High revs and serious power lag?

[Quadrophenia86]

Hi to all.

I'm looking for a bit of advice. My 1.6 Cl has recently started revving very highly when sat idle. Also when driving along there is a serious power lag when in higher gears. I find that i can only get up hills in 2nd and sometimes even 1st gear. The car just doesn't seem to have any pull. After a drive of about 20-30 mins it seems to go back to driving normally but it is really quite irritating. It also over-runs once the ignition is turned off. I had exactly the same problem on my old 1.6 driver and just want to know what the problem is, wether its something i'm doing wrong and how to get it sorted. I would appreciate absolutely any advice or recommendation as its something i really need to get sorted.

Thanks!

[cняis]

could it be an air leak? check for splits in the vacuum pipes around the head/inlet manifold/carb whatever (i dont know the layout on your 1.6, sorry!)

[Quadrophenia86]

Right. I'll check it out. Thanks a lot!

[takethefifth]

Check out the Pierberg Carb FAQ in the Maintenance and info section.  Probably the waxstat or something.

[Quadrophenia86]

I have heard the carb mentioned when it happened to the last one. Worth upgrading to a Weber carb maybe? I've heard its too much trouble.

[takethefifth]

Not got one myself but apparently a well setup pierberg carb is a lot less maintenance than a webber.

[Quadrophenia86]

Would i have to get a specialist to set it up or would it be something i could do at home?

[takethefifth]

Have a read of this http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=33259.0 and see if you fancy a go!

[Quadrophenia86]

I got lost about halfway into reading that. Maybe i'll go through when i have more patience. Would this be expensive if i got a garage to do it for me? Reading it though has bought up a few more possible symptoms. The temperature gauge does seem to rise very quickly and gets to near max within 20 mins. Then the fan kicks in and it drops. Also the heater has just stopped blowing warm air. This is probably a completely different problem but thought i'd mention it just in case.

[rubjonny]

Your first post sounds like 2 symptoms, carb icing and lack of coolant flow to the carb, causing the waxstat and autochoke to play up.  Further evidence that this is so comes from the fact after a long drive it goes back to normal
To fix that you need to take the inlet manifold off and replace the coolant channel o'ring.

However your last post makes me think something else is the culpret, I'm thinking your waterpump is weak and this is the reason the carb is getting poor flow, the engine is heating up too fast and you've lost your heat!  I'd replace it ASAP, and fit a new thermostat while you're there.