MK1 Storm Passes MOT.. but....

[hermmy]

Wow, what another crazy day. I'll try and upload some pics tomorrow on the very slow progress. After your message Jimmy I put everything on stop and focused on the fuel tank and eliminating the the problem!! This was more of a ball ache that I first thought, just one of those days where nothing went right and every nut and bolt didn't want to budge or sheared off!!

Finally got the exhaust off then thought it would be just a matter of time before the fuel tank would drop out after unscrewing a few bolts and pulling of a few pipes, but oh no this wasn't the case. In the end had to drop the rear axel enough for the tank to drop out but now before having to take the break pipes off, I tell you what if I find out it should come out a peace of pish and I've spent a day trying to get it out shit's going to hit the fan!
ry clean
Anyway on the upside the tank is finally out, the car looks like it's in bits and there's plenty of sheared buts laying around!! The tank look awfully clean though it does have shit inside that looks like paint and black rubber? it's very strange, the filler pipe is very clean so can't be coming from there so have no idea at the moment what it is?

Going to flush it all out tomorrow and go from there, though found 2 old fuel pump relays in the boot of the car so somethings telling me this has been going on for a while! Anyway slight rant over, though Im pleased it's finally out and hopefully get to the root of the problem now so it doesn't happen again (or for many years to come)

[bengould]

You'll be pleased to know you DO have to remove the rear axle to get the tank out. Good luck with the rest of the job.

Ben.

[mark1gls]

Been there, done that..




It can a fiddle getting the tank back in as I found it would hit the 2 bolts sticking out the floor which the tank straps attach to, you have to get it just at the right angle to get it in.

[jimmy h]

Hi Hermmy, hmmm? Black rubber, have you checked the large black rubber flexi pipe that connects the tank to the filler pipe. It could be breaking down inside..I've not known this myself, but it's bound to be a very old piece of rubber - and hence. When you get it all back together, leave the fuel feed pipe off the filter in a jar, turn the ignition on momentarily to activate the fuel pump to blow any residual dirt out of the fuel pipe. There is another reason why you could have fuel pump relay issues, but we'll get to that later.. No point in information overload, one problem at a time.

[hermmy]

Glad I'm not the only one who's had the joy of taking the fuel tank out! I know what you mean mark1gls those very bolts were getting in the way trying to get the tank out. Yes checked the black flexi pipe that connects to the tank and it's perfect, nothing at all coming off that, it's all been cleaned out and all the crap inside is now out. It's very strange as there is no sign of where it's coming from, have checked all over every pipe the fuel filler and nothing that would suggest it's coming from as the tank is spotless.

Thanks for the tip Jimmy about the fuel feed I'll remember to do this. Also had fun replacing the axel bolts that had sheared off yesterday, thankfully they I have new ones in place ready to be bolted back up. Pleased now I went down the route of taking the tank off, even with the disaster day yesterday it's starting to come together.

I've ordered up new fuel filters and all will be changed over as well. Thanks again for everyone's comments and advice it's all very helpful on this long journey!

[jimmy h]

Thinking aloud: the fuel system is closed loop, ie it (the tank) has more than one inlet - the return pipe from the metering head. The flexi pipe which connects to the hard pipe is black rubber so it may be an idea to check the condition of that also.

[hermmy]

I'll check that as well, thanks Jimmy.

[hermmy]

It's been a long week doing most other things apart from the car in my spare time with my brother in law, but finally got to clean the tank out it's now spotless and made sure everything was clean before putting back on again. Flushed the fuel lines before putting back on and have replaced the fuel filter as well. Took a while to get going and was running rich when it did, got the old man to tweak it and it's now running nice.

So finally after a few weeks of it being up on a ramp I finally had the pleasure of driving it home, just love it! Needs a good run now after being stuck away for so long, lots still to do on it though one small step at a time.

Oh, the fuel filler has a couple of very small holes in it so looking to replace this, best place to purchase another or something similar and better?

Thanks

[mark1gls]

I guess you have the thinner type fuel filter? Mann WK618
Mann filters are good quality?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MANN-New-Spar ... 3f528b456e
Another good place for spares
http://www.vwspares.co.uk/scirocco_filters.php

The bigger fuel filter looks like this.

[dingorocco]

The black rubber is from the inside of the tank itself.

For the injected cars there is a plastic box sitting at the bottom of the tank that acts as a surge tank for the fuel pump suction pipe, its so the pump has a head of fuel when your hard cornering , braking or ahem, accelerating.
This plastic box has the factory pre filter stuck in the middle of it and at the bottom is sealed with a thin rubber flap, its this flap / seal that degrades over time. I have pics on the other PC , will try and get them onto this thread later today.

Aftermarket tanks I have seen just have a metal tube welded inside where this factory box sits, its not completely sealed to the tank but appears to work ok from feedback received.

[hermmy]

Thanks for all the help guys, very helpful. Once the bad weather sets in I plan to start on the body work as it needs some attention especially on both lower wings which has rotted out due to being left.

[hermmy]

Finally got to take the car out yesterday me along with my brother in his beetle and brother in laws MK1 golf to Dub Fest in Swanage which is quite local to us. It's been the first long trip for the car since the fuel tank change and after a rocky start it went well. It's still running rich (about 1600 idle) and it's needs to be cut back a bit, and exhaust has a slight blow though I'll probably change the whole exhaust anyway.

My main concern/problem I had was the car cutting out!!! I hear a fast ticking sort of noise coming from the fuse box, most probably the fuel pump relay then it cut out right after. This happened twice after 5 miles of is going, I pulled it out and put it back in again and for the rest of the journey and back it was fine, though it concerns me this might happen again??

It's also tough getting it into 1st gear, it will go in but have to force it in and just noticed this morning a leak from somewhere on the driveway!!

On the bright side it was great fun driving it there and lots of people loved seeing it. Going to have a few days off and then start working back on it.

[jimmy h]

Ticking over at 1600 rpm at idle it's no wonder you can't get it in first gear, the revs are way to high. It should be about 900 rpm. The engine is spinning way too fast to get it in gear. I'm not convinced with what you say about it running rich causing this high rpm - how do you know? High tick-over rpm could be the timing not set correctly ( to advanced). I'd start with the timing first. You need a gas analyser for correct mixture setting, I'd not try and do it by ear, or senses....

[hermmy]

Oh no Im not suggesting it's running rich causing high rpm, just stating it's running high. The timing could well be the issue and something I'll be looking at next, hmmm gas analyser? Is this something a garage would do or something I'd have to buy?

[jimmy h]

It's the Probe the MOT tester sticks up the exhaust pipe when they check your emissions. I think you can buy them for the DIY enthusiast but how good/accurate is another matter?! The idle mixture screw is on the air box on top of the air filter housing, small Allen key or special tool. There is another tick over adjustment on the back of the plenum, ( small hex head/ needle type adjuster).