Hi all, so Im having problems with my J reg MK3 Golf GTI, 5 door, 2.0L 8v. I bought it 4 days ago, sold to me as having a new engine in, rebuilt gearbox and new clutch.
Runs fine when you drive it steady and burst the throttle every now and again, but second day of having it I decided to give it a good run. Warmed it all up, took it down a long road and drove it hard like a gti should be, all was good until it felt like it was losing power, so I slowed down, it began to struggle on the revs, had to keep gearing down, until crawling, starts backfiring, spitting until it dies. Pull over,turn off, start up straight away, blip the throttle and its back to normal.
Now I know theres a million different problems there could be, but are there any common faults on this model.
My main thought is that the previous owner fitted a mk2 gti stainless manifold that knocks like crazy on the blukhead (will be changed soon) also sounds like it pulls in air sometimes. Could this cause it to die under heavy revs?
Other thoughts are electrical, as turning it off and on solves it until I drive hard again, drive normally and its fine.
Finally, Im very suspicious of overheating, every thing is fine on the temp gauge, water is a good level, but Ive had cars that over heat and they always lose power at a boil over, although this is not boiling, or losing coolant, or creaming in the rocker :/
Any help would be appreciated, and please dont be the smart one and say "Just drive it slowly and it wouldnt have that problem" like my GF did haha
Cheers
