ive got a dodgy 8v

[bernie8v]

Only Had my golf for about a month now... was going great until all of a sudden clouds of white and black smoke start pouring out the back.... then the smoke  stopped... but it hasnt run right since...

has been at my local garage for about two days so far and they are trying to find whats wrong .....  the mechanic said it might be my E.E.R.C valve or something as they are prone to failing on these cars.... but i have been looking here and cant find anything called this.... dont know if i missheard him... any way i am going to see him at about 5 ish so will find out how he's got on....

just wondering if anyone had heard of this or was familiar with the symtoms

its my first golf... first volkswagen infact,normally buy small slow japanese cars .. but fancied a change... i must say that the more i read on this site i am starting to wonder if i made the right decition.. there seems to more people in here with problems than there are to help them.... and all the people that help them have problems too... very worrying...

anyway hope you can shed some light on my ailing confidence...

bernard

[Judderi]

Dont worry, in all they are reliable cars, especially for their age. The reason it looks bad here is because people use the forum to troubleshoot problems. You gotta remember there are thousands of members on this forum so a few problems it real good in my opinion. Tell us more about the symptoms you have now. Expand on what running problems you have. Did the mechanic say ISV valve by any chance?

[shaunj]

Hi Bernie, the youngest golfs are 15, any car this age is going to have problems. Astra gte, XR3, 205 and a whole host of other cars, where are they?. Problems go hand in hand with owning a modern day classic, thats the whole point, keeping on top of it, sourcing parts, sharing info etc. I agree there are some lads here that get caught up with silly things like which is better 8v or 16v, but hey man TOLERANCE. Enjoy.

[Agreeable Slick]

Hi Bernie, the youngest golfs are 15

BAARRRRRR - wrong, the youngest are actually 13 if you are talking about the mk2's which i presume you are as we are in the mk2 section. 

Right first question, have you filled it with oil before it had its smoke blowing fit? If you have you might have overfilled it, and in all that right footed glory that is a dub, sometimes the pressure in the engine is enough to send the oil up over the head and out through the exhaust system, also was your air box a bit oiley aswell?

If this was the case then there is a fairly good chance that the head is going to need skimming and re setting, hence the poor running of the motor.

As for the more problems than solutions its what ownership of a dub is all about, there is no way i could feel more attatched to a car if it was fine all the time, i enjoy working on them far too much. If it was always reliable then i would get bored and keep buying others, or purposfully trying to break it.

[[han]]

as with anything - the bad stuff spreads further thats just what people want to hear! 

theres a way to fix any car!! think positive.... and yeah - mk2gti2.016v sad - it is a place to come to if you need help... everyone that has a car that works... (or has a busy life - or goes to work in my case) dusn't spend their time on here all day!  cos as you can prob tell... i spend a lot of time on here!

also by enquiring about prpoblems online you can find out what you need and tell the mechanic etc  what you want - there fore saving you money when the bast*ds try rippin you off!!!

its' all gravy!v

[Judderi]

Plus asking questions means you can learn and do the repair yourself rather than paying someone to do it. Ive learnt allot from this site and saved money because of it.

[bernie8v]

thanks for the replies guys and girls....

it would seem who ever came up with "love is blind" had just ran into a bunch of volkswagen enthusiasts...
forgiveness is gods greatest gift.

thanks mr beale but... i havent touched the engine since i got it... i have however checked the oil and it is fine... not that i have a clue about engines but i always thought oil smoke was blue.. and it didnt smell oily...Hmmm
 
yeah i suppose something more descriptive is required...  well basically ever since it blew clouds of smoke it has been stuuttery every time you accelerate.. like something is sticking then all of a sudden it lets go and shoots off.. but it is also lumpy at crusing speeds and gets worse going up hills..

went to see the mechanic... he more or less said the same thing as all of you, old car bound to have some problems.. he said he is convinced it is this E.R.E.C valve that is the culprit... he showed it too me... I best point out that this guy is dutch...  he speaks pretty good english but it gets a bit confusing so i got him to write stuff down... anyway it is a short cylindrical thing with a hole at one end and some blue and red wires sticking out the end that looks like its been detached... he said he had to quote the part number when he ordered the new one.. so he's not sure what its called in this country.. but he said that valve is thile or some such word in his country and that at his garage in holland the most common problem golf gti owners had..

i told him i had asked on this forum and he laughed and said that he wouldnt be surprized if a lot of you had some experience of this...  i cant find the bit of paper i wrote it on but will get back after my dinner..


cheers guys..

[monzablue16v]

That sounds like your Idle stabilisation valve or ISV it looks like this if it is
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-Golf-Mk2-GTI-ISV-Idle-Stabilisation-Valve_W0QQitemZ4566284382QQcategoryZ9889QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Everyone helps on here it's a good bunch.

Vee Dubs are great you'll get it, it's a bug I didn't get it but all my mates drive VW's I'd never buy another car now lol. It'll click.