heeeelp meeeee pleeeze

[mj]

  just sold my mk4 gttdi as ive just bought a house so i thought id go back to an old friend of mine the mk3 gti 8v. The problem ive got is a complete lack of power, i know these are not the quickest of cars but mine struggles to reach 80 mph, on the 40 mile ride home the mpg was showing 27. most of this driving was a constant 55 mph. almost felt like a 1.0 under the bonnet, mileage is 131k and it passed mot last month. It drives very lumpy not smooth at all. Ive found a split in one of the pipes which probably doesnt help but where do i start. thanks if somebody could help or put up a pic of an 8 valve engine bay i could show which pipe is split. cheers

[mumbles]

hey, sorry to hear of the troubles. 

there is a lot of info in the maintenance and info section at the top of the mk3 section... try there. (there is a pic of an 8v engine bay in the common faults sticky) use the search function, usually turns up something.

Replacing any split pipes is a good start. check plugs, leads, distributer, coil... could be quite a few things.... 

sorry if that isn't much help.....

P.S. welcome to the forum

[spunkymonkey]

Unplug the maf then take it for a spin, if it goes ok thats your problem.

[mj]

thanks looking at that engine bay pic its the hose with the blue cable tie on it. also was checking the fit of the leads on the spark plugs and one of the leads has come away from the housing that goes over the plugs, it was just pushed in to the housing but doesnt seem to be in there that firmly.

[mumbles]

try spunky monkey's suggestion and let us know what happens. but that lead may well be a part of the problem.. plus get that hose at least patched or replaced. (and check the others) 

[mj]

just been out in the rain and disconnected the maf and took 4 a quick spin, no real improvement but seemed to climb the revs a bit quicker ?

[mumbles]

although that improvemant may be because you fiddled with the leads..... get leads changed then if still no improvment might need to change maf

[DazVR6]

Personally i'd start by seeing if there was any fault codes  logged before you go and start spending money randomly.

And as said get that pipe replaced as it won't be helping aswell as the leads.

Has the cambelt been changed recently, can you get the revs past 5000rpm? timing might be a tooth out and can cause lack of power.

[Wayne]

As above I am thinking cam timing maybe.

[mj]

revs pass 5000 takes a while to get there, will try leads 2mrw ir i can get some on a sunday, anyone know the name of the pipe that i need thanks, ive got a cheap fault code reader ill pop it on to see what it finds. thanks. where do i plug it in by, it was in the middle of the centre console on my mk4 but where is the connection on a mk3 ?