It happened today first time. Driving back from work on motorway around 70mph and revs blipped and died. Had nothing and the car was in gear. Pulled over and checked under bonnet and all was ok. Started up fine and carried on. Stayed at around 3000rpm for a further 25 miles keeping an eye on things. After about 25 miles the revs blipped again and it died again, I took it out of gear and coasted to hard shoulder and the oil battery and water light were flashing. I turned the key and the car started again and I made it home. Any ideas anyone?? its an 89 pb with 2l bottom end. Cheers
sounds like an electrical problem to me, probably ignition related, check all leads and battery connections. It really is impossible to give a diagnosis though cos it could be a number of things. Are you handy with a Fluke?
I am not three bad with one but my car electrical knowledge is limited if any!! I have got one but I left it at work and not back till monday!!! Thinkin about it, the mfa was still showing correct time etc and radio was fine. i will check all leads and things anyway but being intermittant and never happening before, needle haystack. Spoke to my uncle who thinks it could be fuel related but mentioned possible relay issue, but again he thinks possible electrical too. I'll have a fiddle and keep this updated.
I had something similar happen regularly to the missus' 89 PB, but that was fifteen years ago when I had an Independent VW specialist shop in North Wales. Good go I'm getting old..... It would run ok for ages then suddenly fade and die. sitting for a couple of minutes seconds would cure it for another half an hour. and only when she was driving! I went through the whole ignition and fuel system (like everything) and it turned out that it was icing..... maybe that sounds odd for a fuel injected car. the cure was to check the vac lines to the air filter box, replacing that brass temp valve thing in the air box and ultimately welding a new hot air intake thing onto the rusty bolts on the exhaust manifold where the previous one had been before it disintegrated. The problem never reoccurred and the car was still running in 2004 although we'd sold it to a friend in 2000. The OSR handbrake mech in the calliper was still "manual adjust" though! just my 2cents, but the warm air intake parts were BY FAR the cheapest things that i changed during that 3 month troubleshoot. I even changed the hall sender, fuel pump relay, lift pump and borrowed an ECU as an indicator of how far in i went..... The other suggestion was that it only happened to her because I used to drive like a nutter and the head got hotter..... hope that helps
not convinced chap ive not had a warm air feed on my car for the last 5 years, and its run both digfant and k-jet injection. the fact the revs blip suggests to me the problem is your hall sensor or the wiring to it. start at the dizzy check inside isnt all full of oil, pop the plug off check the pins and allso peel back the rubber boot and check the wires for damage. follow it back as best you can. while you're there check the brown and brown white wires to the side of the head, the ring terminals get crudded up with age and the wires snap off
UPDATE_________ Also happens when idling after a drive. Just dies like the key has been turned off. Oil and coolant temps are all fine and not getting overly hot I will get round to checking the sensors etc when work allows me. Time and money is the only thng that is stopping me from sorting this out sooner!!
UPDATE______ I have changed the dizzy cap, rotor arm and HT leads and so far 100 miles of stall free motoring!!!
MK2 Golf 8v GTI Cutting out and Timing Question PB 2l Bottom / TSR Head and Cam I thought I had solved this problem but it is back to haunt me!!! Golf MK2 Gti 8v 1990 TSR Pack A Head and Cam fitted to a 2 litre tall block bottom end. It has recently developed a cough whilst under load. This will cause over fuelling when I let off the throttle and sometimes the car will completely cut out and will not restart until the key is turned off and on. Just before it coughs, the revs will blip and the car jerks. It doesnt go jerky and cough loads, its just one cough and over fuel, then may cough shortly after, may cut out. Unfortunately this is an intermittent fault which will not happen all the time. I have changed the Distributor cap, rotor arm, ht leads and spark plugs and the problem still persists, although a little less frequent than before. I am going to order a new hall sender today just in case. I am also slightly concerned as to the level of vacuum at the inlet manifold, there isnt much at all!! (Tested on every pipe i could find after the throttle body) Would the cam affect this? Also, can someone advise me what the differences are with checking and doing the timing and how I will do this with the modifications already done. Also, would the cam affect valve clearance? If so, how can this be solved. I need help!!
It could be a few things - any sort of dodgy electrical connection in the ignition system, but the most likely problems would the be hall sender in the distributor (creates the spark signal) and the ignition switch. If the rev counter goes a bit crazy when it dies, but you still have lights on the dash, then it's probably the hall sender. If there are no ignition lights or dials when it cuts, it's probably the ignition switch. If you have a big bunch of keys hanging from the ignition switch, separate them so it's just the car keys hanging from he switch.
Your car has hydraulic tappets, so you don't need to worry about valve clearances. From the post merged in from the other thread, I think the hall sender is probably your issue.
Getting the hall sender later, hopefully will cure the problem. It has ran better since I took the keys off but it still happens. Much appreciated for all help and I will keep people posted on what goes on.
Still buggered!! Right then......I have put on a brand new dizzy (whole unit) and the car still cuts out. It still doesnt happen all of the time. Drove to work this morning 55 miles with no issues but yesterday it was not happy! Some times it will cough and jerk whilst driving under load and then the problem goes. Other times the revs blip to about 6000 and car cuts out. Same as before, no better but no worse. Where do I go from here??? Money is getting tight now so I have to choose my repairs wisely!! I am thinking next changing the ignition switch and knock sensor? Looking for advise on where to turn to next. Cheers
Not yet. I am skint at the moment but I will get the price from GSF and hopefully get that changed in next few weeks. I will keep you posted when I get it, fit it and run it. Cheers for the response jonny
If all the dash lights cut out when it stalls, it's probably the ignition switch, but if not, it probably isn't. I don't think the knock sensor would cause your problem, but you could clean up the face and check the torque, as per the haynes manual.
Re Ignition Switch, I have seen a few on flee bay ranging from 10.00 to 40.00. To be honest, looking at photos and what not, they all look the same (not Bosch but Intermoto and makes like that, I bet the bosch one would be more) Do you think they are worth a go? Thanking you again for responding and trying to help me out, this is all very much appreciated!!
could be worth a try, but next time it happens watch the dash lights as mike says, if they go out the ign power has been cut. if they come on and start flashing then something else has killed the engine. also see if you can listen out for the fuel pumps, if you hear em run on for a few seconds that means the engine has cut out on its own, you haven't lost ign power due to the switch.
