Hi all, although im a new member on here im not new to the forum as i have been looking at all the helpful threads for a while with the various issues ive had previously. Last weekend i swapped the 1.6 carb engine in my 90s spec mk2 golf for a pre 90s 8v digifant. The conversion went smoothly and all the wiring for fuel pumps etc i made up myself as i decided not to go through the fusebox for less hassle. The car starts and runs however upon cold start it idles like a pig til it warms up a tad, any idead? Not too worried about this however, as the main problem is as follows. When driving, usually after hard driving it will intermittently start kangarooing/stuttering and cut out. If i flick the ignition on and off it fires straight back into life however it is extremely inconvinient.. This problem occured in the donor car before the engine was transferred to my car aswell. I believe its when ive driven over a bump that it happens, which is not uncommon for Sheffield can anyone shed any light on this? Ive changed dizzy cap plugs and leads, coil, fuel pump and ecu relays are good, fuel filter is new, wiring is good. My next irritating problem is that when running it has an awful whining noise from somewhere about the engine. As i tried to cure this issue today by swapping the alternator (which wasnt the cause as when i ran it without the belt the noise was still there) and removing the cam cover to look if it was rubbing, i have now made it worse. Not from the engine side, but now from inside the car It sounds like the noise is coming through the clocks but im so confused. Just wondered if anyone else has experienced this or has any ideas as to what it may be? In advance thank you so much for any help anyone may have, it will be greatly appreciated as im so fed up with my car right now lol
Your stuttering sounds like a loose electrical connection to me. Get under the bonnet and wiggle wires around, to see if you can make the engine hiccup. For example, battery connections, plug in the side of the dizzy, on the side of the coil, ignition amplifier, etc. Could even be a dodgy ignition switch. Unfortunately there are lots of connections to check! For cold start and warmup issues, check the ISV buzzes with the ignition on. For the noise, check the tension of your cambelt - might be too tight, causing the tensioner bearings to whine.
Nice one! I will have another mess about with it after work today, at very least get rid of the whining as its driving me insane! Thanks for your help i will post how i get on, as theres so many unfinished threads with the same issues as mine
Quick update, slackened off the tension on my cambelt which has cured the whining noise! Thank god! however, i have connected a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail and watched it while the car stutters and it is normal so not the fuel pumps. Mike H i should of listened to you in the first place lol. I will have a look for dodgey wiring connections and listen for the isv when i next get chance. Another thought, could it be the ecu going into 'safe mode' at all? Thanks again
I don't think the old digi ECUs have a safe/limp mode. I think that started on the Mk3 ones, and even then I'm not sure the early cars had it.
Fair enough, the ecu had blown up now I think. Jiggled wires about near the ecu and found when I moved the connector slightly the engine died. So I took the connector off cleaned up the pins and squirted some contact cleaner on them then re connected. Started to drive out from work and bam, started missing and spluttering then it stopped running. Left the ignition on and stuck my head under the bonnet and it sounded like the fuel was flowing through the injectors still even though the engine was off, the fuel pumps were certainly still running. Then when I tried to start again the fuel pumps wouldn't run at all, then when they did it would fire up just about then die again.. Does this sound about right to confirm the ecu is toast? Oh and when it did run I revved it and it exceeded the rev limit, went above 7thou anyway if that makes any odds to the diagnosis. Thanks in advance again for any help, as I need to know what to buy lol
And just to add on, when it was running I repaired the broken wire to the ISV which made that work. However when I revved it it stuck on 2500 revs so it must be sticking ill buy a new one of those aswell
Sounds like the ECU has gone. They normally blow due to a bad earth. Is your earth strap to the gearbox ok?
Yeah earth strap is good, the other wire is pretty rotten though that goes to battery so will be replacing this before I put the new ecu on lol Do you know if the Bosch one is compatable? Had a quick scout on eBay and the only ones on there are Bosch. Also if anyone has an ecu or knows of one for sale around South Yorkshire let me know
As promised, I can confirm the solution to my issues for anyone else experiencing the same thing. It was indeed the ecu causing it to stutter and cut out! Put a Bosch one on it from a later 90s spec engine and it now runs perfect. However I now have major coolant leak issues but that's not for the electrical section! Thanks for the help
