Newbie gal with mk3 problems!

Hi all, I'm new to the forums and I'm hoping someone can give me some advice. Ill try my best to keep it reasonbly short Laughing

So this is Spock, my first car and my pride and joy. 1997 mk3 and only a lil 1.4 (will do me for now).

I got him in November 2007, had just a re-spray, been lowered 40mm, nice alloys (although a bit scuffed) - seemed the perfect little car but then stuff started going wrong. The first lot of problems were only minor - needed a new alternator, new spark plugs, engine flush out, new distributor cap and a couple of other little things. Then a couple of months ago, the clutch went so I had a brand new clutch fitted. Up until about a month ago, it was running really smoothly with no problems at all.

But now, i've noticed that it's over-revving, usually when i've stopped and i've put it into either 1st gear or neutral. It goes upto 2000 rpm and it sounds dreadful! It also feels slightly jerky when I'm shifting from 2nd to 3rd, almost like its bunny hopping - and no, it's NOT my driving Laughing

It seems to be one thing after the other, I'm just waiting for the engine to completely pack up now Sad

My boyfriend has said it might be something to do with the timing but he doesnt know a great deal about cars and I'm at the early stages of learning.

I want this car to be a project. The only thing I've managed to do myself at the moment is the tints, the sound system and the interior! I'm too worried to do any major tuning in case something seriously goes wrong with it. I eventually (in a year or so) want to do an engine conversion from a 1.4 to either a 1.8 or a 2.0 - is this possible? I know that I'll obviously have to upgrade the brakes and get new disc brakes all round and a new cooling system etc but is it just too much hassle? My friends are telling me that if I want a faster car, then to just buy a mk3 GTI but i've fallen in love with Spock and can't bear to sell him, but the way things are going, I dont know if I can afford to keep sending him to the garage! When Ive saved up a bit more cash, I'm going to get him fitted with a new straight through exhaust system and replace the air filter. Ive been told not to get an induction kit but to just get a K&N Panel Filter instead.

So basically, over-revving - what's the dealio? Engine conversion - yes or no?

Any help much appreciated. x

Well Hello and welcome,
Spock is a cool name. Cool

as for your high Idle does it do it all the time now?
if so you may have a vacuum leak.
what that means there is air getting in that will cause idle to increase and have crapy fuel economy.
you could Allso have a bad IAC valve this is (Idle Air Control) it looks like a roud motor with a 2 ports that have hoses one goes into the intake mainafold the other in the intake air pipe befor the throttle body.
I would look for a vacuum leak first.
Good luck let us know if there is any thing else we can do. Very Happy

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http://www.vortexautomotive.com

Thanks for the reply.

If it turns out to be any of the problems you suggested, will it be an expensive thing to fix? It does do it pretty much all the time, espeically when I have my foot on the clutch and in 1st gear when I'm waiting at traffic lights for example, revs would go right up to 2000 and then slowly come back down to about 1000. It has no problem starting up or pulling away. I have also noticed that when it's in 1st gear and Im waiting to pull away, the car is alot more rumbly and I can feel the steering wheel vibrating more as if it might stall, but it never has.

I don't actually drive my car alot and some days it will sit there for 3 days and not be turned over at all, not sure if that would have anything to do with it, the fact that it doesnt get driven much.

Another problem I forgot to mention, my airbag warning light is constantly on Laughing

welcome along Smile

yes sounds like a vacuum leak or IAC valve.
neither are expensive to fix.
vacuum leak will just be a new length of pipe at the most.

i think that you will have to change the wiring in your engine bay for the 1.8 or 2.0 engine conversion.

Right ok, I'll ring up the mechanic that's worked on my car a few times in the past and see whether he can sort it out for me.

This might sound silly but are all 2.0l mk3 engines GTI's? I have a feeling that if I'm going from a standard 1.4 to a 2.0, the whole fuel system would have be changed - is that right? I don't even know if I can fit a GTI engine into a 1.4, I might have to settle for a 1.8. I have been looking around at GTI engines and alot Ive seen only have 150 BHP which is a bit crap for a 2.0!

you sound like a right petrol head!! Laughing

no, not all 2.0L are gti. some of them are run like your 1.4 is, either single point injection into the back of the carb or multi-point just after the carb.
the gti runs at a higher fuel pressure than the straight 2.0L which creates more fuel available at the fuel rail which in turn creates more power.
the standard 2.0 creates 114hp (i think) where as the gti creates 148hp.

i'm going to talk now as if it was my car, there's alot of work involved in putting in a bigger engine and if you want more power i'd go as big as you can. the VR6 engine is what i'd be looking at for your car as you will have the same amount of work as doing a gti but instead you will have 172hp standard. that engine was designed for a supercharger as it already has the low compression pistons etc., why there wasnt one standard beats me, so i'd look at supercharging it which would give 220 plus hp.

you might think that all those figures are small hp for the engine displacement but vw engines have a longer stroke than most other makes which reduces hp out put but the torque figures are way up. this is better for everyday driving and still you have power there for when you want to have fun.

Aaah right, thanks for that. Lots of advice there Razz

I won't be doing it just yet, I only passed my test recently and Im only 19 so it won't be for at least a year but I just want to get as much info as I can at the moment. I did see a very nice 2.8 VR6 mk3 for sale not so long ago and I did a mock insurance quote online for it. I said I was 23 with 5 NCB and the insurance company wouldnt even consider it lol! So I'm not sure about a VR6 engine just yet, would be nice though.

Saying all this though, I dont know if my car would survive the engine conversion! He wouldn't even start today, it was spluttering so I pumped the accelerator, it fired up but then 2 seconds later it cut out again. I left it for about an hour and it started up fine so I then took it straight to the garage so my mechanic could sort out that over-revving problem. When he lifted up the bonnet, the engine bay was boiling hot and I had only driven it about a mile and a half doing around 30-40mph! Anyway, turns out it was something to do with the thermostat. He tested for an air leak and there were no signs of that so I've left my car at the garage to be worked on.

Honestly, it's one thing after the other. Was VERY tempted to put the damn thing on ebay this morning Laughing

VR6 Is the way to go. Twisted Evil

I live on these motors. Smile

Have one more almost ready Razz

to go in my Caddy.
great info Click Wink

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