"Kent" > writes:

>Hi again folks. Now that I've finally completed my clutch job,
>replaced the mysteriously absent drive flange springs/thrust
>washers, and fought the good fight with Bentley Publishing over
>product support, the old GTI is on the road again...but...

>I have another problem that has been plaguing the car
>intermittently for a bit. I'll be driving down the freeway and the
>engine will suddenly and completely lose power. It happened again
>today on the way to work. It doesn't surge or buck; it just
>completely loses power. It seems that I've suddenly lost spark, and
>if I push the accelerator to the floor, absolutely nothing happens.
>At this point I usually push in the clutch to coast, the engine
>drops to idle, and then I can accelerate again.

>Wires, plugs, cap, and rotor are fairly new. All other ignition
>components are original. Anyone have any ideas what the problem is?
>TIA for your help.

Does the tacho needle drop suddenly when power is lost?

Check the wiring to the Hall sensor in the distributor.

The sensor itself doesn't last forever; nor would you, sitting in a
hot distributor with 30,000V or more arcing above your head.

If the tacho needle still reflect engine speed, then there's still a
signal coming from the Hall sensor. Maybe the fuel pump relay is
playing up... electrics differ quite a lot from one production run
to the next.

Also check that the rubber bellows between air flow meter/fuel
distributor and the throttle body is intact. A broken/weak engine
mount can cause the engine to tear open a crack when under load and
the engine will suck a lot of air that's not metered, resulting in a
very lean mixture.
--
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