Mk3 2.0 8v, Miss fire when driving it hard??

[stu 88]

My MK3 8v drives fine when driving normaly but when I put my foot down and give it some it seems to have a bit of a miss fire/holding back at around 2500 rpm/3200 rpm, only seems to be when I put my foot down hard? seems ok if I gently get up to speed, It also pops and bangs when I back off??

Any ideas??

[Gambit]

Sounds like it justs needs a good service

[Seanl]

Exact symptoms of a duff MAF. Unplug it and take it for a spin. It may cut out after a minute, but if it runs noticably better immediately, thats your problem! I managed to clean mine by taking it apart and very gently cleaning the element with electrical contact cleaner and cotton buds, but this doesn't always work and a new one is required.

[stu 88]

Ive sorted it   

I was going to give it a service but looked at the service history and it shows oil, oil filter, dizzy cap, rotor arm, plugs and leads were changed only 9 months ago (1034 miles ago!), and I only changed the oil and oil filter 120 miles ago!!  So I had a little look under the bonnet and just by chance gave the ht lead that goes from the coil a little tug and it seemed very lose?? so pinched the little metal bit up a bit so it fitted a bit tighter, Surely all these weeks of it not running quite right, me trying to find someone who can scan my OBD1 car, using nearly a whole can of carb cleaner to clean the throtle body could not be down to a lose fitting ht lead?  one way to find out... take it for a spin.....

.....WOW!!! it goes like a rocket!!! I cant belive thats all it was, I nearly booked it into a local VW specialist who said he wanted it for 2 hours at £49+vat per hour to find the fault!! So as Ive saved myself about £120 I think I should buy something for the car, as I have called it all the names under the sun the last few weeks!!