This had been a problem on and off for a while but much worse today.
I drove 50 miles on a mix of dual carriageway and up and down steepish and gentle hills. No real problems, just a little hesitancy after pushing things a little. Just held back at about 55 to 60ish mph. Parked up on camp site for a week and started engine once during week and ran for about 5 minutes (just to check state of battery and put some power back in battery after using starter). Time to go home ( ) so turned key and started first time, no probs. After about 5 miles hesitancy started and carried on for next 50 miles, with van slowing down to 20 to 30 mph on gentlest of inclines. Managed to get home but on one occasion I had to stop and let engine tick over for 2 to 3 minutes (cos I thought it was a lazy fuel pump and therefore could push some fuel through to carbs). I started to get some backfiring through the exhaust at times and also lost any tick over at junctions etc. Then I got max 15mph with a sort of "phutt phutt" sound from exhaust. Engine fired up immediately each time I turned key when it cut out at junctions! It sounded like a weak mixture but I still get the feeling it's fuel starvation. Could fuel starvation cause a "spitting back" through exhaust? Could it be fuel pump? Can I fit an electric fuel pump? Otherwise this was a great experience and van ran well and it was a really warm and comfortable camping experience. (see posting in chat section). One up on my old tent! Any ideas/suggestions welcome. Otherwise it's a very complex engine change, probably a Ford 1.8 diesel!
You will have to be a little bit more explicit on what engine you have in your van ie Air-cooled 2lte or ? Wasser 1.9 DG . but to me does sound abit like fuel, did you check your fuel filter its on the drivers side underneath fitted in fuel line about 6-12 inches from the fuel tank, check to see if its clear, before you think of fitting an electric pump remove fuel pipe from carb intake, get some one to crank the starter to see what delivery its pumping out, but have a cloth to soak up fuel spiliage,
had similar with mine couple of weeks ago - cutting out at all junctions and rough running. One of my mates found it to be the "idle valve switch" thing sticking out of one of the carbs. The weight of the switch had pulled it away from the body of the carb and it was sucking in air. held it in place with some tape and tie-its as I was off on holiday. Went again 2 days later so I removed bodge and called RAC! The RAC man went straight to it and we found was also a small hole at back of carb that was also sucking in air - he then found perfect fitting bit of chemical metal lying below on tinware that had obviously been used previousy to fix. He refilled hole with chem-metal, araldited the switch in place, and its running fine now....as great as can be with my ultra holey exhaust!
does it still have the "idle control box" fitted as i think they go faulty, but that wouldn't explain it acting up at full throttle? are you sure it's not electrical with all the damp? that would explain the spitting more,, if it was dropping a cylinder due to a plug lead shorting that would also explain the lack of power.
LT owner and positively rattling around with the new found space
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I have checked for dampness on my 2 litre air cooled engine and all seems ok. The only thing unusual about this vehicle (alright, not that unusual), is the amount of time it takes for tapple rattle to stop on first start up. It varies from no rattle at all, to several miles of rattling. Moody buggars these engines aren't they! Gonna have a look again at all your suggestions this afternoon between showers ! Thanks for replies so far.
I had the exact same thing on my 2.0 A/C. It got so bad the I would have to stop for 5 mins before restarting the engine. Turned out to be the fuel filter, replaced this and normal service was resumed. As they cost just a couple of pounds may be worth a look before spending on more expensive and harder to fit parts.
The replacement of the filter should take 10 mins tops.
Thanks for replies, just to update on progress (before the rain came down ... AGAIN!!!). I found that what I think are called the fuel cut off and bypass idle valves were all loose. (They are solenoid thingies with a single lead which, when touched on to terminal or pulled off causes a click so I assume they are working). Tightened them up and started up. Seemed OK for about 20 seconds and then tried to rev a little. Started to misfire and after getting to about 2000 revs I took foot off accelerator and got a big backfire. Seems to misfire like hell when trying to rev. I'm now thinking electrical due to backfiring. (Incidentally, I replaced fuel gauge sender unit and inline filter about 500 miles ago due to hesitating at speed but had no misfiring at that time so maybe not connected) I also cleaned out tank, although there was very little dirt in tank. Wife was driving behind me when problems were occuring and said there was a hell of a stink of petrol but if misfiring there would be unburnt fuel I suppose. Rain has stopped so I'll go and play again! Any more suggestions wiil be appreciated
Well... Left it for a while and then went to try it... perfect, well almost! Went for a run and it was brilliant. Then it started to misfire so I put old rotor arm back on (only 'cos I still had it and I'm clutching at straws). Perfect again, for a while! Then same probs again. Turn ignition off for a minute or so and then fire up and it's OK. After a short while it starts misfiring again. Whilst it's running OK it's very very smooth and responsive, better than it's ever been since I bought it. I am now wondering about coil (as has been suggested) and/or condensor. Had engine running whilst misfiring in a dark area and no sign of tracking on leads etc. Does a condenser and coil give these symptoms when packing up?
Rozzo wrote:try borrowing a coil to try,,, they usually go funny when they warm up if faulty
That must be what I was thinking of when I posted earlier. The vehicle will start & then after X number of miles the coil starts to overheat & cause problems. So you leave the vehicle for a while & the coil cools down. Then when you start the vehicle later the whole cycle begins again.
BOWTON LAD, CLUB 80-90 MEMBER No.2488
2013 VW PASSAT ESTATE 2.OL TDI BLUE MOTION TECHNOLOGY
I only have to turn ignition off for about half a minute then, on restart, it runs fine for several seconds! Could be just starting to pack up I suppose. Anyway, whatever, I am going to fit a new condensor, then points and then a coil. All one at a time, in that order, so I find out which part was the problem. I fitted all new service parts within last thousand or so miles so I doubt leads are faulty but I will go for them next. By the way, timing, dwell angle etc are all ok. The coil will be the only new part I will be fitting. If it turns out not to be faulty at least I'll have a spare! Thanks for all suggestions, I'll post the results of my adventure, as usual, so that it may help others.
no points on these motors!!! hall effect system.
could be air leak causing backfire or timing/ mixture.
i would try the coil next.
have you linked together the idle stabilisation unit??
these can give funny running so bypass it by joining the plugs together.
This had been a problem on and off for a while but much worse today.
) so turned key and started first time, no probs. After about 5 miles hesitancy started and carried on for next 50 miles, with van slowing down to 20 to 30 mph on gentlest of inclines. Managed to get home but on one occasion I had to stop and let engine tick over for 2 to 3 minutes (cos I thought it was a lazy fuel pump and therefore could push some fuel through to carbs). I started to get some backfiring through the exhaust at times and also lost any tick over at junctions etc. Then I got max 15mph with a sort of "phutt phutt" sound from exhaust. Engine fired up immediately each time I turned key when it cut out at junctions! It sounded like a weak mixture but I still get the feeling it's fuel starvation. Could fuel starvation cause a "spitting back" through exhaust? Could it be fuel pump? Can I fit an electric fuel pump? Otherwise this was a great experience and van ran well and it was a really warm and comfortable camping experience. (see posting in chat section). One up on my old tent! Any ideas/suggestions welcome. Otherwise it's a very complex engine change, probably a Ford 1.8 diesel! 
and all seems ok. The only thing unusual about this vehicle (alright, not that unusual), is the amount of time it takes for tapple rattle to stop on first start up. It varies from no rattle at all, to several miles of rattling. Moody buggars these engines aren't they! Gonna have a look again at all your suggestions this afternoon between showers 