Hi board, my name's Joe, and I have just bought myself a Mk1 Gti 1.8 8v Cabriolet in metallic burgundy, 1983 Y reg.
The car is in great nick for the year (and the price) and I have already had a complete laugh in it. The grin factor is incredible !
Anyway, seeing as the cam belt had not been changed for 9 years (!) this was the first job, along with plugs, leads, rotor arm and dizzy-cap.
Only thing is, after doing all this the car idles very high (about 2000) when hot.
The car is also drinking fuel, though it starts and runs very well.
I am pretty sure the timing is right, if I can presume that TDC occurs when the notch on the flywheel is slap-bang in the middle of the hole on the top of the bellhousing.
The cam pulley timing mark is level with the cam cover flange at this point, and I have timed the dizzy in to the flywheel mark at TDC with a strobe on cyl. 1. So I reckon the timing is ok.
The electrics under the bonnet are in a very poor state, so it may be I have disturbed something that was waiting to fail, also, before I timed the dizzy in, it backfired a few times, which seemed to jerk the air intake pipes around alot, so perhaps the airflow sensor is now off-centre.
In any case, like I say, the car runs well despite, and idles fine at low temp.
When I was playing around with it, I noticed the revs were less prone to rise with temperature as the car warmed up, if it wa left at a standstill.
Also, turning the headlights and heater blower on sank the revs but only once, I have not been able to repeat this.
So whats going on ?
What is the first thing to check and whats the best way to diagnose the problem ?
Also, I would like to do a compression test, but can't find the compression pressure anywhere for the car, does anyone know it ?
Cheers muchly, and speak to you all soon,
Joe
Derby area.
