Mk 3 1995 Golf GTI ... starting problems...

[Cwan]

After 155000 miles of relatively unhampered joy on Christmas Eve my beloved golf wouldn't start - the AA did their best and couldn't help either... Sparks are fine, fuel pump is fine, distributor is fine.... the AA couldn't solve it and left me with the advice that it could be the 'throttle cap' i.e. there wasn't enough air getting into the mix for the ignition....

forgive me for sounding so vague amidst all you experts - but i'm an average 30 something female who is now slightly bewildered and wants to do everything possible to avoid being ripped off by the VW garage!

Does anyone have any ideas? Am i at the beginning of the age of more serious issues ?

In which case i may soon be posting the sale of a much loved 1 owner 1995 golf GTI!!!!

[Andrew900]

hello.


i have a mk3 golf in dragon green and love it to bits! touch wood ive got no problems.

anywho, when was the last service? it could just be all the filters are needing replaced or maybe the oil needs topping up. if the aa guy says the spark is ok, then it shouldnt be the battery.

im only an apprentice mechanic, but my advice would be find a local garage thats trustworthy and have it checked, rather that going to a dealer.


i hope you can get it fixed.

[Cwan]

Thanks Andrew... i shall begin that desperate hunt for a trustworthy garage!!! Have recently moved to a new area - so it's a bit hit and miss!!!

Cheers

[MUNDA]

After 155000 miles of relatively unhampered joy on Christmas Eve my beloved golf wouldn't start - the AA did their best and couldn't help either... Sparks are fine, fuel pump is fine, distributor is fine.... the AA couldn't solve it and left me with the advice that it could be the 'throttle cap' i.e. there wasn't enough air getting into the mix for the ignition....

forgive me for sounding so vague amidst all you experts - but i'm an average 30 something female who is now slightly bewildered and wants to do everything possible to avoid being ripped off by the VW garage!

Does anyone have any ideas? Am i at the beginning of the age of more serious issues ?

In which case i may soon be posting the sale of a much loved 1 owner 1995 golf GTI!!!!
HI cwan i had starting problem when rac told it was a battery earth strap dissconnection, he started my car by connecting with a jump lead positive of my battery to my engine, i tried this later but didnot work for me.by the way my car is a passat. iam not mechanical either and am reconciled now to tow my car to a vw garage. i haven had areply to my posting either. MUNDA

[Scott_goddard]

After 155000 miles of relatively unhampered joy on Christmas Eve my beloved golf wouldn't start - the AA did their best and couldn't help either... Sparks are fine, fuel pump is fine, distributor is fine.... the AA couldn't solve it and left me with the advice that it could be the 'throttle cap' i.e. there wasn't enough air getting into the mix for the ignition....

forgive me for sounding so vague amidst all you experts - but i'm an average 30 something female who is now slightly bewildered and wants to do everything possible to avoid being ripped off by the VW garage!

Does anyone have any ideas? Am i at the beginning of the age of more serious issues ?

In which case i may soon be posting the sale of a much loved 1 owner 1995 golf GTI!!!!

Hi,

I left my GTi to sit for a couple of months after coming back the thing would not start! I was getting a spark and fuel. I think you have a speed sensor problem, it sounds like it has failed.

[Crasher]

It needs to have a fault code read and I am surprised the AA didn’t do that. When it is read, I expect it to say exactly what Scott_goddard just said, engine speed sensor, although if it does that doesn’t explain why the AA said it was sparking. Do you have a VW independent specialist near you? Most of the mechanics at VW dealers were still in nappies when those cars were made.