Problem - One for the GTi 8V Golfers

[randal 0]

Ok, don't flambe me for popping this on here - in fact, hell flambe me - I deserve it. :D

 

Friend has a 8V Golf that won't run. It gets fuel to the engine, gets a spark, sounds like it's just about to kick over then nothing. He's adament it's the ECU, but from what I've heard about the valver C ECU's - they don't do a whole lot. Any suggestions anyone?

 

Thanks in advance

randal

[Roger Blassberg 0]

Fuel to the engine?? Is there a good squirt from a main injector during cranking?

 

I had 2 GTIs, and both of them suffered fuel pump relay failure. Probably relay in position 2, (second from the left on the bottom row but one, ) also check fuse number 5.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[bcstudent 0]

What year is the Golf? Is it an early K-jet engine (EV code IIRC) or the later Digifant lump (PB code)?

[Henny 0]

timing is everything... ;)

 

Check the bottom gear on the crank which drives the cam belt... They're known to come loose on MKII GTIs and wear the woodruff key (lump wot sits in a hole on the crank) so the cam timing goes all to pot... :?

 

Quickest way to check it is to get the car set to TDC on 1 on the flywheel marking (through the gearbox timing inspection hole) and see where the cam markings and crank marking on the cam belt end are... if they're out, it's time to take that pulley off and check it before you start bending valves... :?

 

Otherwise, as bcstudent, says, it all depends on which engine it is as to where else the fault could be... ;)

[randal 0]

I'm not 100% sure what the engine code is, not too up on Golfs. Do know it's an F plate, running a G plate engine - which has recently been rebuilt. He's owned the car for about a week, has been performing nicely - until now. He said that he'd just been on an A road doing 70, stopped at the lights, put his foot on the gas to pull away and it died. Then said that he managed to start it again by pouring oil in the bores to do something to the compression ratio? I'm pretty sure thats what he said anyway. Sounds a bit suspect to me, please correct me if iI'm wrong though. Hope that sheds a bit more light on it all.

[Henny 0]

damn, that's just on the change over IIRC... :?

 

pouring oil into the bores sounds well dodgy... :|

[bcstudent 0]

Definitely going to be a Digifant PB engine then. The change was in 1987 so all F-plate cars onwards had the later engine, as well as some E-plates.....if I remember correctly. I think you'll find that the ECU on the Digifant cars does a lot more work than the basic ignition module found on the early K-jet cars. I've had a couple of Digifant Mk.2 Golfs and they both had running issues that I could never fully solve. However, on the bright side you say you've got two of the main ingredients of internal combustion, namely fuel and ignition, so the solution is probably not that far away.

 

When you say there's nothing after it threatens to fire, what happens? Does it just continue to turn over with no life? Are the plugs soaked in petrol or does it seem that the fuel supply has stopped?

 

If it were me I'd be making all the basic checks first such as, like Henny suggests, looking at the cam timing. However, my friend had a 16v Mk.2 that ate the Woodruf key for the bottom pulley and the timing slipped a bit every time he booted it. It still ran, but just got worse and worse. It never stopped completely. I can't see that this is the problem but that doesn't mean that it's not.

 

Sorry that I'm rambling and generally not being much help. I'll sleep on this for sure. Keep us posted.

[bcstudent 0]

I agree....oil + bores = dodgy