1995 VW Golf... another problem/question...

it's me again...

I stopped at the drugstore on Sunday afternoon after driving back from the cottage to pick up some cream for my sunburn which has left my body the colour of a nicely cooked lobster... I got back into my car, put the key in the ignition and turned. The car starts, but doesn't seem to 'catch' (if that makes any sense) when I release the key.

I've recently replaced the battery, but no other work has been done on it, and I figure it needs a good "check-up".

Does anyone know what's wrong here? And/or how much it's going to cost to fix it (or how much parts are?)?

Thanks

oh, and to those of you that helped answer my car stereo question- I checked the fuse and it was toast, so I've replaced it, but I've yet to put the stereo in to see if it works.... thanks for all your help!!

Reply to
lilmissgiggles
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You didn't mention if it ever started... Did you try giving some throttle as the engine was turning over, this used to work on my old 91' Golf when it refused to start (due to bad idle caused by the temperature sensor - apparantly) it would still barely run, but it wouldn't cut out... This tactic also worked on two of my friends Jetta's, a 90 and a 92.

Reply to
Rob Guenther

snip "You didn't mention if it ever started... " /snip

sorry, about that, after about 5 or 6 tries it does start. i didn't try giving it any throttle, because it started just before i thought of that.

i've already checked the timing belt, it looks good, missing a screw on the cover though, the serpentine belt needs replacing - the belt that's in there isn't even the correct one.

snip "Tuneing up a newly bought used car is generally a fantastic idea!" /snip

i'm just debating whether to take it to a VW dealership or to someone else... I don't need to spend more cash than i have to.

thanks

Reply to
lilmissgiggles

Reply to
Rob Guenther

I'd opt for "someone else". Once a car is out of warranty, and no longer a blank check for the dealer, they seem to lose interest and are quick to make it seem like a hopeless case. In a way this makes sense, as most people are not willing to pay dealer service costs and dealer parts prices on 9 year old cars. Find a good local shop and let them sort things out for you.

That is my advice...add your own grains of salt.

Reply to
Tony Bad

Rob-

I work in Mississauga, and live in Toronto. What/where do you recommend??

Reply to
lilmissgiggles

thats kind of what i was thinking....

Reply to
lilmissgiggles

Do you mean that the engine starts, but then stops again as soon as you release the key from "Start" to "run"? If so, it could be the ignition switch.

Reply to
Randolph

The VW dealer in Georgetown (northwest of Brampton along HWY7) is where I get 90% of my work done (the routine services at intervals, and some repairs) other stuff I tackle myself (with help from a friend)... I got my rear suspension inspected by R2SPORT which is located right next to the VW dealer in town (actually, in their old repair bays), they are going to replace all my struts for me, i'm having a good feeling about them so far... more of a performance shop tho, but they will do normal stuff... Basically you probably pay just a bit less on labour, same parts costs as dealer on what i've seen. There is also Audi Only out near Newmarket, they will service VW's.... I find them too far out of the way tho, this is a real Audi performance shop... wouldn't recommend it unless you want to tune the hell out of a car... tho they do great work, they tuned up our old 91 Golf to make it run like new (too bad it still knew it had a 13 year old electrical system...). There is also Arno's Volkswagen in Glen Williams, we used to take our car here under the old owner... we've had mediocre experience with the new owners tho, so it's all dealer for now.

Reply to
Rob Guenther

Reply to
Rob Guenther

Thanks for the help Rob, I have a friend (who lives WAYYYY out in the 'country' right now, but come the school year he'll be closer), but he does a lot of work on cars, and I'm trying to learn some things myself (I was pretty pissed when I couldn't get the lug nuts off my tire when I blew the air valve one night and I had to call a towtruck and pay some guy $53.00) but for now I'll take it to a shop and have them take a good look it.

The next few weeks are going to be rather expensive.... new muffler, 'check-up', the ignition problem fixed (hopefully it will be solved with the tune-up...), new wipers, new driver's side headlight lens (trying to find one at a junk yard- slightly difficult...) and somewhere in the very near future I need to put the lock back in the passenger door, get new rims as the one of the ones I have now is slightly bent, new tires, needs some body work done, and eventually a paint job.

I have my fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong, or that nothing major IS wrong with the car...

Oh, and speaking of body work- any recommendations to a good place to go?

performance

Reply to
lilmissgiggles

Body work, the only time we've ever needed it is when my mom backed her Volvo into a low fence type of bar... Crumpled some metal on the back of the car... Went to a place called Riteway, in town... They did great work. My friend really banged up his Tercel and he got it fixed at a place called Arnies, in Norval (small town between Brampton and Georgetown along HWY7) and you can't tell the car was in an accident, the work was immaculate (new hood, fender, headlamps, fixed a transmission problem that would have caused him thousands down the road, paint is a dead perfect match too)!

Your tuneup should solve the start problem... I don't know if the A3 Golf/Jetta's have them, but get them to change the two temperature sensors, one's for the gauge (black in colour on the old cars) and ones for the computer (blue)... No idea what a 1995's engine bay even looks like, and it might not have these sensors, but they cause a lot of starting/idling/running issues on the older A2 style when they act up.

Reply to
Rob Guenther

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