Help with 1.3 cold running issues - sometimes

[JMallows]

Hi everyone, I have a bit of a problem.

When the car is cold, it will start fine, and run ok. It'll drive ok down the hill but when I accelerate, the car will judder and lose all power. If I ease off the accelerator, it will then drive fine. Its as though it gets too much fuel, its quite weird. This isn’t really too mush of a problem, as I can just accelerate slowly, but when I come to the hill, it simply won’t go up! Even if rev it a lot it still judders, and can then stall (if I’m not careful). If it does stall, it won’t start, and I have to reverse bump it. There is also some white exhaust, but that might have just been the misty weather?

When it warms up its fine. It is also fine for the journey home, though it will have been sat for nine hours at work! Then, other mornings it is fine. And again, on some mornings, it starts but wont run, and I have to rev it to make it idle.

What could the possible problems be? Is it possible it could be related to the coil?

Thanks

[Jay]

Sounds like the warm air feed is disconnected or damaged:

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=100341.0

 

hth

[K3VWT]

You might find it's actually running weak, if you ease off the throttle and it picks up, you're reducing the amount of air entering the engine. Sounds quite similar to my 1.1 when i first got it. First thing i did was to adjust the mixture settings by the book. Still wasn't great so i stripped the carb, gave it a good clean and changed all the gaskets. Had to make them as they are no longer available. Then set the mixture, idle and choke from scratch using an emissions tester to get it in the right ball park and then carried a couple of screwdrivers in the car for a few weeks to adjust it by the side of the road. Now runs like a dream. Couldn't believe i got 36 mpg out of it last week! Thought i had worked it out wrong. Also, as mentioned above, check out the warm air feed, misty weather can increase your chances of carb icing.

[MooZ]

I have problems with my 1.3 when its cold, but nothing that extreme at all. It's much lumpier when its cold and can cut out if left running (when just started).

Also if I say just quickly move my car, say from the road to my drive, from cold, when I turn off the ignition and pull the key out it would still run! All these problems disappear given 5mins of driving. I have never had any problems with engine power at all though. Good luck with the fix, let us know what it was might be something similar causing my problems...

BTW is that your 1.3 in the sig? Looks lovely, ive got a black one too 

[JMallows]

Sounds like the warm air feed is disconnected or damaged:

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=100341.0

 

hth

Definately not anything to do with the hot air feed. Have the shroud on the manifold, and i also have no cold air feed - only the hot! This was done two years ago on the recommendation of VW to 'cure' carb icing, which for me it has

It is similar to carb icing, except with carb icing, its a different sort of running problem, and when you ease off the accelerator, it stalls, but in my case, it then runs fine. Its hard to explain why its a different sort of running problem, cos it sounds like i have described carb icing, but having suffered carb icing a fair bit, i know its not that.

You might find it's actually running weak, if you ease off the throttle and it picks up, you're reducing the amount of air entering the engine. Sounds quite similar to my 1.1 when i first got it. First thing i did was to adjust the mixture settings by the book. Still wasn't great so i stripped the carb, gave it a good clean and changed all the gaskets. Had to make them as they are no longer available. Then set the mixture, idle and choke from scratch using an emissions tester to get it in the right ball park and then carried a couple of screwdrivers in the car for a few weeks to adjust it by the side of the road. Now runs like a dream. Couldn't believe i got 36 mpg out of it last week! Thought i had worked it out wrong. Also, as mentioned above, check out the warm air feed, misty weather can increase your chances of carb icing.

I will have a look at the mixture, though this was done fairly recently at the garage (February). They said it failed the MOT on emissions, so they adjusted the mixture and it was fine. Or is that a different mixture?! They also said it was full of crap, so had to spray the screw housing with carb cleaner to clear it out before adjusting, is any of this relevant!?

I have problems with my 1.3 when its cold, but nothing that extreme at all. It's much lumpier when its cold and can cut out if left running (when just started).

Also if I say just quickly move my car, say from the road to my drive, from cold, when I turn off the ignition and pull the key out it would still run! All these problems disappear given 5mins of driving. I have never had any problems with engine power at all though. Good luck with the fix, let us know what it was might be something similar causing my problems...

BTW is that your 1.3 in the sig? Looks lovely, ive got a black one too 

It is in my sig yeah Your problems just seem to give the car character, not problems!

[rubjonny]

could be the fuel pump is about to pack in, my dads 1.3 had similar symptoms until it broke down completly.

[JMallows]

I did put in a new fuel pump recently, again about two years ago. There is a fuel accumulator/reservoir or something right, like a white plastic thing near the fuel pump, what does that do?

[mwep201081]

Check all the gaskets that the card sits on. There's a big rubber joint that perishes after 10 or 15 years. 20 if you're lucky

[mwep201081]

Check all the gaskets that the card sits on. There's a big rubber joint that perishes after 10 or 15 years. 20 if you're lucky


Carb!!!!!!!

[JMallows]

Ah ok, well it is 21 so that fits in with that time frame!