1993 Golf GTI won't start!

[rawilson22]

Hi, i have recently bought a 1993 2.0 litre vw golf gti. The car has been running fine but last night it decided to stop running. There is just under a 1/4 tank of fuel left in the car, the spark plugs are fine, the battery is fine but the car will just not start. When turning the key it sounds like it wants to start but just won't. I have tried a tow start but this too was unsuccessful. I have read that there can sometimes be problems with fuel pumps on these cars. Could this be the problem?

[Gormal]

Hi,
It sounds like you have the same problem as I had a couple of years ago. Had to replace the earth wire (which was faulty and caused a bit of damage), selonoid, and a bit of wiring as it had burnt out quite a bit. Mechanic said we were lucky it didn't go on fire.
So you should check yours just in case.

Good luck!

[dieselman580]

fuel pump relay??

[rawilson22]

Cheers for the input there guys. Turns out after trips to a few garages who said it was the distributor that it was actually a faulty coil pack. Changed this and the car started straight away.
One thing it is doing now though is when idle the revs sit at around 1500rpm or slightly higher. They sometimes drop to around 1000 or just under but generally the engine seems to be running at high revs. It also judders a bit when driving in low gears and at low revs. Could this be the throttle body needing cleaning or do you have any other suggestions?

[Rob C]

it could be idle control valve mate :P

[mumf]

Hello I have the same problem with my abf 1995, coil pack failed now at 1500rpm dips to 1000rpm and then back up again only when cold.
I have changed the following,
micro switch on the throttle body, this was faulty 2 times of of 10 tests but did not fix the issue, if you keep it pressed in and try and pick the revs up the engine will be unstable so it might be this.
Temp sender in the head, again no fix on the ABF this is under the dizzi with a twin spade,
I also found the wires to the TBody pot/mirco switch needed replacing, fixed this and had a small change, my issue is now 1100 to 1200 when cold but this could be the break over point on the new micro switch it is not easy to get the snap thru the same as the old one.
The ISV or by pass valve appears to be pulse modulated and vibrates when held, I switched mine for a old mk2 16v isv, idel was ok when off idel not stable at all. I am trying to work out if the pulse is controled in the isv or ecu.
I found the rubber seal between the inlet manifold and isv leaked badly.
Next change for me is the lamba sensor in the x pipe. None of this fixes your car but I helps me get of my chest. If I fix mine I will post again.

[Rob C]

if your revs are going up and down try the idle control valve mate thats what was wrong with two gti's that i have had and a vento

[rawilson22]

Ok i'll give it a go. Do you think it's worth cleaning the throttle body first to see if that gets rid of the problem?

[rawilson22]

Had it checked out and it turns out that there was an air leak. Throttle body, air filter and all cleaned and then air leak fixed and the revs immediately returned to normal and car working fine.

[r1mills]

replacing the fuel sender thingy. (sorry cant remember the exact name) aided this problem for me.