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October 17, 2026, 04:34:47 AM

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[MUGGZ]

MY MK4 with 2l Pinto just started it's strange idling (well strange to me) the other day while driving to work and I was wondering if I could get some ideas on what to check please.

When I start it cold it wont idle, just die.
But if I hold the accelerator on just enough so it doesn't cut out for about 10-20 seconds and then let go,
it'll go up and down from normal idle to just about cutting out then back to normal and so on, and if I just tap the accelerator it'll cut out again. Also at low revs it runs like it has a bit of a miss but at high revs seems sweet and power seems the same as it was before the problem started.

So far I've checked:
the coil, spark plugs and spark plug leads
Idle and Mixture screw settings, all the Jets, Emulsion Tubes, Float Level, etc in carb and all seem to be sweet no dirt or blockages. (32/36 DGAV Weber)
The timing's a bitch to check while idling like this, but the marks I made on dizzy and block after the timing was last done still line up so I assume thats ok.

This is my 3rd MK4 and the first time i've come across this problem and it's doing my head in as 99% of the time I can diagnose and fix the problem myself but this has got me stumped. huh.gif
Any ideas/suggestions on what to check would be greatly appreciated thanks

[BigNorm]

sounds like you have a fair idea of what you are doing but something you didnt mention and the first thing i would check is the dwell if you havent gone electronic.  otherwise i think you might need to be a bit more specific about the symptoms and the actual components you've checked and what makes them ok.

[CortinaD]

My car experienced similar problems when i had a mahoooosive vacuum leak. Just another thing to check.

[MUGGZ]

Cheers for all your help. I found the problem, a lil plug in the side of the carb next to where the vacuum line to the dizzy is had somehow come out causin the vac leak. jammd that sucker back and sweet. as. Cheers again for the help.
By the way what would a MK4 160000km cd player 6X9s n recaro seats be worth over there? Gunna try sell mine here as im moving over to aus in april.

[CortinaD]

Good to hear you fixed it mate

Over here a TE, regardless of kms etc would be about $500 to $2000. If its mint etc it could possibly be worth up to $4000.