85 with a problem

[ChrisRoser]

Hello everyone,
My name is Chris Roser and I have aquired an 85 Cabriolet with a 1.8L 5 speed.
The car is almost mint with 38K original miles and has spent most of its life in a garage. The previous owner would start it routinely but the car has had a drivability problem for years hense the low mileage.

Here is what I have found. It will start and idle from cold but as soon as you put a load on the engine it sputters and tries to stall. Push the clutch in and the idle smooths out. If you try to restart the car once warmed up it will fire but you have to coax the idle up with the trottle peddle.

The previous owner has replaced a lot of parts in his quest to avoid being molested by our local dealer. Unfortunetly nothing helped.

Here is a list of new parts.
Fuel distributor, Dizzy with cap and rotor, In tank Fuel pump, New vaccum lines in engine bay, All new relays, New injectors and seals and probably a few more things that I haven't found yet. In the trunk I found a brand new JC Wittney fuel pressure guage along with a new Bently manual. The PO gave up on the car when he couldn't figure out how to tee in the new pressure guage. I guess thats a good place for me to start.

I can see that the fuel accumulator and pump look to be original so maybe that's the problem. Can anyone give me some pointers on where and how to install this guage. The kit has several misc. parts and pieces but nothing for banjo bolts and fittings.
Anyone have pictures of there install?
Once I get the pressure checked out I can post an update and go from there.

This is my first time working on a non US car so I hope I've come to the right place.
Please be gentle while I try to get up to speed. My quick perusal of the Bently manual
has got me somewhat nervous. But I still can't wait to go Topless

Regards
Chris Roser
W. Shokan, NY

[Briano1234]

Check the timing... I have a 92 that acted similar to this...... It was the crank timing pulley was loose....and slipping....

Ron or some others can clue you in better to the 80'ish Cab's..... but it sure sounds awefully familiar.... If the bolt on the crank is loose, that could be the issue....

[gull]

The PO gave up on the car when he couldn't figure out how to tee in the new pressure guage. I guess thats a good place for me to start.

I can see that the fuel accumulator and pump look to be original so maybe that's the problem. Can anyone give me some pointers on where and how to install this guage. The kit has several misc. parts and pieces but nothing for banjo bolts and fittings.

I'd suggest you pick up the Haynes manual ("VW Rabbit, Golf, Jetta, Scirocco, Pick-up 1975 through 1992"), which has a good description of the procedure on page 4-26. You want to follow the CIS fuel pressure checks procedure. It's not the best manual for these cars, but it's cheap and I'll get you through initial testing.

I'll give you a quick overview here, though.

You should start with the engine cold.

Before you do any work on the fuel system, pull the fuel pump relay and run the engine until it stalls, to depressurize the system. The fuel pump relay is in the under-dash relay panel, just to the left of the seat belt warning module, which is easy to spot because it's the only one with a speaker.

Look for the hose that comes off the middle of the fuel distributor and goes to the control pressure regulator. It will have a sort of U-bend in the end, and an inline coupler (not a banjo fitting). Disconnect it at the fuel distributor. Be careful, there will still be some residual pressure in the fuel system. (Might be a good idea to have a fire extinguisher handy, just in case.) Use the adapters that came with your gauge to connect the gauge between the hose you just removed and the fuel distributor. You want the valve on the hose side, the one going to the control pressure regulator.

Make sure the valve on your gauge is open, reinstall the relay, and start the car. Check for leaks.

Note the cold control pressure on the gauge. It should be around 20 psi, although this varies with temperature. The Haynes manual has a good graph. I usually just write the pressures down as I run through the procedure, then check them against the specs later.

Briefly close the valve in the gauge and read the system pressure. It should be 65-75 psi.

Open the valve again and watch as the engine warms up. Control pressure should slowly rise and then level off after about 2 minutes. The reading should be 49-57 psi at that point.


I would definitely verify that control pressure and system pressure are close to correct before throwing any more parts at the problem. A bad control pressure regulator could cause the kinds of symptoms you're seeing.

[gull]

Just remembered there's a tutorial here with some helpful pictures:
http://www.geocities.com/jonnyguru/vw/fpressure.html