Digifant Ignition Advance

[Nacho]

Hi,

I am seriously struggling with 8v Mk2 GTI. The engine is sweet but I have some electrical fault which I am trying to track down and wondered if anyone could help?

The ignition is not advancing and so is producing very little power. It has a new dizzy which is working fine. I have tried a another knock sensor and ECU from a mates car and this makes no difference so I dont think that is the problem. The next thing I am gonna try is the temp sender unit on the front of the head. There are two gadgets here on the pipe that come outwards on the front of the head. I am gonna change the smaller outer unit with only a single wire connection as I think this is the problem and although it is sending temp reading to the dash board someone has told me that it also sends a signal to the ECU aswell which it might not be receiving.

Also, since this fault developed idle is less stable and hunts a bit up and down quite alot and when i rev the engine it is sluggish to pich up and pops.

If anyone has any experience of this or any ideas I would be very gratefull of any help before she goes to the garage and costs lots o dosh.

Cheers

 

[GTI EDITION (aka LTD)]

HI, ( ASSUMING YOUR ENGINE CODE IS PB ) WHEN YOU FITTED THE NEW DISTRIBUTOR DID YOU DO THE FOLLOWING :
1.GET THE ENGINE TO OPPERATING TEMP .
2. WITH ENGINE RUNNING UNPLUG 2 PIN PLUG  ON FRONT OUTLET . AND REV THE ENGINE ABOVE 2-3 TIMES ABOVE 2000 RPM ,
3.THEN  ADJUST THE TIMING AS PER TECH DATA ( I THINK IT IS  6 DEGREES  + OR -1 AT @ 2000 RPM BUT YOU MAY NEED TO CHECK AS HAVEN'T DONE A MK2 DIGIFANT FOR A FEW YEARS  ) 
4. IF YOU'R ADJUSTING THE CO THEN YOU ALSO NEED TO DISCONNECT AND PLUG THE ENGINE BREATHER HOSE IN ORDER TO GET THE CORRECT READINGS .
5.WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED THE ADJUSTMENTS  RECONNECT THE TEMP SENDER PLUG AND GIVE THE ENGINE 3 MORE REVS ABOVE 2000 AND THEN LET SETTLE FOR A MINUTE  BEFORE SWITCHING OFF.
P.S. DO NOT SWITCH OFF ENGINE WITH TEMP SENDER UNPLUGGED AS IT CONFUSES THE ECU
I THINK THIS IS THE CORRECT PROCEDURE IF ANYONE KNOWS DIFFERENT PLEASE SAY   

[Veedubgt18v]

yeah that is the right thing to do for your timing. use a strobe timing gun and time it off the flywheel. it should be timed at 2500rpm tho. the purpose revving the car over 3000rpm is to clear the ecu of any codes that may be increasing the idlin etc.

but the above is correct

where abouts are you in the country nacho?

[mk1]

Have you checked the cam timing , just a thought.
Steve.

[Nacho]

HI, ( ASSUMING YOUR ENGINE CODE IS PB ) WHEN YOU FITTED THE NEW DISTRIBUTOR DID YOU DO THE FOLLOWING :
1.GET THE ENGINE TO OPPERATING TEMP .
2. WITH ENGINE RUNNING UNPLUG 2 PIN PLUG  ON FRONT OUTLET . AND REV THE ENGINE ABOVE 2-3 TIMES ABOVE 2000 RPM ,
3.THEN  ADJUST THE TIMING AS PER TECH DATA ( I THINK IT IS  6 DEGREES  + OR -1 AT @ 2000 RPM BUT YOU MAY NEED TO CHECK AS HAVEN'T DONE A MK2 DIGIFANT FOR A FEW YEARS  )
4. IF YOU'R ADJUSTING THE CO THEN YOU ALSO NEED TO DISCONNECT AND PLUG THE ENGINE BREATHER HOSE IN ORDER TO GET THE CORRECT READINGS .
5.WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED THE ADJUSTMENTS  RECONNECT THE TEMP SENDER PLUG AND GIVE THE ENGINE 3 MORE REVS ABOVE 2000 AND THEN LET SETTLE FOR A MINUTE  BEFORE SWITCHING OFF.
P.S. DO NOT SWITCH OFF ENGINE WITH TEMP SENDER UNPLUGGED AS IT CONFUSES THE ECU
I THINK THIS IS THE CORRECT PROCEDURE IF ANYONE KNOWS DIFFERENT PLEASE SAY   

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated. I have done all of the above apart from that I thought the one to disconnect was the single connector sender and i got no advance or change with this. I will go and try the other one now and see how i get on.

Thanks for your time i really appreciate it

[Nacho]

yeah that is the right thing to do for your timing. use a strobe timing gun and time it off the flywheel. it should be timed at 2500rpm tho. the purpose revving the car over 3000rpm is to clear the ecu of any codes that may be increasing the idlin etc.

but the above is correct

where abouts are you in the country nacho

Hi.

Thanks for your help. I made the mistake of disconnecting the single connector sender which I now think only sends a signal to the dash board. I am gonna try it now.

I am in Shrewsbury.

Thanks again. Off to try it out now.

Steve

[Veedubgt18v]

ok mate let us know how it goes