Winter Woes - Engine won't start, fuel smell, exhaust popping (backfiring)

[Ben Lessani]

Interesting point ... I did break 2 wires, one which goes into the warm up valve and the oil cooler sensor - but I soldered and recrimped as appropriate. Continuity testing the loom wiring is going to be a pig though

So for my checklist:

Check for broken wires / loose cables
Check for vacuum leak / loose intake pipe
Moisture in the dizzy
Position of the rotor arm at TDC Cyl 1

[Mr Blue]

Had a similar problem on a mates kjet. Was parked up for weeks.

Broken dizzy wires are common. give the plug a wiggle.

Blue temp sensor?

We got it to idle by adjusting the dizzy (mark it first). Once it was running we put it back to the original position. Wierd these vw's

[Ben Lessani]

I checked and re-positioned the intake pipe, unplugged and replugged all the electrical contacts I had removed. Removed the dizzy cap and cleaned up the contacts then soaked it in WD40. Reseated the battery clamps and prayed to all the popular deities ...

... turned the key, and low and behold, SHE FIRED UP! She seems to run ok without any issues 

There was a small leak from  the water pump; I did remove it yesterday to check the impeller was ok. But I drove it to GSF to get a new seal, but by the time I got there, the leak had stopped. I drove round a load more and let it run on the driveway for 5 mins, but no leaky - so maybe the rubber seal needed to reseat itself....But I'll keep an eye on it.

After driving it for 5 minutes though - it was totally worth putting in a few hours labour

[Conker]

Good news !!

[Jay]

Glad you got it sorted!