Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Jasondj
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Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

Howzit all,

My father-in-laws car keeps cutting out when he takes his foot of the accelerator to brake. Then needs to put the the car in neutral and starts up again. This started happening about a week ago but a week prior to that the car idled high. We didn't adjust the idling at all.

Can this be the coil or maybe a dirty carby?

Car was serviced last week as it was due but the issue still persists.

Thanks

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panic-mechanic
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by panic-mechanic »

A service will not address issues like that unless you specifically mention it and they look.
Yes it can be many things including carb dirty and coil. Can be leaky rubber under the carb (mount) can be timing, can be an adjuster that moved.
Does it idle at around 980 rpm when you start it or is it low. Does it idle fine in neutral and then dies when you put it in drive or only if you have been driving and then coast?.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

panic-mechanic wrote:A service will not address issues like that unless you specifically mention it and they look.
Yes it can be many things including carb dirty and coil. Can be leaky rubber under the carb (mount) can be timing, can be an adjuster that moved.
Does it idle at around 980 rpm when you start it or is it low. Does it idle fine in neutral and then dies when you put it in drive or only if you have been driving and then coast?.
It does idle a bit low, in the region of 850rpm. Been ticking over at that rpm since they bought it 2 years aho.

It drives and idles with the choke out(sorry forgot to mention it) and when you push the choke back again it dies. Not fully pulled out but just a little. When cold the car idles fine but as soon as the temp increase a little not even at running temp it starts with the issues.

When it dies it starts right back up again. Rubber mount was replaced with the service last week.



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Jasondj
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

To add yes most of the time it idles fine and dies when you coast

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Last edited by Jasondj on Tue Feb 19, 2019 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sean Trollope
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Sean Trollope »

Check the fuel lines. Make sure they have not got hard or cracked.

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by panic-mechanic »

It sounds like the idle mixture is too lean. At the back of the carb there is a mixture screw - turn it out a tiny bit at a time and see if things improve. You should not need to pull the choke to make it run except for very very cold mornings.
850 is also too low. The spec is 980 so adjust the idle stop to raise the rpm a little.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

panic-mechanic wrote:It sounds like the idle mixture is too lean. At the back of the carb there is a mixture screw - turn it out a tiny bit at a time and see if things improve. You should not need to pull the choke to make it run except for very very cold mornings.
850 is also too low. The spec is 980 so adjust the idle stop to raise the rpm a little.
Cool, will see what I can do.

The mixture screw, is in the middle back of the carb or little to the left or right? Will it be the only screw I see at the back?

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

Thats the back of the carbImage

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by panic-mechanic »

it's the only one at the back of the carb.
Right in the middle at the bottom of your picture.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by VAG Fan »

Just for completeness and to avoid confusion, in the picture the silver, spring-loaded adjustment screw, slightly to the upper right of the brass coloured mixture screw, sitting above the large throttle spring, is the stop screw for adjusting the idle speed. (I only add this because this location could also be classified as the back of the carb.)
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2004 VW Golf TDI, type 1J, AHF, 317k (2016-current) --- daily
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by missioner »

Replace the carb base gasket.

Panics assessment is correct, its running lean, but due to a massive air leak under the carb.

The clue is that the car idles normally when the choke is pulled out, this reduces the air coming into the carb from the top and corrects the mixture enough for the air leak through the base gasket for the car to run. Without the choke the car will stall every time the throttle is released.

+1 for classic carb problems.
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Jasondj
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

missioner wrote:Replace the carb base gasket.

Panics assessment is correct, its running lean, but due to a massive air leak under the carb.

The clue is that the car idles normally when the choke is pulled out, this reduces the air coming into the carb from the top and corrects the mixture enough for the air leak through the base gasket for the car to run. Without the choke the car will stall every time the throttle is released.

+1 for classic carb problems.ImageImage
The baseplate is brand new, was replaced when service was done roughly a week and n half ago, issue was there before that.

I played around with the idling yesterday, the idling screw was basically tuned all the way in. Adjust it a little when the car was at operating temperature and seemed fine.

I will have the car over the weekend to test it out as my father-in-law is going away so I'll see what else is the issue.

I did find something wrong, the second stage does not come in at all, checked all the vacuum hoses and they seemed fine, checked for cracks and also the linkage was attached.

Can the diaphragm be shot, car did drive for 15 years of its life in gravel road only.

My father-in-law rather wats to put on a new carby than struggle with it the old one and have the new one tuned for the coast as i believe they came preset for the reef.

Goldwagen carbs a yay or nay?

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by missioner »

Jasondj wrote:
missioner wrote:Replace the carb base gasket.

Panics assessment is correct, its running lean, but due to a massive air leak under the carb.

The clue is that the car idles normally when the choke is pulled out, this reduces the air coming into the carb from the top and corrects the mixture enough for the air leak through the base gasket for the car to run. Without the choke the car will stall every time the throttle is released.

+1 for classic carb problems.ImageImage
The baseplate is brand new, was replaced when service was done roughly a week and n half ago, issue was there before that.

I played around with the idling yesterday, the idling screw was basically tuned all the way in. Adjust it a little when the car was at operating temperature and seemed fine.

I will have the car over the weekend to test it out as my father-in-law is going away so I'll see what else is the issue.

I did find something wrong, the second stage does not come in at all, checked all the vacuum hoses and they seemed fine, checked for cracks and also the linkage was attached.

Can the diaphragm be shot, car did drive for 15 years of its life in gravel road only.

My father-in-law rather wats to put on a new carby than struggle with it the old one and have the new one tuned for the coast as i believe they came preset for the reef.

Goldwagen carbs a yay or nay?

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Yay.

Put new. Best plan.


The tuned for .... Story is BS. They are given a basic setting and average type jets that will work in most situations. Not perfect, but good enough.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by panic-mechanic »

The jets are actually for sea level. They are always rich at the reef. Unless you can Load the engine you will never see the second stage move while free revving it. There simply is not enough time and vacuum to allow it to open unless you have no sympathy for a motor and rev it flatout with no load for quite a long time.
If it does not open it will be really dead when you drive it - like it won't barely rev past 3500 or so.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by panic-mechanic »

good starting point for idle mixture screw is about 2.5 to 3 turns out.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

Thanks gents. Ill have the whole weekend to play around with it.

Reason i mentioned the second stage is the golf pulls away fine but from 3500rpm is feels sluggish and sounds like a cows moo.

But let me play around with it this weekend and let you guys know.

Thanks for the mixture tune tip. So basically turn it in all the way and turn 2.5 out and take it from there.

Thanks

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by VAG Fan »

The way I always tuned my Keihin's idle mixture is to turn it completely in, then turn it out slowly and listen to the idle speed increase. At the point where it doesn't increase anymore, I slowly turned it back in, until the idle speed just started to slow down. From this point, I turned it back out about a quarter to half turn. I never counted complete turns, but I suspect in the end it comes down to a similar adjustment as 2.5 turns in total.
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1992 Audi 500 SE, type C4, AAR (2001-2020) --- nice while it lasted
1983 VW Golf GTS, type 17, FR (1992-2005) --- most fun car I've ever had
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

Hi guys. After my father-in-law said to take the car and play with the carb we ended up buying a new one.

Carb was leaking petrol and some springs and small parts seemed to be missing.

There are also missing some vacuum lines and now i need your help.

The car now idles and coast without cutting out so that issue is resolved.

The following issues still persist. Erratic idling, sounds like misfire, idle solenoid wire and vacuum lines.

Erratic idling: Can this because of the vacuum lines not being connected? If i pull out the choke a little bit the erratic idling smoothens out.

Idle solenoid: Where does the wire go? Does it need to be on the ignition power or straight to the positive or negative battery terminal as the old carby had the wire just hanging.

Vacuum lines: Anyone have a diagram on where what goes. There is a hard plastic pipe from the intake going around the engine into the firewall with a nipple open and one with green plastic thing blocking it off. The one that is open is however broke, if i put my finger on it i can feel is sucking. Can i close than one and use the other one next to it seeing the nipple is broken off.

Thats about it for now i guess :)

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

Small update on my last post. Under the bonnet there is a sticker showing the route for the vacuum lines, Germans has thought of everything. Car is still original with original paint so + point there.

Did all the vacuum lines, blocked the 2 exstra on the carby off and closed the one broken nipple and used the one thats still attached and wow, car idles so much smoother and response is a lot better.

Also found a plug in the wire loom next to the engine that the solenoid plug fits in so guess i sorted that out also.

Now i have a new problem again or maybe its just me. When selecting drive or reverse it kicks in with a bang, is selects the gear very harshly, is that normal ons these old autos? Driving gear change is very smooth and quick. I have also notice when gearing down as you begin to brake it takes a while to go down from 2nd to 1st and if you brake to quickly the car stalls when you stop as its still in 2nd. When gradually coming to a stop i can feel it gears down from 2nd to 1st.

Car will also need timing to be checked and done, it does ping under load. The second stage also kicks in with the new carby, must say this car has some grunt.

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by PapaJo »

Think you need to check the adjustment on the kickdown cable from carb to gearbox.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

Oo, what do i need to check on it? I adjusted the cable to have a little slack. Should it be tight?

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by Jasondj »

Another thing i noticed is the idle smoothes out if the choke is pulled a little bit

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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by PapaJo »

Jasondj wrote: Fri Mar 22, 2019 9:27 am Oo, what do i need to check on it? I adjusted the cable to have a little slack. Should it be tight?

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Afiak the slack should be minimal. See if you can find an owners manual.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by PapaJo »

Jasondj wrote: Fri Mar 22, 2019 11:19 am Another thing i noticed is the idle smoothes out if the choke is pulled a little bit

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Post a picture with the vacuum lines connected and describing which vacuum line goes where.

From the front of carb (tappet cover side) should be a vacuum point with a green plastic narker if not mistaken and that should be connected to the diaphragm to the keft where the petrol cable sits as the arm is connected to the cam on no:1 carb choke and the vacuum will push idle up a bit.
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Re: Golf mk2 1.8 carb auto cutting out

Post by missioner »

Harsh shifting is related to oil quality.

Drop the tranny oil pan and clean the sieve and refill with fresh ATF. Should sort out most of the issue.
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