bcstudent

Thank God, I thought it was just me in here! :cheers: Doesn't the 9A use KE-Motronic engine management? When I took the ISV off last night to clean it I noticed that it was pretty filthy inside. I'm going to spend some time this morning trying to recreate the fault by pressing the microswitch, then seeing if clamping the ISV hoses sorts it out. Unfortunately my local VW breaker doesn't have any 9A throttle bodies and I'm not confident enough in my fault diagnosis to buy a new switch assembly and ISV just yet :scrambleup:

I'll just keep talking to myself then :)

Is that Escort a local car? I'm sure I recognise the tiny front number plate. Looks mint but at 25psi I doubt it'd last long as a daily driver. I always liked the shape of the Mk4 Escort RS but the interior is definitely in need of modernisation!

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the ISV. By messing around with the closed throttle switch and the ISV I can recreate the symptoms of the problem regardless of the temperature of the air/engine. I've cleaned the ISV and I'm going to try and find a replacement switch at the breakers tomorrow. The plot thickens...

Bump...because I really really wanna know what this switch does!

Of all the faults I can imagine spending money on, this would have to be the least likely :)

Wasn't that for sale not long ago? I seem to remember it being all stickered up as a rally car.

I think I'd be getting the engine tested for a head gasket failure too. Did the car get hot the first time it dumped its coolant?

I took the car out again earlier - same conditions...same fault. No fault codes were stored so I'm assuming the one I mentioned in the earlier post was unrelated to this fault. After messing around in the garage for a while I found that I could cause the same fault by pressing the closed throttle switch (indicated in pic) with the throttle open. This now appears to be a likely candidate, but I'd like to know more about the control philosophy of the closed and WOT switches if anyone knows how they work with respect to the 9A engine management. * EDIT * Ah yeah, with respect to the coil winding resistances, I checked the Autodata manual. For the 9A engine it listed the following... Primary: 0.5 - 0.9 ohms Secondary: 6.5k - 8.5k ohms So, apparently, the odd looking coil from Halfords was right and the one that was on the car was wrong. However, like I said, it ran the same with either. Very odd.

Really? That's interesting. The car had a new ignition module and distributor before it came to me but the garage didn't change the coil for some reason. I'm pretty sure the coil isn't at fault as the car does exactly the same thing with either coil and runs perfectly at all other times. I've been over and over this in my head and it makes no sense.

Well I'm out of ideas. It's just started raining so I hopped in the car for the ultimate test. Sure enough, when pulling out of the drive onto the main road, applying the throttle just caused the car to die and surge. What I don't understand is the whole engine bay is dry. The outside temperature is no different to the temperature earlier in the day when the car ran fine. The only factor that guarantees the problem to occur is the rain. What the hell is going on?!

Let go man....just let go.

If I'm being honest I have to say I really like those wheels.

I'm always amazed when I read how much people have spent on their cars. I've had my snotter of a 1.8 16v for two years now and I doubt I've even spent a grand on it in total, including two MOTs and a 280mm brake upgrade. It's always had an issue where it starts on three cylinders when warm but it does always start and it's never let me down...yet. I'm not one for changing parts unless they're actually broken although there are parts I'd probably upgrade if I had the money, such as the tired suspension. Cheap Corrado ownership is happy Corrado ownership!

Crikey, they're an 'aquired taste' I'm sure :)

I'm glad it's not just me!

I have a feeling some Corrados did have cruise control, but maybe not in this country. Don't the parts appear on eBay from time to time?

Ok cheers. I'm really interested in the winding resistances as well, but I can see that it's only simple to measure them if you happen to have a spare coil hanging around.

Right, I measured the winding resistance of both coils and they're different. Original coil: Primary - 0.9 ohms Secondary - 3.5k ohms New coil: Primary - 1.0 ohm Secondary - 7.5k ohms Clearly there's a large difference in the resistance of the secondary windings. Despite this I fitted the coil to see what would happen and the car started and drove fine from cold but in the dry. I'm not entirely happy about having the coil on the car if it's the wrong one, but it'll do for testing purposes next time it rains. If anybody has pics/info. regarding 2.0 16v coils I'd love to hear about it. Cheers :)

This morning I went out to the car and, not surprisingly since it was dry and warm, it ran perfectly. Without too many other ideas I picked up another cold start injector from a VW breaker. On the way home I took Supercharged's advice and visited Halfords on a quest for an ignition coil. Sure enough they had one listed but it looks completely different to the one on the car currently. However, it was £4 so I bought it anyway! So, this question to all 2.0 16v owners... Which coil looks that same as yours? The terminal numbers are right so it's just occured to me that measuring the winding resistance may be a good idea. I'll do that after lunch.

On a run I get 40mpg in my mum's Seat Leon 1.8T; it does about 36mpg driving around locally. Obviously if you boot it everywhere it drops into the 20s. The Golf will probably be similar but I have no idea how that compares to a G60. I hear they're not the most frugal car ever built!

Ah....well....damn. On the 9A engine, is the cold start injector controlled by the ECU? Anybody got any idea what exactly determines the trigger-period? I've got the VW fuel and ignition system service manual for the KR engine but I'm assuming the 9A works slightly different.

Measuring the resistance across the pins ought to do it.

He means he has it I'm guessing. The 2.0 16v in my drive has it too.

Ah ha, excellent info mon ami. It shall be disconnected, at least for testing purposes!