GTI 16v ABF Sluggish

[Exardious]

Hey all

Greetings from Denmark.

I just recently bought myself a nice Golf III GTi 16v. Its almost completely OEM and without any rust.

The power though, seems underwhelming. I've been a passanger in a 16v before, and always remembered it as rather dramatic and bombastic. Mine seems to have a hard time picking up power, and reving through the gears. Even 2nd seems restricted.

I was out driving today, and even on a wet road, it didnt spin the wheels in 1st. Granted i didnt rev the engine and slam the clutch. I drove around a tight corner in 1st and then slammed the throttle, but it didnt spin the wheels at all. It just started reving from 2k-3k and so on. At 4k it seems to pick up a bit but not much, then around 6k it runs out of wind.

Is there anything i should check first? I dont know the history of the car. But the engine sounds healthy.
Any help would be apprecitated!

Best Regards
JJ

[VW BUSH]

Could be in limp mode as this cuts rpm/power at 5.5k.
Get it scanned and see what comes up.
Check all the usual things like vacuum lines air intakes for splits.
Check plugs leads coil etc.
It always something simple on the MK3.
Check it does have 16 valves sounds like you're driving an 8v 

[gasketface]

It's an old car, you might be expecting too much from it.

I drove a Pug 1.9 205 gti the other day,only 26k on it,totally standard.

Was'nt as quick as i remembered

[Screech16v]

They don't feel fast as they have little torque,4k onwards is where its at on these,but abf in mk3 never will be bombtastic,chip the ecu for improvement ,I used to love mine but was allways underwhelmed as the car allways weighed it down,now put the same engine in a mk1 or 2 and well that's a different story

[LR5V]

Get your timing belt checked (& changed if you don't have history), it may have moved a tooth giving you the sluggish performance or even worse may be on the way out.

I agree with Screech that below 4k it can be underwhelming, but with the engine in good health you should still be able to break traction in first, second and even third.

[snozan]

I drive a 16v ABF as a daily. And after a while am like you "damn this is kinda slow". Then i swapp to our second car a Golf Variant, and well i realize the ABF is a monster in compare

What year model is it? Have you changed all the service parts? Best is to scan it for fault codes, ABF have sensors for everything Could be knock sensor etc etc.

[Exardious]

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the replies. Its a 1994 btw. The 16v is our car no 2. Our primary family car is a ford mondeo estate 115 tdci. And that actually fells quicker. 

I remember when i had my MkII GTi 8v, i could make the wheels slip even in 3rd on a moist road. And i remember it feeling quicker, even though on paper it should be slower by quite a margin.

I'll have the codes read and see what it brings up. Are there any good code scanners that can be bought for cheap?
If that gives me no hints, i'll have the timing belt checked. I know it was changed no more than 10k miles ago. Do you mean timing belt or timing chain? Or is that the same? English isnt my mothers tongue, so im pretty sure we mean the same thing. But a timing belt, is that the one also running the water pump, that needs changing once in a while since it will fok up the engine, if it snaps? Or is that another one? Oh, and can the timing belt go out of wack by itself?

Well that was it for now. Thanks again for all the answers so far.

Best regards
JJ

[snozan]

Quite crap in english aswell. And since this a english forum i cant write in Swedish, which i think you understand. (but Swedes dont understand Danish, so wierd). I send you a pm what to check "service wise"

EDIT: I couldn't send you a pm Don't know why 

[Exardious]

Hey Snozan

Thanks for trying. You could send me an email
sid_i_ous
at
hotmail
dot
com

Best regards
JJ

[snozan]

Hey Snozan

Thanks for trying. You could send me an email
sid_i_ous
at
hotmail
dot
com

Best regards
JJ

Email sent