Golf mk3 starting problems...

Jun 02, 2004 1 Replies

Hi all,



One day, my '94 Golf with 60k on the clock is running quite happily (did about 200 miles at the weekend), the next it turns over but won't fire up. I checked the distributor cap, and the rotor arm appeared to have worn out -- horrible carbon deposits on the end of the rotor and the terminals inside the cap.



So, I changed the rotor and cap. The engine still won't start. Is the carburization inside the distributor likely to be a symptom of some other electrical problem?



If not, where else should I be looking? The fuel pump makes a `grrzp' noise when the ignition is switched on, so I presume it's working OK, and I fitted a new fuel filter about 4000 miles ago when I bought the car. Is the injection system (Bosch mono-motronic) likely to have failed unexpectedly?



Any help appreciated before I give in and call a mechanic! This never happened with my '88 Golf with 140k on the clock, I should've just kept it, grumble grumble :-).



Ben.


I know little or nothing about cars but I had a similar problem recently with my clio. Everything sounded ok except it wasn't starting. This would happen on wet days and dry days, in the morning or after work.

Spraying the distributor cap with wd40 sometimes started it first time, other times not at all.

After a lot of cursing and digging about, I found out that the problem lay with the flywheel sensor connector which is below and to the right of the cap. Once this was cleaned, dried and taped up, it has started first time everytime.

I can only assume that when spraying the cap, sometimes oil was falling on to the connector and driving the water out.

/Heds

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