very well.

check to see if your main fuel pump is buzzing or feel it.

Check or replace your main grounds.  If they are unshielded as in Bare copper twisted wire they are still OEM and probably need to be replaced from battery to frame, and Frame to engine.  

Grounds are the 2nd most issue that I have ever seen with Dubs.  

The earth cables are plastic shielded and they look ok, but I need to find them all (I checked a few). 

With regards to the fuel filter, I want to change that but have difficulty locating one as the Mahle ones I saw have different size top and bottom nuts but they all day they fit (14 and 12). 

Do you know which filter actually fits?

I will take a better pic of the lose wire but I could not find anything in that area that was missing something. 

I circled the blue (or blue/white) cable in yellow here

Interesting that you say DX engine, when I type my license plate on Euro car parts it says JH. 

This is when searching for a fuel filter that actually looks right as the one I have looks very, very old indeed. I would have to go through the main dealer invoices to see when that was last changed. 

Euro car parts website is not very good at identifying the Mk1 Golf cabriolet, it thinks you have a Mk2 Golf when you put in that year.

Search Mk2 Scirocco as they have the same running gear as the cabriolet.

This is the correct filter for a DX engine Mk1 Cabriolet.

I've always used MANN filters on my car.

https://www.eurocarparts.com/fuel-filters

It shows some new crush washers but you will be lucky if there's one in there so get some new ones, you will need 2x 14mm and 2x 12mm copper washers.

If you can't find any information on the VW dealer changing the fuel filter I would try and find a good independent garage who understands the older VWs and the mechanical fuel injection system.

There may be an old school mechanic who works at your VW garage but if not most modern day mechanics only understand later cars which have an OBD port which they can plug their laptop into so it tells them what's wrong as they are unable to fault find or understand what can go wrong.

Not sure where you are in country as someone may be able to recommend a good garage who can care for your car properly or if you have some basic tools and a proper jack the simple things like service / oil change etc you can do yourself as most things are easily accessible and not covered in lots of plastic covers like modern cars…  

There's a picture of my fuel filter in this thread.
Sometimes I've had a black filter or sometimes silver, currently got a silver one fitted.

https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=technical%2Ffuel-systems-and_3%2Ffuel-filter-size-help