Lately the car has been stalling at intersections very intermittently (maybe twice a week- though it is increasing in frequency). I've recently done a backyard tune-up: plugs, cap, rotor, air filter, fuel filter.
Any suggestions?
In the dark, look at the running engine to see if the plug wires are arcing. If not, see if a fine mist of water will make it arc.
The Bentley manual will guide you in finding out what the problem could be. You will only need a digital Volt Ohm Meter along with the Bentley.
I always look for broken/breaking wiring to the grounding area on the intake manifold or coolant pipe. And I check the wiring at the throttle body.
later, dave (> 90 Golf 1.8 8v 130,000 miles:
Coolant temperature-sensor?
Plug wires and a coolant temp sensor are parts I should probably replace anyway. Thanks for these good suggestions. I'll post results here.
Sure..If you have a water-cooled VW one thing you need to consider is your fuel transfer pump relay going bad or your fuel transfer pump dying. This is a common cause for the problem you are having. When you turn the ignition switch off then on, you should hear the fuel transfer pump running. If you don't hear it run then you have found the problem. If you have some experience wiring cars you should easily be able to make bypass jumper for pins 2 & 3 which are ground and 12v respectively. Identify the fuel pump relay in the relay panel, remove the relay and put the jumper in place (leave the relay out:) ) If you are lucky it will be the inexpensive relay and not the fuel transfer pump. I had this problem happen on all of the VWs (2 Sciroccos /1 Golf /1 VW pickup w/ 2.0l 16v engine(was a beast) that I owned.
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