I just purchased a 90 Golf GL with nearly 240.000 miles. It has been well maintained, has a brand new distributor even. The plug wires have also been replaced. The previous owner told me that it stalls when it's driven in the wet occasionally. It stalls for about 5 minutes, then all is well.
Well.. it has been very damp and rainy here, and even though it's wasn't raining today, the car is bucking like a bronco ride in a roadside saloon on occasion. The idle is a little rough, and it stalls now and again at a trafficl lite.
I have heard from another Golf owner that the older Golfs 'just do that".. well, I'd really like to figure this one out. It is a whole lot of fun to drive, but the bucking has got to go.
Look at the running engine at night, and look for arcing. If things are smooth and dry, try spraying the coil and other ignition area with a fine mist from a sprayer.
I've had the same problem with my Golf but I find an easy solution is to spray WD-40 over the HT leads and distributer. I don't know if you get WD-40 in the states but it is an oil based spray lubricant. Works every time.
NO NO NO!!! Your just asking for nothing short of an ENGINE fire. Do not spray WD40 on the engine anymore! It is very very flammable. It has a low flashpoint.
TO EVERYONE IN THIS NG. DO NOT DO THIS! I am a voice of experience.
I have a '92 Golf 1.8L and have experienced very similar problems from time to time. Last fall the car would barely start on cold, damp mornings, and took perhaps 10 minutes to warm up and run properly. I installed new Bosch platinum plugs, and the problem went away. In fact, with the new plugs the car started and ran well even at -20C. However... It's been very rainy and humid here the past few days, and the starting/rough running problems reappeared even in summer temperatures. Since the plugs have only about 10,000km on them, I couldn't believe they had gone bad already. Similarly, the HV cables are Bosch OEM, about two years old with perhaps 20,000km, so should be good. I inspected all the HV connections at the plugs and distributor, cleaned all the connectors with electrical contact cleaner and then applied dielectric grease. I found that the connectors to the spark plugs were badly corroded, and that there was a thin layer of corrosion/dirt on the plug insulator and the rubber insulator inside the connector. My guess is that salty slush splashing on the engine in winter had caused the corrosion. Under humid conditions, the corrosion residue likely becomes conductive, and shorts out the plug. After I cleaned all the connectors, the car started and ran perfectly, even on a rainy morning with humidity near 100%.
So.. although a shotgun approach of replacing plugs, HV wires, cap and rotor will almost certainly solve this problem, simply cleaning all the HV connectors may work too.
Joe wrote: :> I have heard from another Golf owner that the older Golfs 'just do :> that".. well, I'd really like to figure this one out. It is a whole :> lot of fun to drive, but the bucking has got to go.
: replace distributor cap, rotar arm and HT leads then come back here. WD-40 : is the quick and easy option though.
HV? HT? are we refering to the spark plug wires? (my 86 GTI is very unhappy the first 2 blocks or so of driving, always wanting to stall... then it's fine... i'd try a cure as well)
Chicago Paddling-Fishing wrote: : Joe wrote: : :> I have heard from another Golf owner that the older Golfs 'just do : :> that".. well, I'd really like to figure this one out. It is a whole : :> lot of fun to drive, but the bucking has got to go.
: : replace distributor cap, rotar arm and HT leads then come back here. WD-40 : : is the quick and easy option though.
: HV? HT? are we refering to the spark plug wires? (my 86 GTI is very : unhappy the first 2 blocks or so of driving, always wanting to stall... : then it's fine... i'd try a cure as well)
After leaving the car sit for a week, I bought a tube of dielectric grease and pulled each spark plug wire, one by one and used it on each one. Once I was done I did the coil wire... then I started the car... and it ran fine.
This is good... normally it takes about 3 blocks to warm up to the point where you don't have to rev it high to keep it running... i thought it was a fuel problem (had buzzing a while back and replaced the transfer pump).
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.