Digilag is becomming a drag

[billytheboot]

dangerous in the sense that I have about %50 acceleration in the morning, however on the way home the car runs perfectly. I assumed this was a digilag issue as I was warned this is a common problem, but after listening to comments my problem sounds pretty unusual I was going to take her in to get timing checked later on this year, maybe i'll bring this forward....

[...joe]

what you have isn't digilag but sounds more like a more involved problem. you'll need to systematicly go throught the ignition components trying to eliminate the faulty part. i'd say if its bogging on pulling away it sounds like a timing/fuelling problem.

[Agreeable Slick]

have you let it run very low on fuel recently? If so bits could have been dredged up from the fuel tank and brought through the fuel line. Changing the fuel filter would be beneficial whether it is that or not.

[rubjonny]

Before you do ANYTHING buy a new blue temp sender from VW, will cost you about £12 and is always the first step in resolving Digifant issues.  They may try to tell you its only for models fitted with a catalyst, but it is definitly the right one for your car

Now I'll post what I PMed to billytheboot last night after the thread got locked:
Check the timing! Mine was exactly the same, no power, slow and had heart stopping lag when you put your foot down.  I'm talking several secconds not the slight hesetation associated with 'digi-lag':
Take out spark plug #1 and turn the engine over by hand with a spanner on the crank pulley nut until the piston reaches the top of its travel. Check by either shining a torch doen the hole or putting summat long & thin down there like a dowl rod.

Next check the punched hole on the inside of the camshaft sproket lines up with the head surface, with the cam cover removed.  If not slacken the tensoner and move to suit.

Next take the dizy cap off and make sure the rotor arm is lined up with the mark on the dizzy, which should correspond to spark plug lead #1, if not loosen the tensioner and turn the intermediate shaft.  This is a little tricky with the cambelt cover in place, though I managed to do it by removing the bolt here and bending the cover outwards.

Once you've done all that the timing should be pretty close, the next step is to set the dizzy advance by loosening the dizzy clamp bolt and twisting it back & forth whilst the engine is running.  Before you do this you may wish to adjust the idle

[rubjonny]

Once you've done that, set the idle/CO:
1. Get the engine up to temp, at least 80 degrees on the MFA oil temp display
2. Turn the engine off and remove & plug the intake side of the breather pipe between the rocker cover & air intake
3. Hold the MFA button in and turn the ignition on, off and on again, then start the car.  This puts the MFA into a 'secret' mode.  Put the MFA switch to setting 2 and press the button till you get the digital rev counter, position 2 I think
4. Unplug the blue temp sender and rev the engine cleanly over 3k rpm 3 times, letting it return to idle between each rev.
5. Check the rev display, adjust the idle with the idle screw on the throttle body to about 850-900 rpm. Clockwise to decrease, anticlockwise to increase
6. If you have a CO meter, block off one of the talipipes (i use a load of duck tape) and shove the probe up the pipe.  Follow the manufacturers instructions, and set the CO to about 1.8ish using the allen screw on the MAF, clockwise to increase, anticlockwise to decrease.
If you don't have a CO meter, turn the screw in until the engine starts to sound rough then back it out gradually till the idle sounds smooth & even.  Check the aerial or bonnet stay for vibration, you want it smooth as possible.  This will get you close, then take it to a garage to get it set properly
7. Reset the idle to 850-900 rpm if it has changed, and adjust the CO accordingly, repeat till you get about 1.8 at 850ish rpm

[billytheboot]

Right..... first of all cheers for all the advice, it's all appreciated

I checked the temp sender with my trusty multimeter and it's reading 2 K ohms as it should be.

Next was the vacuum hose, a mate of mine recommended spraying hose with a load of WD40 then starting the car, if it stalls then there's a crack in the hose somewhere. Didn't stall.

thanks for the timing advice mr jonny, but I decided friend of a friend with garage and kit would be better and at least i'd have a person to blame if all went pete tong. He sorted timing and loosened a sticky throttle cable (note to self, check this next time) also helped me replaced fuel filter (thanks slick)...

Now she's running as sweetly as wolfsberg intended.
 

[...joe]

nice one matey!