89 jetta gl problem

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starburst - 23 Mar 2007 01:56 GMT

Seems to be my year to have car troubles.

My 89 jetta (1.8 8v) has started doing something kind of wierd. She'll
be driving a long fine and then start to lose power, as if either she's
getting starved out or no spark.

Annoying. But the weird thing is that if I turn off the engine and
restart, the problem goes away straight off. Plenty of power. The
problem may come back again in a minute or so, but if I shut down the
engine and turn it right back on the problem will clear itself.

Happens with warm engine rather than cold.

I put through a bottle of heet and a new tank of gas thinking it might
be water in the fuel (it being winter), but the problem is still there
one tank later.

She's due for a general tune up, air filter and fuel filter, per
Bentley, and I'll get to that this weekend (hopefully), but I'm
wondering if any of you have seen these symptoms before, where if you
turn off the engine and start again you're good to go.

Fuel pump maybe?

TIA - Chris

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Jem Berkes - 23 Mar 2007 02:38 GMT

starburst <nope@nospam.net> wrote in news:etv8g0$bnf$1
@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu:

> My 89 jetta (1.8 8v) has started doing something kind of wierd. She'll
> be driving a long fine and then start to lose power, as if either she's
> getting starved out or no spark.

Misfires? If one cylinder isn't firing you will suddenly feel a loss of
power. Are the spark plugs and cables in good shape? Does this happen in
damp weather?

Does the exhaust change in appearance of odour when this happens?

If it happens in damp or humid weather, could just be a corroded connection
somewhere along the ignition coil / distributor / spark plug wires / spark
plug. If the air is damp and the wire is not totally insulated, the high
voltage could discharge somewhere else instead of making it to the spark
plug.

I could be wrong here, I'm just learning too

Signature

Jem Berkes
www.sysdesign.ca

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samstone@aol.com - 23 Mar 2007 11:32 GMT

>Seems to be my year to have car troubles.
>
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
>TIA - Chris

See what happens after you replace the fuel filter / air filter.
Also inspect all the vacuum lines and their connectors for
leaks.

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dave AKA vwdoc1 - 24 Mar 2007 13:56 GMT

Could be debris in your fuel tank. When the particles clog up the transfer
pump's pickup screen and the fuel pressure drops. You should hear the main
fuel pump get louder though.
Same applies to the air filter too but the noise! ;-)

Might be exhaust that gets clogged, with maybe a loose baffle inside, but
you should hear the exhaust change.
You could check the vacuum of the engine which may help diagnose your
problem.

Yeah tune it up too and maybe you will find something wrong! ;-)

> Seems to be my year to have car troubles.
>
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> TIA - Chris

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starburst - 24 Mar 2007 22:09 GMT

> Seems to be my year to have car troubles.
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Happens with warm engine rather than cold.

Think I found the problem on this. Swapped the connectors for the water
temp guage and the water sensor for the ignition system, and Tada!, no
problem. I put about 75 miles on it this way in all conditions, wet,
warm, cold, dry...etc., and not a hiccup. So I need a new blue water
sensor and, as my german pals say, "Feierabend" (quittin' time).

Thanks for all suggestions!

And this afternoon, after a lot of weekend hours, the VR6 is outta my
passat. What a bear! Stopped off at my local vw junkyard and arranged
for the replacement - out of a 2000 or so Jetta. Now I just have to get
the transmission off the engine.

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