Golf GTI cutting out

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Thu 20 Mar 2003 16:47
Golf GTI cutting out - davidg
Help! My 1992 Mk2 8V GTI will suddenly cut out when driving along. This occurs as it is warming up and the colder the air temp the further I can get before it happens. The cutting out can happen under load or when idling at traffic lights etc. The car will normally restart straight away and carry on for the rest of the day without problems. Occasionally the car will not restart for several minutes (engine flooded?). I've changed plugs, leads and distributor cap has anyone any ideas as to where to look next?
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Tue 1 Apr 2003 15:26
Golf GTI cutting out - paul swindon
I had one a few years ago, try disconnecting the plug which looks like a scart plug and is somewhere near air filter. This may have water ingress, so dry it out and check all the pins inside. Sorry I don't know what it is called.
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Tue 1 Apr 2003 17:10
Golf GTI cutting out - Adam Going (Tune-Up)
Hi David,

Sorry not to have spotted your post earlier. Quite a few possibilities here, as you can probably imagine. However, the fact the you say the colder the ambient temp the further you go before the problem occurs suggests the Coolant Temperature Sensor (TPS) could have a "glitch" at some point in the range, and on colder days it just takes longer to get there. Problems with VAG coolant sensors are quite common. You would need to observe the output voltage on an ossiloscope with a long time-base to pick up such a glitch, but for relatively minor cost you may consider replacing it anyway as an elimination.

Regards, Adam
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Wed 2 Apr 2003 08:38
Golf GTI cutting out - davidg
Thanks for the replies. The car is now being looked at by a garage. There appears to be two faults - a dodgy ignition switch which caused the difficult restarting and an, as yet not found, intermittent fault causing it to cut out. Tests so far seem to suggest a problem with the ECU relay and/or the power supply to the ECU. The difficulty is that the fault can only be reproduced when the car is cold, once warm it's fine.

David
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