Advice on lumpy, erratic 2.0 16v - being a bit crap again..

[easypops 8]

check the 3 wires going into the switch for breakages, two of mine were broke but the plastic around them were intact ??? as soon as i fixed this....steady idle :D

that was two weeks ago and not a flicker, only took about 7 or 8 months to find.

keep going jim you will get there

[Jim 2]

Cheers mate. Will take a look :)

 

Just frustrating - drove it over to the girlfriends house last night and then drove over to the shops to get some dinner and it was rock steady idle the whole time! Argh!

[saysomestuff 0]

I'm with easypops, The intermittant nature suggests that it's something that can easily change i.e. dodgy wires

[Jim 2]

Its been good past few days oddly... it always seems to behave better when its been raining?!

[P2daz 0]

Dodgy connection with less resistance when damp maybe?

[Jim 2]

Yeah - that is my thinking. Weather had dried up today and the car was total pants.

 

Making me thinking about a bad connection of some sort...

[Tempest 0]

Shame it chucked it down so much yesterday, as I did pack my multimeter into my C, plus loads of other things, just in case the weather did turn favourable on us.

 

Next time we meet up ...

 

Tempest

[P2daz 0]

Time for some serious wiggling :)

[Jim 2]

:bounce2: ;)

[Jim 2]

Well some updates.

 

Spent an afternoon troubleshooting the car with Vince. Was very productive actually.

 

Firstly - non engine related - my bad handling might be down to seriously seriously fubar top mounts. The driver side one is so loose the suspension strut moves around in place in the suspension tower. Need to make that a priority. Also pointed out the rear axle bushes are stuffed and the front rear wishbone bushes are tired too... so they're all on the cards when I have some pennies.

 

Awful squeeling / scraping noise (david will know which one I mean) was solved - cat heat shield was lose and causing buzzing and that awful noise. Welded up and plenty of welly on the way home did not produce any noises.

 

Downside is we found my catalyst is fubar (CO2 readings of 0.71 - no chance at the MOT - did the test pre-cat and it came out ok).

 

Typically the car would not replicate the idling problem when in the workshop. We thought we'd nailed it though when squirting carb cleaner around the big flat rubber boot that comes off the metering head as the values on the lambda would suddenly surge up and then bottom out (whereas normally they were sitting bang on) - we changed the boot for one that was a bit less tired and realised afterwards that it was just the sheer amount of carb cleaner dripping down onto a pipe under the airbox and then going in there.

 

The ultimate diagnosis came down to the ISV (sound of Eric saying "Told you so") as I described more and more symptoms to him. Waiting on this eBay joker to supply the one I won over a week ago and will try that out - he says get back to him if it doesn't improve things!

[CazzaVR 0]

Glad you're getting somewhere at last, matey! :)

[Tempest 0]

sound of Eric saying "Told you so")

 

:lol: Well, let's hope it's the ISV then, and moreover let's hope you'll finally get your hands on one (that works, as the ebay one may still be knackered !! Happened to me when buying a fuel lift pump off someone, only to find that my Storm Rocco still had the same symptoms, until I took the pump apart to find that it was knackered :-( ).

 

Tempest

[Jim 2]

Well - quite. This is the worry.

 

In the time its taken this guy to sort out my ISV (he told me he posted it last week - lying git - and subsequently hasnt replied to my email) I was able to break my heated rear window switch, PM Nikki, arrange sale of one, and get it posted (and recieved fine the next day).

 

Some people on eBay just, quite frankly, piss me off with their 'who gives a crap' attitude :|

[davidwort 0]

glad to hear you've got some things diagnosed Jim, front top mounts can make things pretty dangerous so they're def a priority, pretty cheap too, my old mk 1 used to drift suddenly like I'd been caught in a cross-wind when it's went.

CAT is a bummer, I'm thankful I've got a pre-cat car every MOT, at least you can get pattern ones for the 2L.

Let's hope you get that ISV soon, I'll keep a lookout for another anyway as i occasionally spot them and they seem to be a problem for everyone, think mine needs another clean too, last day or so it's been sticking at 1100 revs occasionally until you blip the throttle :roll:

[Jim 2]

Yeah - I have had that. On the way back from Stealth yesterday the rain was driving down hard, I couldn't see crap, and on the other side of the road were loads of trucks and stuff. On my side of the road lots of standing water - a lot of swerving and a lot of swearing as the car felt so vague. Do want to get them sorted but I need rear axle bushes and wishbone mounts doing too apparently and its a waste of time doing those seperately - ideally should do em all together.

 

Fingers crossed on this ISV.

 

With regards the cat - just found that GSF do ones for the Corrado 2.0 16v for £75! Supercharged also reckons he might have one for me so....

[Tempest 0]

I'd still say get the top mounts done asap, as they're crucial to handling.

 

Just need a special 22 mm socket with a slot in it to stick an Allen key through for undoing the top nut. I'm on the lookout for one, as I'm starting to form a plan of wanting to change my suspension all round, and then I might as well go for new top mounts at the same time (did that on my Storm 3 years ago).

 

Tempest

[Jim 2]

Righto.. job for New Tyres 2 U perhaps once I get them off Steve?

[davidwort 0]

I'd still say get the top mounts done asap, as they're crucial to handling.

 

Just need a special 22 mm socket with a slot in it to stick an Allen key through for undoing the top nut. I'm on the lookout for one, as I'm starting to form a plan of wanting to change my suspension all round, and then I might as well go for new top mounts at the same time (did that on my Storm 3 years ago).

 

Tempest

 

air gun them off or find a friendly garage that will buzz them undone for you! Do you also need the slotted tool for removing the spring top plate, I have access to one of those if you need it.

 

Jim, top mounts are the worst for handling generally as you get such a pronounced side to side wobble, you can do both sides for under 20 quid's worth of parts and you don't even need a spring compressor as you leave the spring top plate in place. It's really only 4 nuts to do the whole job if you don't count removing the wheel! A long beaker bar helps if the strut bottom bolts are a bit siezed.

If the front wishbone bushes are on their way out that's more of a job as you need to remove the wishbone and either press the old ones out or replace the whole wishbone with one with new ones in already, most garages will replace the whole wishbone as it takes less time even though the parts are more expensive.

Rear beam bushes are best left to a garage unless you have access to a 2 poster garage lift yourself or the proper VW press to do it in-situ, probably one for Stealth.

If you plan on doing all of this work, you might as well get the anti-roll bar bushes and drop links done too, all that will dramatically improve the tightness of the chassis and steering.

 

 

David.

[Yandards 0]

Kinda good news then Jim, at least it is getting there.

 

For a quieter ride I would fit VR top mounts at the front when you upgrade but that is just a personal preference. As for the wishbones just buy new ones - probably cheaper by the time you have paid for someone to push the old ones out and new ones in!

 

Might as well do the rest of your bushes while you are at it - there are not many left! That and the wear in the rest of the wishbone bushes will accelerate the wear in the new bushes when you get them fitted.

[Supercharged 2]

He may already have the VR mounts being a late 16V but Neil is on the case...

[Jim 2]

Might as well do the rest of your bushes while you are at it - there are not many left! That and the wear in the rest of the wishbone bushes will accelerate the wear in the new bushes when you get them fitted.

 

Sadly not too flush atm mate so only really doing stuff that needs doing - I just can't afford to go and get the whole car rebushed, as much as i'd like to :(

[Jim 2]

Just another bump. Can't believe but i'm still waiting on that ISV from that eBay c**t - i'm fuming as not only did he lie (as he said he posted it ages ago) he's now ignoring my emails - and I specifically said to him I was really eager to get it to try and sort an ongoing problem on my car! What a nice chap!

 

Out of frustration started hunting around and found another ISV cheap - the seller looks to be a lot more solid so I stuck in a bid and won it for £7 delivered. So now waiting on that one (and will of course be taking my complaint to eBay with the other deadbeat).

 

The car has been well behaved in the last week or so since Stealth as its been garaged nightly but left it outside last night and today it was a nightmare. My entire 25 minute drive to work, it just cut out at most junctions, back to the usual over-revving then cutting out, etc - JUST NEED THIS ISV SO I CAN RULE IT OUT OF THE EQUATION!!!!

[Phil K 0]

Bugger - sorry to hear about all the on going problems... mine isn't great on cold start at the moment either and behaves in the same way - will let you know how I get on in a week or so as am losing the 9A metering unit and going for a KR set up - Tim thinks it should get me sorted - fingers crossed :)

[Jim 2]

Any idea how much its going to cost you to modify the engine in such a way mate?

[Phil K 0]

I'm taking the approach of ''Tim I only have £200 left on my credit card, here's the C, I'll be back in a week'' ;)

 

Will drop you a quick PM about it all...