Re: 89 Jetta 8V problem

Sep 16, 2003 2 Replies


Hello, my 89 Jetta 8v is experiencing a problem recently:


>At any speed, and at any gear (3 speed auto, I can't be sure, but most
>likely in 3rd when the problem happens... but could have been other), the
>car would suddenly "loose power" for not even 1 second, maybe 1/2 second or >so.
>It feels like what happens when you suddenly release the pedal, and then
>quickly re-apply it. I didn't get a chance to look at the tach, because it
>happens so sudden, and when I looked, it's back to normal.
>Could this be a spark plug issue? or maybe the distributor needs cleaning??

My tip is the Hall sensor in the distributor. Broken wires or cooked sensor.

I had this for a while and it drove me nuts. The car would suddenly shudder a teeny bit, like the engine had turned off for a fraction of a second. Did it maybe once every 20 miles or so, at random. Turned out to be a loose ground wire. My advice is to check all of them on the drivers' side of the intake manifold, on the transmission mount, and on the battery itself. Don't overlook the obvious (like I did).

'Luck- Chris

I've had this happen twice before. First time was the distributor rotor. The resistor was fried. Second time was when I switch OX Sensor for the generic three wire one. Once I replaced it with the OEM Sensor life (and mpg) is good.

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