Any Ideas??

[EmkayVR6 0]

Hi guys n gals

I have a MK3 obd1 golf and have problems with it idling/smoking. It wont idle from cold and when its warm will just about tick over at 200rpm but when you drive anywhere and put the clutch in or roll in neutral it dies. I have cleaned the isv and cleaned the plugs and checked dizzy cap n rotor arm, while not great they dont look too bad at all, Also gettin loads of smoke coming out the exhaust, when engine is revved, slighlt blue smoke smellying of fuel. I had it on the vag com today and it came up with internal memory error, looked through the bently manual fault codes and couldn't find it, oh yeah forgot to add that its been chipped, ages ago way before i had it, The other thing noticed on the vag com was that the ignition timing was retarded loads was reading around the 20 degree mark at normal idle speed

Anyone got any ideas on what to look at next or what the problem could be?? any help appreciated,

cheers

mart

[matth76 1]

Hi mate, first thing I would do is get a set of brand new plugs instead of cleaning the originals and see if that makes a difference. They need to be fully tightened too (so they click into place - easy to miss - my local main dealer failed to tighten up every single one of my 6 spark plugs leading to poor idling and tickover, mainly when the car was cold until the metal expanded) as that will make a huge difference. Failing that I would get new leads too and if that still doesn't work ditch the old distributor and get a new one. Only other thing I would think it could be is the engine management and the chip you have. Chips can cause all sorts of problems - if you ever take a trip near a specialist get them to remove the chip and make sure all the timing etc is correct as that too can cause no end of problems, and get it properly tuned so the fuelling is correct. Stealth would be the best for all of this but a bit far from you unfortunately but you may have a local VW specialist (not main dealer! but a VR or Golf specialist). Good luck with it all.

[rodney 17]

does the smoke leave particles on a white piece of paper and do they smear or absorb - petrol/water tend to absorb others tend to smear? Are the plugs black/white/colour?? does it stutter under acceleration/decel??? do the revs drop like a stone in between gear changes etc??? have you adjusted the dissy for any reason? Have you checked the timing - is it retarded??

[EmkayVR6 0]

Cheers matt, how do you mean by click into place?? I have tightened them up to the correct torque settings but i didn't hear any click from the plug?? Will replace them on pay day and see if thats any different also gonna check the est of the ignition system once i can me hands on a voltmeter,

cheers for you help, anyone else got any other ideas?

[EmkayVR6 0]

does the smoke leave particles on a white piece of paper and do they smear or absorb - petrol/water tend to absorb others tend to smear? Are the plugs black/white/colour?? does it stutter under acceleration/decel??? do the revs drop like a stone in between gear changes etc??? have you adjusted the dissy for any reason? Have you checked the timing - is it retarded??

Haven't tried the piece of paper will give that a go tomorrow and see what i get, the plugs are covered in black soot, it doesn't stutter under acceleration, it pulls like normal, the revs will drop all the way and it will cut out if i change gear really slow or if i roll anywhere, i haven't adjusted the dizzy and the only thing i know about the ignition timing was that it was saying it was retarded by 20 degrees at normal idle speed (foot on accelerator to hold it at idle speed), on the Vag com, put i didn't think that it could be retared that much??