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89 jetta gl problem

Seems to be my year to have car troubles.

My 89 jetta (1.8 8v) has started doing something kind of wierd. She'll be driving a long fine and then start to lose power, as if either she's getting starved out or no spark.

Annoying. But the weird thing is that if I turn off the engine and restart, the problem goes away straight off. Plenty of power. The problem may come back again in a minute or so, but if I shut down the engine and turn it right back on the problem will clear itself.

Happens with warm engine rather than cold.

I put through a bottle of heet and a new tank of gas thinking it might be water in the fuel (it being winter), but the problem is still there one tank later.

She's due for a general tune up, air filter and fuel filter, per Bentley, and I'll get to that this weekend (hopefully), but I'm wondering if any of you have seen these symptoms before, where if you turn off the engine and start again you're good to go.

Fuel pump maybe?

TIA - Chris

Reply to
starburst
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starburst wrote in news:etv8g0$bnf$1 @geraldo.cc.utexas.edu:

Misfires? If one cylinder isn't firing you will suddenly feel a loss of power. Are the spark plugs and cables in good shape? Does this happen in damp weather?

Does the exhaust change in appearance of odour when this happens?

If it happens in damp or humid weather, could just be a corroded connection somewhere along the ignition coil / distributor / spark plug wires / spark plug. If the air is damp and the wire is not totally insulated, the high voltage could discharge somewhere else instead of making it to the spark plug.

I could be wrong here, I'm just learning too

Reply to
Jem Berkes

See what happens after you replace the fuel filter / air filter. Also inspect all the vacuum lines and their connectors for leaks.

Reply to
samstone

Could be debris in your fuel tank. When the particles clog up the transfer pump's pickup screen and the fuel pressure drops. You should hear the main fuel pump get louder though. Same applies to the air filter too but the noise! ;-)

Might be exhaust that gets clogged, with maybe a loose baffle inside, but you should hear the exhaust change. You could check the vacuum of the engine which may help diagnose your problem.

Yeah tune it up too and maybe you will find something wrong! ;-)

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

Think I found the problem on this. Swapped the connectors for the water temp guage and the water sensor for the ignition system, and Tada!, no problem. I put about 75 miles on it this way in all conditions, wet, warm, cold, dry...etc., and not a hiccup. So I need a new blue water sensor and, as my german pals say, "Feierabend" (quittin' time).

Thanks for all suggestions!

And this afternoon, after a lot of weekend hours, the VR6 is outta my passat. What a bear! Stopped off at my local vw junkyard and arranged for the replacement - out of a 2000 or so Jetta. Now I just have to get the transmission off the engine.

Reply to
starburst

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