Hesitant Whilst Driving

[Guest voiture de sport]

Hello,

 

My 1.9gti starts well with no smoke.

 

Whilst driving along the road the car is very hesitant and then a second later runs really smoothly with lots of power and then it hesiates again. As if it it running on 3 cylinders. Should I go out and buy spark plugs, ht leads, dizzy cap etc etc.

 

I have had the car only a few days and the 1st day I had the car I drove 100 miles with no problems. Its a mint unmolested 1.9gti with only 76,000 miles on the clock. It has been well looked after in its 21 year life.

 

Can anyone help?

 

 

Cheers

Sean

[j_turnell 134 3 Cars]

When was it last serviced? Worth looking through the history, if not recently then i'd deff get that sorted, then go from there.

 

Worth replacing:-

 

Plugs

Leads

Dizzy cap

Rotor arm

Fuel filter

Air filter

Oil + filter

 

Possibly cambelt, tensioner and waterpump if theres no recent record of it being done also.

[one-lady-owner 1]

Not trying to scare you in any way, but mine did that occasionally, more on start up than actual driving, sounding and feeling like it was running on 3 cylinders, and at 75k it blew it's HG, keep on eye on your oil for mayo and keep a very close eye on your coolant level!!

Edited January 5, 2010 by one-lady-owner

[Guest voiture de sport]

Its got lots of service history and I have the original purchase reciept.

 

The last time it was serviced was two years ago at justgti's in Horsham when the car had only covered 55,000 miles. It had a major service there and currently I have just brought a book covering a list of jobs to do to the gti. Everything from a spark plug change to a cambelt change. (Its not a Haynes Manual).

 

Is this the best route to do? and then see if the car runs well.

 

I could have all this done within weeks.

 

 

I caught the gti 'bug' a few months ago and then I had to get myself a really cared for 205. More fun to drive than my Porsche and BMW, probably the best little car I have had.

[Guest voiture de sport]

The coolant level is spot on and there is no mayo on the oil filler cap or droplets of water on the dipstick, no oil leaks and the oil presure is halfway whilst driving. I have had many old cars when the head gasket has gone.

 

At some point in its history the head gasket did go and the car was repaired proffessionally by a 205 specialist with the head being skimmed and new head bolts and valves etc etc.

 

I'm not worried as it is a problem that can be fixed. Fingers crossed.

[richsmells 2]

If you bought it with 76k and it was last serviced at 55k then you should really think about servicing it!

 

Do everything James mentioned above.

Edited January 5, 2010 by richsmells

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Eww justgti's... careful they might have used tinfoil as a headgasket haha...

 

Give it a service and see what happens.

[shalmaneser 26]

20K is a long time without servicing. I'd change the oil and coolant, get new oil air and fuel filters (get a genuine Pug oil filter), spark plugs and go from there.

 

it may just be condensation in the distributor, does it tend not to happen when the car is hot (i.e.after 10 minutes of driving)?

[24seven 104]

I'm having similar problems with my Mi16. From cold (winter cold, didn't do it in the Autumn) it'll bounce between 1500 and 2500rpm for a few moments, before settling down to a 3cylinder 1200rpm idle. it coughs and splutters and kangaroos like a biatch too, but is at its best behaved between cold and warmed up (i.e. whilst not quite up to temperature). Once warm it seems to occasionally lose power now and then, not quite misfiring, but almost as if it had fly-by-wire throttle and the pedal sensor was shafted, partially closing the throttle now and then, but seems to be less noticeable over 3500rpm (i.e. cruising at 70). Driving round town is a real kangarooey PITA at the moment!

 

Changed the ignition amp for a known working one which made it slight less troublesome, new ECU coolant temp sensor which helped a little, replaced the coil for an unknown good/bad one which made no change, rotor arm and dizzy cap are in spanking new condition (been through a few of both recently and none of them affected the way it drives) and the plug leads were new only a couple of thousand miles ago.

 

In your case I'd try a different ignition amp and coil if you can find someone to lend you theirs to try.

[pug_ham 242 3 Cars]

All the usual consumable ignition components as mentioned above by James.

 

8v 205 GTI's are picky for good quality & condition ignition parts such as the dizzy cap, rotor arm, spark plugs (NGK) & HT leads.

 

Graham.

[johnsimister 10]

The £250 1.6 I bought 12 years ago had exactly this problem on my way home from purchase. New HT leads fixed it straight away.

 

John

[mr_exe 1]

I remember reading that article and it rewakening my desire to own a 205 GTi

[Guest voiture de sport]

Thanks Everyone,

 

I'll give it a thorough service this weekend. I'll wrap up warm in my garage bbrrrrr.....

[harryskid 193]

Make sure you do

[The Arch Bishop 0]

The £250 1.6 I bought 12 years ago had exactly this problem on my way home from purchase. New HT leads fixed it straight away.

 

John

 

 

I remember reading that article and it rewakening my desire to own a 205 GTi

So do I! In a total anorak way, I can remember the name of the budget tyres that it had on it. Woosung Dark horses. Funny how things stick in your head... Sorry for useless post BTW!

[Guest voiture de sport]

I did a compression test on all four cylinders today and they all individually 12 bars each. I presume this is ok.

 

Upon taking out the spark plugs they were all had lots of carbon and the 1st spark plug near the passenger wing was wet with water. No oil, however there was lots of water around the plug.

 

I'm still waiting for the parts to arrive. So hopefully it will fire ok.

[24seven 104]

when you say water around the plug, do you mean on top of it where it screws into the head, or just around the nodes themselves? If it's wet on top of the engine like that then it'll cough and splutter and misfire quite badly.

[Guest voiture de sport]

The water was around the top of the plug where the ht connects to it and also around the plug where it fires. The ht lead that sits on top of the plug was dry on the outside as if you was looking at the ht lead connected from above the engine. I've never seen this before and was a little puzzled.

 

I then put the plug in and fired up the engine several times. No problem and took out the plug. No water anywhere to be found......

 

The plugs and ht leads looked old and need changing when I get the parts.

 

So far I have ordered:-

 

Beru spark plugs

Bosch ht leads

Bosch Dizzy cap and rotor arm.

 

The cylinder head and gasket was replaced 16,000 miles ago or just over two years ago, then justgti's checked it some six months later and all was ok. No oil in the coolant or coolant loss. No mayo and the oil pressure is where it should be and the temperature is ok too.

[johnsimister 10]

So do I! In a total anorak way, I can remember the name of the budget tyres that it had on it. Woosung Dark horses. Funny how things stick in your head... Sorry for useless post BTW!

 

I have a feeling they were called Roadstone Dark Horse but thank you for remembering the story. Whatever, the tyres were truly and totally terrible. I replaced them with a set of Michelin Classic, which was Michelin's attempt at a semi-budget tyre, but in retrospect they weren't that great either. It ended up with Toyos of some sort, harsh ride but great grip and turn-in.

 

And now, to get the thread back on track, good luck to M Voiture de Sport and I hope the new bits do the job.

 

John

 

PS - here's a picture of said £250 205 after sorting it out, in case anyone's interested. I sold it to a bloke in Guernsey, and I doubt if it still lives.

Edited January 8, 2010 by johnsimister

[welshpug 1,626]

that's only a few digits different from EdCherry's D810XPH rotbox jigsaw puzzle track car!

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Bloody hell it is indeed! Would be nice to know if it still lives, cause thats the only non red gti id be interested in!

[mr_exe 1]

in case anyone's interested. I sold it to a bloke in Guernsey, and I doubt if it still lives.

 

I reread the article after seeing you original post, and I have to admit I did wonder what had become of it. Can't believe that was 12 years ago!

[Guest voiture de sport]

 

I replaced the spark plugs, ht leads, rotor arm and dizzy cap, all bosch items. Cleaned out the throttle body, airflow meter and all relevant breather hoses with carb cleaner. The car nows runs better since I have had it. (Only a couple of weeks). I also adjusted the air screw as the car was running very rich on fuel and was idling at approx 1400 revs.

 

The car is very responsive and smooth at all speeds.

 

Next on my list is:-

 

Oil flush and change with oil filter, sump plug and Mobil semi synthetic 10-40w oil.

 

Coolant flush.

 

Cambelt and other relevant belt changes.

 

Brake check and all fuel pipe and brake pipe checks.

 

New fuel filter.

 

Complete waxoil on the whole body of the car including the doors, bonnet etc etc

 

Paint to be waxed.

 

Whole interior valet.

 

And anything else that needs doing ready for the spring. A very thorough service.

[Bottrill 0]

Sounds like a similar little project as my 205 I purhased last November. A nice feeling when you have put your own stamp on the car an carying out servicing etc.

 

Ah, the penny has dropped. I thought I recognised that number plate, John. Number 23 in the 100 Greatest Drivers cars. One of the reasons I decided to re-kindle my early hot hatch days and buy one myself.

 

Le.

[Guest voiture de sport]

 

I have had so many cars:-

 

MG Metro Turbo

Rover 216 Vitesse

Mondeo ST220 x2

Honda Civic Vti

Honda Prelude Vti

x3 Vauxhall Chevette

Ford Puma 1.7

Porsche 924 le mans x2

Porsche 924

Porsche 924S

Porsche 944S

BMW 635csi

 

 

But you cant beat that feeling of having a 1980's hot hatch, had to get a 205 1.9gti. Has taken be back to my college days back in the late 1980's early 1990's. Pure bliss. Wanted one when I was at college. Some twenty years later I have a good one.

 

I'm well chuffed.