Hi Folks,

I am new to this forum, and have used much of the advice to get around the smaller issues. I'm mechanically savvy and have been fixing my own cars for close on 44 years.

I have a problem with a 2007 1.4i Cit Golf. Actually had a bucket load of issues and resolved most of them, but this one has me stumped.

Last week, my daughter came to me and said her car was not right. When I started it, the engine was running really rough, but seemed to rev up although it was missing.

I took off the timing belt cover, and noticed the belt was a little sloppy and showed a fair degree of wear.
I replaced the cam belt, tensioner, checked alignment , spark plugs, checked compression on all cylinders (all good), spark plug leads all good at 6K each. Took off the throttle body and cleaned out the gunk that had accumulated there. Cleaned the map sensor, and during this whole process, had to replace a radiator as that sprung a leak.
So all of this done, and the engine idles rough, and has no power in the 1000rpm to 3000rpm range , back fires, and I can smell unburnt fuel.
I am pretty much at a loss as to what has gone wrong. My leaning is towards a dodgy MAP sensor, and possibly plug leads.
What say you gurus.

best would be to scan car with VAG and see what fault codes it picks up
try unplugging the map sensor and see if it makes any difference, if none they you know that the problem
also most common issue is the 4pin water temp sensor, change that and see it helps.....also since you changed cam belt etc you need to set timing with VAG which will lock the car into timing mode at 1500rpm and then you can adjust timing at distributor to +/- 6deg advance with a timing light.

It is interesting about the water sensor. I had thought about that, as I had recently fixed the walsh plugs, and flushed out the engine and replaced the coolant with proper coolent. Now the radiator has a large leak. In the process of replacing this.
My son had a faulty temp sensor, and in his case, the engine was running too lean on a cold morning. OK once warmed up, but never had a power issue. Still worth looking though.

So some further update. Turns out the water temp sensor is for a 2L golf.

saffer wrote:So some further update. Turns out the water temp sensor is for a 2L golf.

And replacing that sorted the issue completely?

No luck. Temp sensor made no difference. Car still sluggish. Idles badly. Mixture is very rich.
Vag error codes 0519 & 0527 coming up which I believe points the MAP sensor

Chck it on single reading blocks and see if thenr ading for map is reasonable. Ie. 0.83 in jhb with ththe engine not running or full throttle and 1 bar at sea level. Around -.6 or so on idle.

Changed the MAP sensor, although it idles better, still lacks power in the low revs.
Also getting a 0519 code.

Does the idle hunt abit, did you set timing using Vag

The idle does hunt. Initial start of the engine seems smooth the gets rough. I don't have a diagnostic tool to check the timing. I did move the distributor back and forth after marking it, and the engine got really rough.
Still a miss. I'm going to open the spark gap to 0.8 and see if that sorts out the problem

Check fuel pressure. They break the rail.

After doing some reading on this forum, I have decided to go back to basics, and check that the crank,cam and distributor timing is correct. It is possible I may have aligned on the wrong mark on the flywheel, and that would definitely have a bearing.
So many different marks on the flywheel.

There really are only 2 a diamond and or a 0. If both are present use the 0.

This flywheel has a groove and round dimple, and square prominence.

Car is fixed. Went back to basics, and I had aligned crank on the wrong marks. Started first time, idles smoothly, has power, and there is no longer the rich exhaust smell.
Thanx everyone for the assistance. I have learned a lot.

the square prominence is only for VW special timing tools. Never meant as a mechanical timing marker of any kind.
groove is the diamond shape I was talking about and that is 10 degrees advance. Dimple is zero.
But of course front of the motor has a good 0 marker if all the covers are there.

This one doesn't have. It has a groove and dimple at the same spot. At least it is running nicely.

saffer wrote:
Car is fixed. Went back to basics, and I had aligned crank on the wrong marks. Started first time, idles smoothly, has power, and there is no longer the rich exhaust smell.
Thanx everyone for the assistance. I have learned a lot.

Hop hop
Glad you sorted.

UDC wrote:best would be to scan car with VAG and see what fault codes it picks up
try unplugging the map sensor and see if it makes any difference, if none they you know that the problem
also most common issue is the 4pin water temp sensor, change that and see it helps.....also since you changed cam belt etc you need to set timing with VAG which will lock the car into timing mode at 1500rpm and then you can adjust timing at distributor to +/- 6deg advance with a timing light.

How do you know wether the water temp sensor needs replacing ?

is it posssible for timing to go off even without having opened the belt and any tensioners ?

yes, either tensioner fails and belt jumps a few teeth or key way shears off on the crank,intermediate or cam pulley

Thank you, and is there anyway of checking this ? because my citi xcite 1.4i 2009 is feeling very sluggish and is using more fuel than before .

Any suggestions on what i can check or do to solve this ?

UDC wrote:yes, either tensioner fails and belt jumps a few teeth or key way shears off on the crank,intermediate or cam pulley

If any of the above occurred your car would be doing more than feeling sluggish and using more fuel.
Get the car on a diagnostic machine, check timing marks line up and take it from there

Thanks alot bud , will definitely get it diagnosed . Ive heard that it could also be one of the fuel sensors .

Any recommendations to who i can take the car to get diagnosed here in Durban ?

your car should be mpi, lots of guys having issues with mpi

Go see Durban Fuel Injection in Point Road 031 3327414