Golf mk2 16v gti misfire shudder misfire

[paramananthamd]

I started the car this morning from cold (after the work that was carried out on it yesterday), and it sounded better but was slightly misfiring. For about the first 10 mins it was sort of struggling/mis firing and didnt like me changing to a higher gear unless it was revved to 4000rpm. For example, if i was doing 30/40 mph and changed up to 4th, you could here the engine was struggeling and misfiring. But after the initial 10 mins it was fine.
The bloke at the garage only cleaned one of the injectors and put a new ring on it. Do you think that all the injectors should be cleaned or replaced.
Thanks for your help.

Just another quick question. My main beams do not work. The side lights work when i click the switch to the first position, but when i click again to get the main beams, they do not come on. The Full beams do work. Do u have any idea whats going on here. Before when this occured i just played around with the full beams (Switching it off and on) and eventually they would come on, but now the main beams do not come on at all. The only thing i have done this weekend was change the battery, and i have noticed that the previous battery was 60AH while the current battery is 44AH. Will this make a difference and cause this problem.

[Crasher]

I think you should replace all four injectors BUT this can cause problems with the injector shrouds in the lower inlet manifold section, the are plastic and get brittle with age and as the injector is pushed in, they break causing leaks of air shroud bypass air and allowing small bits of plastic to fall into the cylinders. I always remove the brass seats (you need a 13-mm straight hex (Allen) key that is quite long and used on a 13-mm socket) and shrouds, carefully recover the remains of the “O” rings with a fine pick, clean the locations out with a vacuum and the reassemble with new shrouds (035 133 554 £1.80 each each), “O” rings (035 133 557 £1.01 each). The injectors are VW part number 026 133 551 and cost £38 each from VW but less from companies such as GSF BUT only buy genuine new Bosch and avoid remanufactured ones like the plague.

As for the headlights, are the wipers and heater blower working correctly?

[paramananthamd]

I went over to the garage this morning to speak to the mechanic, and he was saying that he did a compression test on all 4 cylinders and number 2 was a bit down on compression about 15% compared to the others. He also said that the number 2 injector was a bit clogged and he cleaned that out and put a new injector ring as well. He said that the other injectors all seemed good. He was saying that the low compression could be the cause of the problem, which is to do with the valve. He recommends that a full head rebuild is best, with new cams followers etc. He also said this would cost about £500 for everything. Do you think he is right?

On to the head lights, yes everything else works fine. the heaters, blowers etc.

[Crasher]

£500! Do me a favour you can hardly but the parts for that! You need 8 exhaust guides plus specialist engineer fitting, valve seat re-cut, hand lap all the valves (they must not be cut), 16 tappets (£12 odd each), timing chain, gasket set, upper inlet manifold gasket (the one in the kit is always the incorrect 46-mm type not the required later 52-mm), 10 head bolts, timing belt, tensioner, coolant, oil and filter and it takes 2 days to do so that’s £600 in labour at a decent garage.

I would get another compression test done elsewhere for a second opinion.

[paramananthamd]

Do you think its needs a head rebuild because he says its 15% out compared to the other cylinders. I think this is a bit extreme to sort out a misfire.
I dont know what do to. Replacing the injectors might be an option, but then do i need to change the tappets has well and then the cam chain.... etc...

Do you have any ideas about the main lights not coming on?

cheers

[Crasher]

Get another compression test done but number 2 on the KR runs hotter than the others and can lead to burnt exhaust valves especially if the guides are worn.

If the wipers and heater blower work OK the lights could be ignition switch, headlight switch or column switch, all of which can cause this but the ignition switch is the most common.

[paramananthamd]

Ok guys, found the problem finally. The head was removed and to our dismay the values on cylinder 2 were not seated properly (guides) and has caused damaged to the cylinder block. (grated the side of it and made a massive indent).

I am in the process of deciding what to do. I am thinking of getting a gas flowed head and a 2 litre bottom end. What else do you think i should do? What about cams etc? I want extra power and torque but i dont want to car to be noisy and want it to idle as it should. What other upgrades should i make to the engine? What will all of this do to the BHP.

Also if i got a 2 litre bottom end, how will this effect the log book and insurance, obviously i will need to contact them to tell them of the changes.

Will this also affect the car when I take it for an MOT.

Thanks for your help guys (Crasher)

[euroslap]

If you wanted to keep the costs down, I'd try and find a second KR lump and just drop it in. Time, effort and cost will be kept a lot more within reason. You should be able to get a half decent lump for about £200, try and find one with the best mileage and if possible some history to back it up.

[paramananthamd]

Thanks for the replay but have my heart set on the 2.0l bottom end for the extra torque and a gas flowed head. What else can i do that you will recommend, and what will happen when i get my car MOT? Will they Question that the engine has changed? cheers

[Crasher]

I have built more 2 litre Golf 2 16v’s that I care to remember and they are how the car should have been built. You need to find a good condition 9A (Corrado/Passat) or 6A (Audi 80) bottom end but a 6A requires a lot more work to make it function in a Golf. If the 9A you find is shot, it is still useful to hand back to VW who will give you a nice spanking new one in exchange for the old one and about £1K, about what it costs to rebuild a 9A yourself. To this off with the original KR head gas flowed to stage 1 with the standard KR cams and you will have one sweet and easy to live with engine. One word of warning, what has happened to your engine is not unusual. It is the result of long term pre-ignition (to which number 2 cylinder is much more susceptible) and is down to you using 95RON octane fuel instead of the prescribed diet of 98RON (read 99RON these days). If you run a 9A bottom end like that, it will last weeks before blowing the head gasket. A 9A will require 99RON fuel only and some easy to do (for those in the know) metering head injector delivery tweaks. On the subject of head gaskets, we use the metal layer shim gasket on these from the later 2 litre engines such as the ABF, part number 048 103 383 D and whilst I have motioned the ABF, yes you can make one fit but it is very tall and causes a lot of problems, including closing the bonnet.