1.8 16v KR very flat on power/sluggish

Discussion in '16-valve' started by HypnoMk2, Jul 3, 2022.

  1. HypnoMk2 New Member

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    Hi peeps!

    I have a 1990 Mk2 Golf with 1.8 16v KR swap. I’ve been driving it for close to 2 years now, and i’ve always had performance problems with it from the get go that still haven’t been resolved.


    Problems:

    • Car wil not go above 188km/h on GPS, struggles to get up to that speed (very slow) and hits a wall at 5000rpm and will not really pass that at full throttle on the highway, will very slowly creep up on that if I baby the throttle.
    • Very flat performance for a 16v.. Feels like i’m driving an 8v or lower at times, feels slow for a 16v.
    • Will pick up better if I gradually increase the throttle in stead of going flat out/foot to the floor, it really does not like that.
    • Used to run on the hot side, untill I switched out the WUR for another (untested) unit I had laying around, now it suddenly runs cooler? And gets better gas mileage. (Used to sit a bit over middle at highway speeds (with wind) and would creep up very fast if there was no driving wind (would go to 3/4ths pretty quickly in busy traffic/or when idling) after the WUR swap it sits a little below middle on the gauge if driving on the highway and middle in normal traffic and creeps up a little bit past that if idling/no direct cooling, but doesn’t hit 3/4ths anymore on the temp gauge.
    • Hard cold start/long crank (I’ve found the issue to be the 5th injector not injecting fuel when it should at all, no power going to the injector on cold crank) Haven’t checked why
    • The heater on the WUR (plug on side of WUR) Isn’t giving any power either..
    • I’ve tried setting the rotor to point at the little notch on the rotorunit (wich would be 6degrees btdc) after I lined everytning else up till cyl 1 hit tdc. It doesn’t run nicely at 6.. It runs way better when it’s advanced a ton.. I was told the dizzy should be positioned more into the middle where the notch is, so that’s quite odd..
    Photo showing how far it’s cranked back https://freeimghost.net/i/xAgug
    Photo of the temp gauge at highway speeds
    https://freeimghost.net/i/xAo0O

    Other than those problems i’ve specified it runs well, idles good (no hunting) starts up every single time if it’s warm/been started before. Doesn’t drink copious amounts of fuel (550/600km on 1 tank) No vacuum leaks. It does burn oil but has great compression on all 4 cylinders. The car does not have it’s original 020 gearbox. In stead the KR is paired to a 02A CDA cable shift gearbox from a Golf 3 ABF, including the 02A flywheel (so no 6d btdc mark).


    Things I haven’t checked yet

    • I haven’t checked the system/control pressures yet as I haven’t had the right equipment to, i’m working on this to check asap.
    • I do not know the CO% of the car as is.

    Engine is in good condition otherwise it’s had alot of new parts

    • New dizzy, rotor, cap
    • New waterpump
    • New timingbelt
    • Heads been skimmed & cleaned, valves cleaned and reseated, new valve seals
    • New gaskets
    • Brand new high pressure pump (Bosch)
    • New fuel filter
    • New sparkplugs (Bosch super 4)
    • New dynamo (Bosch)
    • New battery
    • New original injectors (Bosch) + orings

    The fuel distributor and WUR are not new and have been lying around for a long time before I used them for this engine swap.


    Sorry for the long post, but I feel it’s fair if I give as much information as I can to rule things out.


    I really enjoy my car, but the fact that it’s so sluggish and seems slow for a 16v has been plaguing my mind for over 2 years. It’s never ran at it’s full potential


    I hope i’ve been clear in explaining myself and the state of things, thank you for taking the time to read my long post! I hope someone might’ve run into the same problems
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2022
  2. Tristan

    Tristan Paid Member Paid Member

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    You'll have to check the timing properly, with a measuring gun , and the fuelling with a sniffer before you go any further.

    Also, that gearbox would have a lot taller ratios iirc than an original KR engine usually has, which would blunt acceleration.
     
    HypnoMk2 likes this.
  3. Toyotec

    Toyotec CGTI Committee - Happy helper at large Admin

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    You seem to run out of torque at 5000 rpm. This is why it feels like you hit a wall.

    You mentioned you changed the timing belt, advanced cam timing by a tooth will cause that problem. Fuel mixture strength also.

    I would suggest checking the timing belt references carefully and let us know what you find. Easy to get that wrong especially if you have not used a correct TDC reference.
     
    HypnoMk2 likes this.
  4. HypnoMk2 New Member

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    I have suspected that indeed… I will look at those things and give an update
     
  5. HypnoMk2 New Member

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    After inspecting the static timing everything seemed to be how it’s supposed to be. After removing the crankshaft pulley and crankshaft gear I saw something pretty bad… The crankshaft gear was worn away quite a bit (the little notch) Wich gave quite some play on the crankshaft pulley :-( Wich makes it impossible to correctly time everything.

    I’ll be ordering a new crankshaft gear and will hope for the best Thanks alot for your suggestions. I’ll also still be checking my fuel pressures afterwards :-)

    Picture of worn away notch on my crankshaft gear:
    https://ibb.co/fFwJJ9V
    https://ibb.co/v1h9n9Y
     
    Toyotec likes this.

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