GTI cutting out, oil light flashes

[houston]

dunno if its the same but my bros volvo had the same kind of symptoms just last month, car would drive fine then when booted it would slow as if the battery was flat, but he did notice that the temp gauge was acting funny, after askin a mate at a garage he said check the water temp sensor, apparently it also controls the fuel injection, changed it and it runs fine now, even gets better mpg, try replacing yours, should be near the thermostat, shouldnt cost too much to try?

[remapped]

ok i just had this happen to me !!! over the past few days and was about to crack up !!

ok changed the following

1) fuel fillter
2) relay 30
3) coil
4) dizzy cap
and more parts........ !!

to cut a long story short a mate found it be a worn/broken fly wheel cable that runs of the cars loom to the fly wheel sensor  !!!

so would advice people to check any cables around all of the sensors maybe ?

hope this helps.

[baxter_r]

Hi all

Well I felt compelled to put a message on this site as I have spent ages going through all these posts to help diagnose my own Golf-3 GTi cutting-out misery.

Like just about everyone else here, I own a P-reg 8v GTi. About 5 weeks ago it started doing the cutting out thing with oil light flashing, rev counter bouncing around as the engine tried to restart, and clicking noises coming from the relays/fuse box. After a while I started to spot the trend in the symptoms.

It would always happen on re-starting the engine after it's had a run. So it would be fine if starting it cold and run continuously (ie. commute to work and back normally okay) but if I parked for anything up to an hour, then re-started the car, within a few minutes it would cut out usually when accelerating, and would happen 5 or 6 times before settling down. It would always be at low speed (less than 30mph) and thankfully never on the motorway! However a few hairy cases when it would refuse to restart at junctions were pretty stressful. However usually I managed to restart it by turning the ignition while coasting along.

My local VW dealer was useless as they claimed never to have heard of this problem. Thanks to this site, I tried the cheap solutions first - had the throttle body cleaned out around the butterfly (done for free by my local Nationwide AutoCentre on a Saturday afternoon!) and also replaced the ECU relay. These cheap fixes didn't help but what did it for me (it seems - still early days though) was replacement of the CRANK SENSOR.

The garage I took the car to managed to experience the problem on the test drive and also suspected the crank sensor since they do wear out with time and cause the symptoms I was having. They replaced it at a cost of 60pds + VAT and 2 hours' labour.

For anyone having similar symptoms I recommend trying this fix. I couldn't find any other posts on here with the exact same circumstances ie. where it only happened starting the engine hot. The VW part no. (obtained from this site but worth repeating) is #037906433.

Good luck all - and thanks for everyone's contributions to this excellent forum! (still going after all this time!)

[jason-lee]

well i dunno where to start. apart from i think my GTI days are over

just got it back from a vw dealer. it is the speed sensor that needs replacing. unfortunately so does the power steering rack which i only got replaced 3 months ago (i've got a guarantee on that but reckon the garage I got it from will f4ck me about). and the rear shocks are weeping. and the heat shield on the exhaust is loose.and the wires to the outside temp gauge are hanging down.and the brakefluid cap is broken. oh, and one of the number plate lights is out!

the cost for this lot at the dealer is 1600 quid. doubtless i could do it a helluva lot cheaper but this is a 1500 quid car which although is in reasonable condition in looks and only 71K on the clock I don't think i can justify paying out on. availablecar.com awaits....i will have to wait until my late midlife crisis to be able to afford a newer golf!

[jason-lee]

well the local garage has tested and tested (apparently) the power steering rack and can't find anything wrong with it - how come the VW garage does???

anyway i'm gonna get the sensor done and take it from there. the part ive been quoted is 037906433a - does the a signify anything?

cheers

j

[oneblueleg]

My VW dealer quoted me £650 for a hydraulic roof pump (cabrio) + VAT + fitting = roughly £1000....

I mended it myself for £14...

The dealers aren't interested in your car, they are interested only in company car fleets where no one questions the prices.

A mate of mine recently worked for a dealer (not VW) driving cars to and from people's houses before and after services. His instructions were to not take cars back too soon... they were charging for 2.5 hours labour for what took 1 hour... they are thieves plain and simple... moreover though, they are charging you so much that you'll never go back... it works...

[jason-lee]

Obviously, you're right about the dealerships. The one visit has put me off for life.

After a quote for 265 quid to replace the crank angle sensor from VW I took it to a local garage that did it for 87 quid. I've had a week now with plenty of trips and mileage and no cutting out etc. So I think you can add my name to the list of people for whom getting the sensor replaced has solved the problem. Hopefully!

[tiku]

I have got an imported 1993 Golf MK3 GTI 2.0L 16v ABF engine

The problem is some times when i stop the car the revs drop right down and up a few times
untill it stalls. this happens more if i put the AC ON

To fix this i have done all this but without success

new Idle stabilizer valve
throttle body cleaned
All air hoses cleaned
check for air leaks, nothing
done a scan with vag-com no faults.

If there is a fault on relay or sensors would VAG pick it up.
Please help

[oneblueleg]

My ECU relay was the fault but the VAG think showed up auto gearbox faults and connector faults... randomly so it seemed...

[daemore]

Hey everyone.

This is my first post.
I've registered as I found this thread after searching Google whilst looking for a diagnosis for my problem.

My R reg ('97) Mk3 Golf GTi 2.0 16v has symptoms as described previously and has cut out on two occasions.
Both times it has been at low revs (i.e. slowing down approaching roundabouts) and a few minutes after starting in the morning. Having pulled over the car turns over but fails to fire up. The first time the AA came out and the second I was close to a garage, but on both occasions the car had been left for a couple of hours and started fine with no problems at all. Each time I have checked the dizzy cap and am definately getting a spark to it. Spark plugs and leads are ok and the fuel is getting through.

I've had the car since February, and prior to buying it the dealer sorted poor running (misfiring) by replacing 'a relay in the ECU'. This was diagnosed after a week of checks. I suspect that this relay was probably the number 30 relay but cannot be sure.
 
I have read the majority of this thread and most of the problems seem to be reported on the 8v GTi's.
Without reading all 29 pages and being a GTi noob I was hoping that somebody with a knowledge of this model might be able to sympathise with this excruciating problem and give me a definitive checklist of checks / parts to fix the problem?

All help appreciated!