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2.0L Jetta Problems after sitting for 2 years

Hi fellow VW afficianados,

I have a '97 Jetta A3 2.0L that has been sitting for 2 years. Put in a new battery and it cranked up fine. Tried to catch but wouldn't. Seemed fuel strarved.

Removed air intake and choked it by covering up. Finally got it to catch. Replaced air intake and revved up a few times and then it died. In the process it blew a lot of water out the exhaust (car sat outside). Got it to catch a couple more times (usually after sitting for 5 minutes each time), but wouldn't do more than idle. As soon as you started to open the throttle it started to cough and died. Sometimes a squirt of starting fluid under the air intake cap would help the starting process.

Put a can of dry gas in and four gallons of fresh gasoline in the tank (was about 1/4 full).

Seems like everything must be working since it fired and revved, but not sure why it isn't consistent. Throttle sensor? Air flow meter?

Any ideas out there?

Thanks, Don

Reply to
Don
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I've worked on quite a few of these A3 2.0's that have been out of operation for years similar to yours. Most of them needed new fuel pumps along with the gas tank being drained and cleaned. I'd check fuel pressure for starters after you verify that you have consistent spark.

Reply to
Madesio

Unless the fuel had stabilizer in it before it was stored, I would expect it to be a fuel problem first. Dry gas will not fix the fuel. You really can't fix it. You can drain it and then add it back a little at a time each time you fill up with fresh. Note: Mixing it with high test does nothing different than regular other than to raise the octane rating of the mix.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Sounds like I've got to tackle the fuel.

What's the easiest way to drain the tank?

D>> Hi fellow VW afficianados,

Reply to
Don at The Travel Store

Take the car outside. Look for the lowest fuel line coming out of the tank. Catch with large catch can. If you already filled the tank with a bunch of fuel you might siphone most of the fuel off into a 5 gallon jug then drain. Some will look inside the tank from the top to see how clean things are. You might even remove the tank to clean the insides.

You do not want to do any of these tasks when the car is >Sounds like I've got to tackle the fuel.

Reply to
Jim Behning

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