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General => The garage => Topic started by: Deefadog on 23 June 2004, 12:40

Title: Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 23 June 2004, 12:40
Hi all, my mK2 16v has a flat spot in the low revs, would it be best to get it on a rolling road to find the problem?

If so how much on average is a rolling road test? and anyone know of a good one in Swansea, south wales?

Also what checks can be done first to find the flat spot, I am guessing it could be a number of things.

Cheers
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Gambit on 23 June 2004, 13:13
explain your flat spot? where abouts does it come in on the rev counter.

16v's you need to keep the revs pretty high otherwise they bog down

rolling road will address all your problems

your looking at paying ?40per hour to get it setup on a rolling road
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 23 June 2004, 14:41
The flat spot comes in straight away as i am pulling away, like a cough/stutter then the engine just pulls great, i have not really tested this fully, because I have just had all my gear linkage changed, as i had no first gear :)

I'll test the car out tomorrow and let you know exact revs etc

Cheers
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Veedubgt18v on 23 June 2004, 17:14
check all your vacuum connections and air intake connections, could be a loose pipe causing crap running. also check the idle speed etc are set right and that your ht leads etc are sparking strong and that your engine is timed properly
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 24 June 2004, 08:36
Thanks, i'll check them all out and let you know, I may take it to a crypton tunning place first, costs about ?30 but hould find the problem, and may find other probs I don't yet know about!
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Gambit on 24 June 2004, 13:48
you aint got a flat spot then

dont be takin it to a crypton tuning person either, take it to a VW specialist and ask them to set the timing & CO on it, (basically a tune-up) it'll cost the same if not less than letting a crypton tuning plank at it
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 24 June 2004, 23:06
Gambit, what do you mean when yoy say I have not got a flat spot? I have noticed that anything above 2 and half revs is fine, below that is crap! in any gear, well first and second :)
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 01 July 2004, 12:40
Update. getting the car back today :)

It was the distributor head, the seals had gone and was leaking oil.  I have not got it back yet, so have not tested it.

Parts cost ?140, labour ?40!

Sound a fair price?
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Gambit on 01 July 2004, 13:47
?140 for a seal?? or did they replace the whole distributor?

you can buy replacment seals for your existing dizzy. also, make sure you get the old dizzy back

even so that is still expensive, i got a new bosch 16v dizzy from EuroCarParts for ?80


and ?40 labour!! the dizzy is held in by two bolts, and then you just set the timing

bout 15mins work
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 01 July 2004, 14:10
That was for a new distributor unit, cap and rotor arm.  Labour was in fact ?30, but he did do a few checks on it for me also.

Just had the car back and it is finally running nice.

he advised to get a new Ignition  lead also, is this expensive?

Also he advised the engine was burning oil! But I have seen no evidence of this, what could be the worst case senario for buring oil? and what is the cheap one :)

Thanks
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Gambit on 01 July 2004, 15:31
well you where a bit hard done by on the dizzy and labour but not to worry, at least its running now


if your burning oil then

best case scenario
blocked breathers - clean them all out
the current oil is too thin, you should use 15w40 semi-synthetic oil in it

worst case scenario
worn piston rings - get a compression test done, then get a wet compression test - this will tell you if its rings or valves


plan of attack
clean out the breathers & get an oil change.
if it still burns oil then get the compression test done
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 02 July 2004, 08:00
Yeah think i was done a bit :( On the bill he said for parts that the dizzy head unit was ?164.40 Incl VAT!

I'll check this today at my local VW spares, and if it is lower I know not to go back there!

Thanks for the good advice mate, I check these things out! Just for the time being I need to top up the oil can I use 15w40 semi-synthetic oil if the previous owner used non-synthetic, can I mix them?

Cheers
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Gambit on 02 July 2004, 10:36
yeah you can mix them buts its just as handy to do an oil change rather than top it up

your talking 10mins work in an oil change


ask stuart in EuroCarParts for a price on a 16v dizzy (ask him for full price and exchange unit price)

if you didnt get your old dizzy back then i bet the garage got an exchange price!!
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 02 July 2004, 16:37
Just got a price from local VW dealers, price was ?84.

I will not be going back to that garage, funny thing is that its a friends brother in law, so i thought He would see me good, looks like he saw himself good instead!

When you mentioned the "blocked breathers - clean them all out"

Where are these breathers? I have looked through my haynes, but can't find them :(

Thanks again
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 04 July 2004, 20:49
^Bump^ :)
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: golfvr6 on 04 July 2004, 22:10
A complete distributor from VW for 84 quid?
Last time i asked it was about 130 quid.
Have prices dropped that much?
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Deefadog on 05 July 2004, 08:45
I ask vw for a distributor head! maybe it's different and I did not get done to much?

Anyone know where these -  blocked breathers are?

Also the car was blowing no smoke before this job was done, could this new distributor cause the smoke?  I have been running normal unleaded in it though instead of Optimax which was put in it all the time before, could this cause the smoke also?

Thanks
Title: Re:Flat spot, rolling road?
Post by: Gambit on 06 July 2004, 14:11
if you are running unleaded instead of Optimax then there is a fair chance the timing is out also