weird fuel starvation problem - 1989 Jetta

Hey Guru's

I have a 1989 Jetta and I've been having a strange problem.

I start the car, it idles fine, although smells a little rich, and
drives fine for a few miles. Then, it will slowly decrease RPMs and I'll
lose speed. Depressing the accelerator does no good. Sometimes makes it
worse. If I do nothing but let my foot off the gas, it will slowly die.
If I depress the clutch and let it idle, it will slowly die. Sometimes
it will actually come back to life, but that's rare.

Now, If I turn the ignition off and back on while its sputtering and
dying, it acts acts fine. It will drive for another mile or so before it
repeats this problem.

I have had 2 mechanics here in Memphis look at it. One mechanic replaced
both fuel pumps and the fuel filter and removed/cleaned/reinstalled the
gas tank. This helped for a day. The other mechanic replaced a 'control
module' located under the hood right in front of the winshield on the
driver's side. This worked for about a week.

I've filled the tank with new gas (it was on 1/4 tank) and still have
the problem. I have NOT used any store-bought additives.

I've also replaced the spark plugs/wires/distributor cap/rotor.

All replacement parts were purchased NEW from German-parts distributors
and all are German.

I am at a loss here. Its a great car and I just want it to run right.

Any thoughts on what else I should look at ?

-Chris E.

In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, Chris Etzel wrote:

>
>Any thoughts on what else I should look at ?

Look at the coil area in the dark. If the weather is foggy, or you
generate your own mist with a fine sprayer, all the better.

If you see arcing, that could account for unburned fuel.

Chris Etzel > wrote:

>Hey Guru's
>
>I have a 1989 Jetta and I've been having a strange problem.
>
Well. I had a very similar problem and it was the 02 sensor.

Are you going to fix it yourself? If so get a Bentley repair manual and a
Digital Volt Ohm Meter.
I think you could do a better job at fixing it than guessing. ;-)

I will assume that a "tune-up" has been done correctly esp. the ign. timing.
That the engine is an 8V, and everything is in good shape.
And BTW I only recommend BOSCH distributor rotors!!! I have seen too many
cheap ones stump a mechanic. lol

Guessing at the problem....it could be:
Bad wiring or usually broken ground wires at the engine intake manifold
or cyl head coolant pipe.
Fuel Pressure Regulator
Oxygen Sensor or wiring
Air Flow Box
Coolant Temperature Sensor (for the Fuel Injection)
Possibly even bad injectors
Weak Ign. Coil
or ???

Someone had a good site for diagnosing but I don't recall it offhand. <:-)

Try unplugging the Oxygen Sensor and driving it for awhile and post results.

Checking the FI wiring at the ECM plug, that module your last mechanic
changed, will possibly uncover your problems. ;-)
--
later,
dave
(One out of many daves)

"Chris Etzel" > wrote in message
. ..
> Hey Guru's
>
> I have a 1989 Jetta and I've been having a strange problem.
>
> I start the car, it idles fine, although smells a little rich, and drives
> fine for a few miles. Then, it will slowly decrease RPMs and I'll lose
> speed. Depressing the accelerator does no good. Sometimes makes it worse.
> If I do nothing but let my foot off the gas, it will slowly die. If I
> depress the clutch and let it idle, it will slowly die. Sometimes it will
> actually come back to life, but that's rare.
>
> Now, If I turn the ignition off and back on while its sputtering and
> dying, it acts acts fine. It will drive for another mile or so before it
> repeats this problem.
>
> I have had 2 mechanics here in Memphis look at it. One mechanic replaced
> both fuel pumps and the fuel filter and removed/cleaned/reinstalled the
> gas tank. This helped for a day. The other mechanic replaced a 'control
> module' located under the hood right in front of the winshield on the
> driver's side. This worked for about a week.
>
> I've filled the tank with new gas (it was on 1/4 tank) and still have the
> problem. I have NOT used any store-bought additives.
>
> I've also replaced the spark plugs/wires/distributor cap/rotor.
>
> All replacement parts were purchased NEW from German-parts distributors
> and all are German.
>
> I am at a loss here. Its a great car and I just want it to run right.
>
> Any thoughts on what else I should look at ?
>
> -Chris E.

Try removing the gas cap, then driving, and see if that
changes anything.





>I start the car, it idles fine, although smells a little rich, and
>drives fine for a few miles. Then, it will slowly decrease RPMs and I'll
>lose speed. Depressing the accelerator does no good. Sometimes makes it
>worse. If I do nothing but let my foot off the gas, it will slowly die.
>If I depress the clutch and let it idle, it will slowly die. Sometimes
>it will actually come back to life, but that's rare.
>
>Now, If I turn the ignition off and back on while its sputtering and
>dying, it acts acts fine. It will drive for another mile or so before it
>repeats this problem.
>
>I have had 2 mechanics here in Memphis look at it. One mechanic replaced
>both fuel pumps and the fuel filter and removed/cleaned/reinstalled the
>gas tank. This helped for a day. The other mechanic replaced a 'control
>module' located under the hood right in front of the winshield on the
>driver's side. This worked for about a week.
>
>I've filled the tank with new gas (it was on 1/4 tank) and still have
>the problem. I have NOT used any store-bought additives.
>
>I've also replaced the spark plugs/wires/distributor cap/rotor.
>
>All replacement parts were purchased NEW from German-parts distributors
>and all are German.
>
>I am at a loss here. Its a great car and I just want it to run right.
>
>Any thoughts on what else I should look at ?
>
>-Chris E.

"Chris Etzel" > wrote in message
. ..
> Hey Guru's
>
> I have a 1989 Jetta and I've been having a strange problem.
>
> I start the car, it idles fine, although smells a little rich, and drives
> fine for a few miles. Then, it will slowly decrease RPMs and I'll lose
> speed. Depressing the accelerator does no good. Sometimes makes it worse.
> If I do nothing but let my foot off the gas, it will slowly die. If I
> depress the clutch and let it idle, it will slowly die. Sometimes it will
> actually come back to life, but that's rare.
>
> Now, If I turn the ignition off and back on while its sputtering and
> dying, it acts acts fine. It will drive for another mile or so before it
> repeats this problem.
>
> I have had 2 mechanics here in Memphis look at it. One mechanic replaced
> both fuel pumps and the fuel filter and removed/cleaned/reinstalled the
> gas tank. This helped for a day. The other mechanic replaced a 'control
> module' located under the hood right in front of the winshield on the
> driver's side. This worked for about a week.
>
> I've filled the tank with new gas (it was on 1/4 tank) and still have the
> problem. I have NOT used any store-bought additives.
>
> I've also replaced the spark plugs/wires/distributor cap/rotor.
>
> All replacement parts were purchased NEW from German-parts distributors
> and all are German.
>
> I am at a loss here. Its a great car and I just want it to run right.
>
> Any thoughts on what else I should look at ?
>
> -Chris E.

Gotta ask. Was the original bolt that holds the fuel line entry at the
engine intake ever replaced? It has a tiny screen as part of the bolt. The
replacement should NOT have the screen in it. Its a gotcha with rust
problems in the fuel system delivery.
--
Jonny

Perhaps your ignition coil is on its way out.