AirFlow Sensor problems...

[Vaughn8v@aol.com]

Hey,
    
    So, I have an 88 16v 'Rocco that I bought in July.  Soon after I bought 
it, it began to blow smoke out the tailpipe, like it was running too rich.  
When I attended the Seattle Cruise-out, it blew smoke a little more than it 
had before.  Someone there did the no-no of adjusting the allen screw that 
adjusts the Co level and mixture, the one that raises and lowers the sensor 
plate that is located between the fuel distributor and the sensor plate.  
Well, he got my car to have better throttle response and actually run a 
little bit better and almost completely cease blowing smoke, but would not 
idle.  I figured that before too long I would just take it to a shop and have 
it adjusted properly.  I realize that by adjusting that screw you are messing 
with something that has to be adjusted precisely and cannot be done so 
without proper diagnostic equipment such as a scope.  This guy proceeded to 
tell me that he suspected that I had some bad injectors.
    
    Anyway, after a couple of weeks of neglecting that trip to the shop, my 
car began to sputter, and would periodically cough, and sometimes even 
backfire.  Also, the fuel pump relay would start chattering unceasingly 
everytime I would drive my car, except for when I was at a stop...  in other 
words the relay would not chatter when I would be at a standstill and rev the 
engine.  Then my car started to just up and die every couple of miles, and 
then would not start after a while at all.  So, to get it to run,  the first 
thing that I did was remove the injectors to have them cleaned.  So, 
according to the dealership who hooked each injector up to that nifty little 
Bosch injector cleaning contraption and squirted solvent through them... they 
cleaned and checked out fine.  So I purchased new o-rings for them and just 
for the hell of it, bought a relay too.  (BTW, after the o-rings are on the 
injectors and they are installed back on the fuel lines, getting them to go 
back into thier bakelite seats properly without that lower o-ring slipping 
off is a BITCH!!!)  But after a little while and a little silicone, they 
popped in there properly.
    
    When I tried to start it up however, it just cranked and cranked.  So I 
took a long allen wrench and, since it had already been screwed with, I 
adjusted that mixture screw so I could get it running good enough to drive it 
to the shop and have it corrected properly.  I got it to start and run, and 
it seemed to have good throttle response, but when I tried to drive it around 
the block, it would do the same coughing a sputtering  and lurching thing 
that it was doing before.  Could anything in the sensor plate assembly be 
damaged?  Could there be a control plunger problem?  Or do I just need to 
keep trying to adjust it?  Or could even my plugs be fouled enough (and I am 
sure they are fouled after running so rich so long) that they just aren't 
firing properly?  Or could my car be on the verge of exploding into a million 
fiery peices like the Death Star?  
    
Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Ben
88 16v Scirocco

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