Cold & hot start woes (GTII).

[the edmundator]

I'm trying to persist with the Pierburg, having already spent a fair amount of money on it, so please don't reply with "fit a Weber"!

I have trouble with the car when the ambient temperature is cold (i.e. 1st thing in the morning) - it runs very rough and struggles to maintain an idle - it sits well below 900rpm (probably 700 at best). If I give it plenty of throttle it drives ok and by the time I'm 1/4 mile up the road (where I have to stop at the traffic lights) it's usually behaving itself.

This is very different to my 1.8 carb Golf, which idles at around 2000rpm to start with and then gradually settles down as the car warms up - I think this is roughly how the autochoke is meant to operate.

When it's hot it often struggles to start, and I've noticed a fairly strong petrol smell when I open the bonnet after running the car. Fuel economy is reasonable - I'm getting around 350 miles off a tank, although given the driving I do (nearly all motorway) I think this could probably be better.

Any ideas on a likely culprit?

[Nate]

pm me your email address and i'll send you the pierburg repair manual :)

[the edmundator]

Cheers, Nate - PM on its way.