Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all,

Im a new owner, i have a 1989 wbx 1.9 DG panel van and love it. I have a few issues that are getting me down though and was hoping i could pick a few brains!!!

The van was pretty neglected but ran, it had a slight hesitation or splutter while accelerating and a lack of power. I changed the following;

dizzy cap/rotor
plugs (leads looked ok?)
air filter
fuel filter

I cleaned the carb with lots of carb cleaner spray while on the van and after that it ran beautifully, like a different van. I did a run of about 20 miles then stopped for half an hour. when i started her again it was back to the lumpy running. It keeps doing it, running lovely every now and again but mainly lumpy!

I cleaned the carb again and yes, it ran nice for a while then back to rubbish!

I noticed that the in line fuel filter has air in it, its full of fuel about 2 3rds up then air! is this normal/ok? i would assume no and if so does this mean the fuel pump is no good?

Another issue is the temperature. where is the temp needle supposed to sit?

im not sure if theres a thermostat in the engine as it takes an age to warm up. i wondered if there was an airlock so followed the haines and tried to bleed the system. lots of air seemed to come out of the rad bleed screw then the water but it also squirted out of the bleed screw on the thermostat housing?. It now heats quicker but im not sure if ive done it right! I need to replace my coolant and thermostat then bleed the system again anyway but it would be nice to know id done it properly!

Thanks in advance for anyones help!!!!

Hello

1) How about introducing yourself first; and
2) As a newbie check the wiki at the top of the page which covers the issues that have been brought up time and time and time again. If that fails;
3) Check the archive which probable covers the rest.

You should find most problems have been dealt with in those places. If not then ask again.

Good luck!

Hi Wrobstar , welcome

The inline fuel filter that you mention I am assuming you mean the one under the van close to the tank ? This is perfectly normal to have air in it, how dirty is the filter though ? I bet its pretty mucky. Change it for a new one, they are only a few pounds from any motor factors.

There is another fuel filter , its hidden away inside the inlet into the carb. Take the fuel pipe of the carb, using a self tapper screw gently wind the screw into the inlet untill it bites, then using pliers pull it out. There will be a small cone shaped filter attached ( hopefully ) give this a clean then refit.

It would be a good idea to take the top of the carb of and clean out the float bowl, I suspect that it will be full of "pooh".... while you are there take the jets out and give them a blow through.

It sounds like you are in the right area to sort out the poor running.

On a serious note, it is a good idea to replace the fuel lines whilst you are feeling energetic ! 25 plus years will have deteriorated them and there is lots of stories of vans going up in smoke because of perished fuel lines.

As regards the temperature needle position, most people say that slightlt to the left of the red led light is about normal, more importantly is does the cooling fan kick in ? and where is the needle at this point?

The thermostats can get stuck in the open position ( and closed ! ) this will cause obvious issues either way... dependant on how long ago the thermostat was changed will have a bearing on how much of a pig of a job it will be to do... there is a possibility that the thermostat housing will have become almost welded to the water pump due to corrosion... this is a pain to say the least.

As Ralph mentioned, the WIKI is a great source of information, anything that you need to know is almost certainly documented on here somewhere. Spend an evening having a read through. These vehicles are pretty basic but old now, so always allow double the expected time to do any jobs, slowly and carefully is the way to go... if you break something then getting a replacement isnt as easy as popping to the main dealers !.

Good luck

Hi Wrobstar , welcome from us too


pionte's info is all spot on, (especially re checking / replacing fuel lines !!)

Note though =

pionte wrote:there is a possibility that the thermostat housing will have become almost welded to the water pump due to corrosion... this is a pain to say the least.

This van is an 89 so the stat housing is the later plastic housing type, at the front left, so the 2 halves welding themselves together is not the issue, it's the bolts snapping when you go to undo them

Hi, thanks for the replys! I'm Rob, have owned various vws but newer ones, so am a newbie to the wbx engine & carbs! They make me nervous!

I did have a good read of the threads but none mentioned an air pocket in the filter specifically so I thought I'd ask! I've actually tried several things I saw on there such as the electrics, plugs, leads but it's not solved it!

I'll definitely clean the in carb filter & look at the lines etc! Much appreciated for the help. It's always nice to be able to tap such a pool of knowledge!

RE

wrobstar21 wrote: it had a slight hesitation or splutter while accelerating

Use the search facility on here (perhaps with the word hesitation) as there seem to have been a few with "hesitation" issues recently The accelerator pump / enrichment jet is a possible candidate and easy to check.

If you decide to split the carb for cleaning (not a big job) you will likely need a new gasket. Get one before you start (and if you find just the gasket (as opposed to a "service kit"), let us know where you got it from

I had a similar issue when I first got mine about 6 months ago.

I rebuilt the carb using the kit from Brickwerks - not a bad job as long as you attack it logically, take photos and label up hoses and wires so you know where they go back. If you do take the jets out make sure you have a perfect fitting screwdriver as they are soft and easily break.

Once I did all that I took it to a local dub expert who got the co and idle sorted. He also played with the arm/cam on the accelerator pump and hey presto flat spot......almost gone! Still feel a little drag but these are 30 year old motors with carbs, you can't expect them to run like a modern car - just pretend it is massive turbo lag

Good luck!

ghost123uk wrote:

Note though =

pionte wrote:there is a possibility that the thermostat housing will have become almost welded to the water pump due to corrosion... this is a pain to say the least.

sing is the later pla
This van is an 89 so the stat houstic housing type, at the front left,

Good spot Ghost... I think that on balance the later type is less grief , at least the parts are readily available.

The accelerator pump is another good piece of advice, I had forgotten that this was an issue for me . I had to advance mine to sort out some hesitation issue that I had, the symptom would be hesitation when pulling away and worse when the engine is warm ( choke off )

what happens here is that there is a slight delay between the venturi choke opening allowing lots of air in to the engine and the accelerator pump starting to add more fuel...so the mixture leans right of causing hesitation. What you want is for the accelerator pump to be activated as soon as the venturi butterfly starts to open. It works of a cam mechanism, from memory its just a couple of philips screws, rotate the cam, tighten and check...simples. It is possible that the membrane inside the accelerator mechanism has perished... if you cant see a squirt of fuel when you open the throttle fully ( do this with the engine turned of to check ) then this could be a cause, or a blocked jet.

please do tell us what you find, this will really help others in the future as well

worth having a look at this post.... shows the accelerator pump diaphragm
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... m&start=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi

I replaced the fuel and return supply hoses with hard nylon 6mm. It wont bend around small radius bends but its fine for tank/filter to engine compartment. I think mine was about £3 for 3 m.
Its cheap as chips, not liable to wear or degrade, in our lifetime, its used for all types of industrial applications air, hydraulic, grease etc.

It forms a good seal with the 5.5mm braided fuel hose to filter and tank and at the engine end to fuel pump. With proper fuel hose screw clips.

From industrial hose suppliers such as Pirtek - but thats not a specific recommendation, just where I got mine!!