DUBPOUND

barnabysmyth · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:01 pm Post subject: My car is ill.

I'm looking for some suggestions...

I've had a few problems with the Mk1. It's been running roughly since I got it. It started to misfire and eventually broke down, this was cured with a new condenser. The cars been on and off, some times feeling pretty quick and the rest of the time feeling sluggish. The other day it felt particularly ill and would cut out when I put my foot on the clutch. Broke down on the way back from Coleford, just wouldn't start, waited a little bit and we managed to get it going and got back home. I originally thought it was a fuel problem but we've ruled that out. It's something to do with the electrics. We tried a different coil and it did much the same. drove, cut out and died. It's weird because we tested the current coming from it and it would spark then it wouldn't at all. Our assumption is that the wiring is knackard and something is shorting out somewhere. Also the fuel cut-off valve seems to keep coming on and off which seems like there is definitely something wrong with the electrics...

Any thoughts from anyone?

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adz · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:54 am Post subject:

i rekon u should give up, il take the car off your hands Laughing

does sound electrical, has it got the weber back on it or still shitty pierburg, they are known for their 'reliability issues'

but if the sparking is a bit dodgy thats strange, especially if its changing while the cars stood up cos thers no movement that would cause a bad earth to become good by it being knocked or something.

humm, ive not been much help but i am intrigued!
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barnabysmyth · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:53 am Post subject:

yeah it's a pierburg on there but that seems to be running alright now. This problem is defiantly electrical. Weird thing is we took the bottom of the dash off and wiggled all the wires around the fuse box and the ignition and its working better than ever now, the engine is turning over really smoothly.We have also swapped the Bosch ignition coil for one off a mini 1275gt. My thoughts were that it was shorting somewhere or that it wasn't earthing properly... Really confusing stuff. I'm a bit loathed to drive it though just incase it suddenly dies on the golden valley bypass or somewhere equally evil.

There isn't anything like temperature switch off sensor that shuts the electronics down when it senses the car is critically overheating. I know you get gizmos like that on more modern cars, guess this is a bit old though.
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EGG · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:51 am Post subject:

My old Mk2 Golf use to cut out like that (on the Golden Valley too Evil or Very Mad

), car was not cold, but would just die as soon as the foot went on the clutch. Never solved it, just got rid.

Callum · Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 1:26 pm Post subject:

The original carbs are pants, I would suggest looking for a Weber replacement, a new rubber flange between the inlet manifold and the carb, and it's probably worth looking for a cheap electrical igntion kit, as the points on the carb will need adjusting fairly regular!!

These old cars like to keep you guessing, so enjoy the characteristics of the beast! Very Happy

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goreygoreymanunited · Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 6:38 pm Post subject:

this may be silly but have you noticed the tempreture guage? on the old engine the same symotoms were happening a lot and it was over heating as the thermostat was not reading properly. could be a matter of just changing the thermo, but dont keep driving it in the meantime if it is the thermo. because it could be head gasket time if so.

barnabysmyth · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:51 am Post subject:

Cars running ok now, i've replaced some of the wiring to the coil. Tightened everything up and cleaned all the connectors off. It's stopped hesitating now. I've opened the carb up and its clean as a whistle down when the throttle body is, it only seems to be dirty up where the choke part is. Hopefully it should be a while before it breaks down again :p

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