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'82 Rabbit Convertible - Losing Power

Hi everyone, I'm new to this group and hope someone can help.

I have an '82 Rabbit Convertible that got water in the gas tank, which was causing hesitation, and which finally fried the fuel pump. I've replaced the fuel pump and filter, got all the gas out and put in new gas, and all is OK, except when I get up over 55 or so, and try going up hills. Then I get bad hesitation, which gets worse and worse until I lose almost all power. If I shut off the engine, even for just a few seconds, I will get most of the power back, at least for a minute or so, before the problem comes back.

When I take off the gas cap, I can hear air rushing out, so I'm wondering if this could be an issue with fuel tank ventilation. Any recommendations on where I could begin to start checking this out? The Bentley manual is kind of confusing on this. Many thanks.

Mike

Reply to
Mike C.
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TEST=did you try keeping the gas cap off to see if the problem disappears? Bentley will want you to do a fuel pressure test which will help you isolate the problem. I am not sure why your fuel pump got fried though. :-( I have seen some exhaust systems clogged that restricted power. Idled OK but had no real power. Did you check the 02 sensor, tune-up. Maybe your fuel filter is clogged, even though it is new. Or maybe the flow of gas out of the tank to the fuel pump is restrictive. Did you try some HEET in the gas tank to get any remaining moisture out of it. later, dave

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

You may be on to something with the fuel tank pressure, but are you sure the air is rushing out and not in?

I don't remember what all 82's had, but if it had a O² sensor, you might want to check that. I don't think they had computers that stored error codes, but if they did, you will want to have any codes stored read.

You don't want to overlook the exhaust system. Make sure there are no restrictions. A bent pipe or a catalytic converter going bad could be the problem, although that does not seem to explain why you can get a minute of so before the problem comes back after turning the engine off. You also don't want to rule out a bad pump (rebuilt pumps from most autopart stores, especially the national brand ones, are really junk and often are bad when you get them. Also the water in the tank may have started it rusting and now the new filter may be clogged with the rust moving through the system.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

I had a 1976 Rabbit that has a similar hesitation problem. I ended up replacing most everything under the hood, including some major engine overhauls, but the problem ended up being flakes of rust clogging the pick-up tube inside the gas tank. You might want to check that out before anything else.

Reply to
Matthew Senn

I don't have any real advice for you but I can tell you that my 81 convetible's gas tank always has the same pressure in it when I remove the cap. I've driven mine coast to coast without any problems so I think that the pressure is normal .

HTH Steve

Reply to
sehaare

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