Smokey 8v

[jjmcneil]

hi guys, i have been offered a 1990 Mk2 gti 8v digifant, with only 68k on the clock and would like some adivse

the car starts first time but the idle is a bit rough (revs drop quite a bit below 800 and it tries to cut out after you take your foot of the gas) and it is quite smokey - also it has a loud tappet noise the car pulls well enough, but just wondered if i should not bother getting tangled up in it?


cheers for the help guys.

[Smegsterman]

does it smoke only on startup or under load aswell.
if its just on startup i wouldnt worry too much, stick some new oil/filter and flush would help.
the idle i have just solved myself, it was a combination of blue temp sensor/really bad timing and mixture being wrong.
cost me £50 to get sorted basically.

if its smoking under load then the rings(pig) or seals (fairly cheap and easy)would be at fault......then its depending on what rest of car is like and how much you want the car.

[takethefifth]

Starting and idling problems shouldn't be too hard to sort.

I would be worried about a 68k engine smoking excessively. Does the rest of the car fit with this milage? It hasn't had a 1 wound off the clock or anything? 

[jjmcneil]

Not worried about it being clocked as i live on the isle of man, its only had 2 owners -and  there are plenty of 17 year old cars over here with less milage than that (i just got a 1990 s13 200sx with 69k on it for 700 quid)

the smoke is constant, i had the car running for around 8-10 mins and it didn't stop, took it for a quick drive and was smoking all the way, not huge clouds but is enough to make me worry that its been thrashed and/or not very well maintained( i didn't see a service history).

plus the loud tappet/lifter noise

[DarnPB]

If it is only smoking on start up through to warm up, and is ok the rest of the time, then the chances are that the valve guide seals are shot. These syptoms will appear to be worse if the car is stood for a few days. Either be prepared to live with it or wip the  head off and give it a service. A good weekends work and it should sort it out.
Negotiate this into the price.

[Gambit]

if its smoking on idle then its the valve stem seals, ifs its under load then its the rings

to be honest if the car is cheap enough and not rotten then you could rebuild the engine cheap enough yourself, or find a 2.0 bottom end, its not that costly if you source parts from outside the isle of man. EuroCarParts, German Swedish French will all deliver to Isle of Man

isle of man is a car heaven for finding rare low mileage cars, i lived there for 2 years and went back there to get my current 16v...there used to be a lovely rallye knocking about when i was there. i still check the classifieds every now & again!!

whereabouts in IoM, i lived in Douglas & Onchan for the 2yrs i was there - but that was nearly 3yr ago!

[rubjonny]

Tune it up as per my digifant guide before you do anything else, you may find the smoke magically disappears
The stalling/low idle may be down to a vacuum leak, the idle switch not clicking, damaged wires to the throttle body, or timing.

Check/replace in that order

Also the first thing you should do is rteplace the blue temp sender with a new one from VW, will make the car run rich and cold starting/running will be poor.

[Davo13]

hi guys, i have been offered a 1990 Mk2 gti 8v digifant, with only 68k on the clock and would like some adivse.

Would that be the 8v that is advertised for "spares or repairs as it does need some attention" - £285.00 ono?