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[owner-scirocco-l]

>From owner-scirocco-l  Wed Jul 24 22:40:31 1996
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From: hugacub@whidbey.net (Lisa & Rick)
To: scirocco-l@privateI.com
Subject: Help please: 85 Scirroco shutdown...(long due to details)
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 04:44:42 GMT
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Reply-To: scirocco-l@privateI.com

After driving my new (to me) Scirroco a couple days I have a better
handle on my problem and would like to throw it out to the group.
Thanks to those who replied to my initial post.

The former owner's description of the problem seems a bit inaccurate,
to say the least.  I no longer feel it's an electrical problem, it's a
fuel problem.

Let me give a quick background on the situation.  It's an 85 1.8 liter
with 108K miles.  It seems to have had reasonable maintenance and the
owner furnished an incomplete list of work he had done.  Nothing much
motor-wise besides routine oil change and tune ups.

I picked it up Sunday nite and expected (from ex-owner's info) it to
cut out about 1/2 to 3/4 hour into the trip.  It made it home (85
highway miles) with no real problem.  Once or twice when upshifting I
noticed it cut out for a split second, but overall it ran like a
champ.  I never realized what a fun car this was going to be!  I love
it (and will love it more when restored).

I drive 65 miles to work (one way....I'm on an island in the Puget
Sound).  My other car's tranny had reverse go out on Monday, so I was
forced to drive the Scirroco and hope it would make it ok.  Monday
night I gave it a quick cleaning and popped a bottle of Pyrol(?) fuel
injector treatment in the tank.  (I know it's not a recommended brand
here, but on the island I had little choice and no options.)  I drove
38 miles (country roads, 50-55 mph) to the ferry and it ran perfect.
I then got off the ferry and drove the remaining 27 miles (mostly
hiway, 60 mph) and it was perfect again.  I took it to lunch and it
ran wonderful again.

The ride home was not so perfect.  Traffic was horrible and we crawled
up the interstate at a crawl (no more than 10 mph whe we moved at
all).....I was 1/2 hour and 5 miles into the commute when it stalled.
It restarted and ran a couple minutes before it died again.  When
trying to restart, it would kick off and die immediately, starved for
fuel.  Finally, I sat in the middle of I405 and waited for a cop or
wrecker to get me out of there.  Alas, after about 10 minutes I tried
to start it and off she went!  Traffic was clearing and I was able to
move decently.  It tried to cut out repeatedly, but cleared after 1/4
to 1/2 mile and ran great the rest of the trip.  I stopped at a
Chevron station and filled it with Super Techron (or whatever) just to
give it a try.

This AM it ran perfect again, and after reading here that you
shouldn't baby these engines, I ran it harder to try to clean it out.
Once cruising I did pop it in 5th.....I just got there much quicker :)

This afternoon traffic was decent, and I got about 15 miles in the 1/2
hour before traffic backed up and it died again.  This time I was
fortunate to get off the side of the interstate and after a few
attempts, I just popped the hood and snooped around. (Finding nothing
of course)  After about 10 minutes, it started and it was attempting
to cut out for the same 1/4 to 1/2 mile before it (and traffic)
cleared and it ran fine the rest of the way home.

A few things I've taken note of:

1)  When cold, it idles rough and at about 700 RPM.  After warm it
idles around 1000 Rpm and is much smoother.  When decelerating the
RPMs dip to about 700 or so and go back up to 1000 (when warm).
Normal?

2)  My girlfriend found the FAQ with the recall on the fuel transfer
pump and filter.  I called a dealer and mine never had been replaced
so I have an appointment next Thursday to get this done.  Can anyone
tell me the reason (and related symptoms) for this recall?  This may
very well cure my sick Scirroco **fingers crossed**

3)  I noticed when refueling (twice so far.....only put 350 miles on
it so far.....first time when I bought it and it was 1/2 tank when I
topped it with Super yesterday after 200 miles....4.53 gallons!!!!
but I didn't cram it full)  that there was no sound of a vacuum being
released when I popped the fuel cap off.  Is this a vented cap?

I want to get to work on my new toy this weekend and really check it
out and do a thorough tune up, oil change, etc.  (I get up at 4:30 AM
and get home at 8 PM, so no time till then.)  From the little I've
read so far, I want Mann filters and Bosch plugs, right?  Any other
advise?

I apologize for the length of this, but I felt the need to be as
complete as I could.  Any help is greatly appreciated.  I'm already in
love with my Scirroco and hope to participate here as much as time
allows.  Thanks in advance.

Rick  (hugacub@whidbey.net)





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