Idling problem MK1 Cabrio

[gti power]

Hey guys,

Am going crazy here with my eratic idling. 

I drive a 1989 MK1 golf cabrio 1.8 8V K-jetronic DX : 82 kw, the car idles fine for a while from cold, once it gets warm if you accelerate the idling falls below the 950 rpm and completely cuts out.

The spark plugs have been changed, the timing belt and the tuning was done by Car Care in London.  After doing this service the car idling problem ocurred. 

I dont know if this is relevant but I also ran out of petrol on one ocassion, and this is when this problem started I went to Car Care again to find out what had happen and they told me to change my injectors but I did not change them and instead they retuned my car and was fine for a while but then it started again.

Please help, Thanks in advance.

[gibby]

Have you gut a rusty filler neck ? I think that the fact the problem started when you ran out of petrol means you've sucked up all the gunk out of the bottom of your tank and if you've a rusty filler neck you've probably got particles of rust in the fuel system. It may not be this but rusty filler necks are common on mk1s and are a cause of a lot of these problems. If this is the issue then I'm not sure how to fix.

[alpesh]

I ran my car on its reserve and then it gave me mis-firing problems. I checked the injectors and they were not working properly - one of them was spraying in an angle. I guess the crap at the bottom of the petrol tank damaged the injectors. Change the fuel filter as well.

To check the injectors pull them out and hold the injector in a small glass bottle. They come out easily using pliers. "plug" the open injector hole and start the car. Let it run on 3 cyclinders. The spray should be a fine mist and appear like an ice cream cone shape. Turn off the engine and there should be no petrol drips after 10/15 seconds.

I used a kitchen towel to "plug" the hole. Wrap the towel around your thumb and cover the hole. Dont insert anything into the hole to "plug" it else it will get sucked into the cylinder. You can literally feel the suction on your thumb. Oh-yeah the engine must be warm.

[richandhazel]

Yeah, sounds like you have pulled through some gunk/rust particles from the fuel tank. You may well have a lift pump on the sender unit in the tank. Check and clean the inlet strainer on that first. Then work your way back. Main fuel filter, inlet filter to fuel pump......check, clean, replace as necessary. If the filters have done their job, with any luck it won't have got as far as the metering unit and injectors.