# CIS-E woes. No power, unable to test DPR.



## NiftyHalden (Dec 10, 2012)

So we've been working on this 89 Fox GL wagon -My second drug home not running- and are nearing completion, but alas, CIS-E is going to ensure a few delays. 

We've gone through, cleaned up ALL the vacuum leaks, replaced the "rebuilt" fuel distributor that was on the car with a junkyard unit that checked out in better condition (and set all the related adjustments per Bentley), new spark plugs, oxygen sensor, and the thing purrs like a kitten right now. But, the second you pull it out of the driveway, there is no power available when you put your foot down. Doesn't try to stall or anything, idles smooth, but it won't get out of it's own way. like, my bone stock bay window bus could run circles around this poor thing. I don't have a long enough straight road near my house to get the thing going fast enough to try 4th gear. We think it's just hurting for fuel, but before screwing up the adjustments we wanted to check what the DPR had to say, and I can not get a mA reading from it! I built a harness back during the first Fox project, and never did get a reading from it, but I got that car running without it. Connecting it to this car, I read about 1.8 volts on those wires, but absolute zero when I switch my meter over to mA, and I'm at a loss as to why. I have confirmed that it is NOT my harness at fault buy using some wire piercing attachments on my meter and just connecting directly to the cars harness right before the DPR connector, and show the same readings as I get with my test harness. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions before we go and screw up all of the painstaking adjustments we've made? Anything other than fuel maybe? The valve timing is correct, and the ignition timing is right on per bently. We ran a few test laps and tried adding and subtracting some timing advance, but with no real gain. We're stuck.

Thanks in advance for any guidance or thoughts! Halden

Edit: Also worth noting is that a compression test revealed 135-145 psi across all 4 cylinders.


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## Simono (Aug 8, 2013)

I had a similar problem when I did the timing belt on my Fox. I timed the crank and drive perfectly but I totally forgot the intermittent shaft, which drives the oil pump. What ended up happening was me driving around with no power, like your problem. The oil lights were not on or anything, it just had no power. I re timed it again and it worked like new


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## VWFOX407 (May 10, 2007)

*...*

Most likely Catalytic converter clogged...if you want to obtain the nitty-gritty information about The Fox...post at its community forum, and check the FAQ (a lot of information about this mean little machine) - as well as many helpful guys that will not mind giving you advice now and then - Cheers!


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## NiftyHalden (Dec 10, 2012)

Thanks for the reply VWFOX407, I removed the cat the other day after we noticed it glowing bright red after some testing! that's been eliminated as an issue now, with some but little improvement made.

I do also have a post in the Fox section here. 

We are nearing our wit's end with this one. We just tested advancing and retarding the actual cam timing by 1 tooth each way, to no avail. The silly car ran just as well with the cam timing put out in either direction! This thing just won't work for us.


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## volkshead83 (Feb 8, 2014)

Wiggle the connector on the distributor. You could have a short. I read a similar issue on the mk2 form. When I had my mk2 I had N issue like that. The fuel filter had to be replaced, although it was newish about a month old. Cis e is a touchy system and hates you if anything is out of wack.


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## Saskcracker (Apr 29, 2013)

I have the same issue with my 1989 VW Fox GTS, I know what the problem is and I just don't wanna fix it lol Its the in-tank fuel pump. The pump wines from time to time but its getting worse especially on warm days!


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## SourKandi (May 26, 2014)

But the in-tank pump was the first thing I replaced! Such an easy job and the little guy was under $40 I think. I have never attempted that before but it was our first thought initially on what was wrong with the fox.

_Posted via *Topify* using iPhone/iPad_


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