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Well loved but sick 89 1050cc polo, Has been taking noticeable longer than usual to start recently, and currently dies after about 20 sec of idling, runs ok with a bit of right foot, suspect the in line fuel filter, any other ideas? Spark plugs ok, rotor arm and distributor carp ok, leads ok, coolant and oil look ok. Has had a habit of getting a strong vacuum in the fuel tank making fuel cap difficult to remove. Recently replaced fuel pump,
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Vacuum in the fuel tank must be a blocked breather.
Can't help with the rest, unless it is related to that.
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Upon further questioning it turns out that the vacum in the tank has been less noticable around the time it started playing up, and the car has been going 110% for the 2 years the owner has had it with the annoyance of the vacum !?! Ho Humm, if it was easy it wouldn't be fun eh?
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Sounds like that would explain all symptoms.
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Now why didn't someone suggest that in 1983 when my Lancia Trevi did that in several quite embarrassing locations, but the local Lancia dealer could never cure it other than temporarily. "A marvellous car when it's running, but a b***** when it's stopped" as the umpteenth AA man said.
Ronnie
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Big Vern,
It could be the fuel filter, but could also be a blockage anywhere in the system.
If I remember this engine right, due to the gas recirculation system, the oily gas goes back through the carburettor via the air filter box - the oil builds up in the carburettor inlet and can block the slow running jet.
Another possibility is the fuel inlet to the carburettor getting blocked by loose material (via a breached fuel filter, and with excessive suction on the tank cap it wouldn't surprise me). The loose bits build up behind the float valve under (engine) load, then fall away again under gravity when fuel demand drops.
Hope this helps,
Martin.
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The petrol tanks on these cars rot quickly. A bodged repair using fibreglass ar even incorrect welding will easily block the vent pipes causing the vacuum which should not be present.
Agree totally with the reply about the crankcase vent blowing oil into the carb. Before getting the engine tuned - in particular the mixture and idle speed setting, make sure that all of the crap is cleaned from the carb. Otherwise it will continually need recalibrating and run really bad when the crap is eventually cleaned out.
These cars always seem to have their original plug leads when I have looked at them. But when people do replace them with cheap aftermarket items they forget that the plugs now need the little screw on tops that are not required for the original leads. This may not cause a huge problem until something else is slightly out and then the problem will be eggagerated.
Please let us know how you get on. I have had lots of experience with these engines.
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Man after my own heart Kieth.
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Been there, got the T shirt!
Earlier models had a rubber bonded Carb mounting insulating 'gasket' that is very prone to air leaks. Well known problem, suprised that AM did not mention it, maybe 89 models were different. Search this site for similar reports & suggestions.
I had a bizarre fault of HT tracking and then jumping 1" on the nose of the coil to the LT terminal! VW fit a OE plastic sleeve on LT terminal so I guess that problems like that had been seen in early production. I only found it because I dropped my halogen lamp, blowing the bulb and leaving me in the dark!
Earlier contrib suggested a botched up welded fuel tank, if that was the case I am surprised there is still a car.
If the fuel Tank has been replaced it is almost impossible to fit the breather hose without a kink!
Let us now if you find the problem.
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If a fuel tank is welded it is removed from the car and cleaned (by steam I think)
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