# My 1984 MK1 Gti rabbit cranks but won't start :-(



## 94 SLC Storm (Sep 30, 2013)

*My 1984 MK1 Gti rabbit cranks but won't start, Warm up regulator? :-(*

Hey guys so here's the issue on my 1984 VW rabbit GTI my car had a coldstart issue and I always had to step on the gas to keep it running it's all tuned up and it ran better after that but eventually stalled out at red lights and it took a while to start again and now it just cranks over and doesn't start at all I think it's something to do with the metering head/ fuel distributor underneath the hood that's the one with the fuel injector lines on top of the fuel distributor they keep making this constant ticking noise like tick tick tick tick for like five minutes and it won't shut off it sounds like it's trying to prime for gas but it's not getting anything I did a compression test and it has good compression I disconnected the fuel filter and cranked it Over I'm getting fuel to the fuel pump it sounds like it's coming on I think it maybe either the warm up regulator or perhaps even the cold start valve. I'm not sure I just recently got bought this car and I'm not familiar with every single part in the car just the basics so forgive me if I don't have all the details as I'm just getting familiar with this beast.


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## 94 SLC Storm (Sep 30, 2013)

94 SLC Storm said:


> Hey guys so here's the issue on my 1984 VW rabbit GTI my car had a coldstart issue and I always had to step on the gas to keep it running it's all tuned up and it ran better after that but eventually stalled out at red lights and it took a while to start again and now it just cranks over doesn't start at all I think it's something to do with the fuel injector pump underneath the hood the fuel injector pump keeps making this constant ticking noise like tick tick tick tick for like five minutes and it won't shut off it sounds like it's trying to prime for gas but it's not getting anything I did a compression test and it has good compression I disconnected the fuel filter and cranked it Over I'm getting fuel to the fuel pump it sounds like it's coming on I also tested for spark from the spark plug and that is good, please I need help with this it would be greatly appreciated I'm very stressed right now as I just bought this car, oh and also one of the fuel injector lines off the cylinder head is a little loose but it's not leaking fuel vacuums leak maybe?


 Wow nobody knows?


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

The fuel injection pump is normally called just a fuel pump. The pump is located in the back of the car next to the RR wheel area. The only pump under the hood is oil, coolant, and washer pump. 

So the description of your issue does not make sense at all. The description of the components you are talking about does not make sense either. I would Google CIS/Lambda to find out how the system works. Then using the right terms, let us know what is ticking under the hood.

The way CIS works, vacuum leaks are a big no-no. They must be fixed for it to run right. The injectors are usually flop around, but will not pull out of the injector seals/holes.

Sorry, not much help offered, but there is little meat on the bone to help you with.


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## 94 SLC Storm (Sep 30, 2013)

Butcher said:


> The fuel injection pump is normally called just a fuel pump. The pump is located in the back of the car next to the RR wheel area. The only pump under the hood is oil, coolant, and washer pump.
> 
> So the description of your issue does not make sense at all. The description of the components you are talking about does not make sense either. I would Google CIS/Lambda to find out how the system works. Then using the right terms, let us know what is ticking under the hood.
> 
> ...


 I just recently got this car so I'm not familiar with every single part name on the car but I have updated the description based upon the lambda review so hopefully that helps out . I think it could be the warm up regulator as the culprit and if it is that does that have to be tuned when you have it or can you just bolt it right in?


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

As you know, the engine needs gas, spark, and compression to run. Compression is a given so we'll concentrate with gas/spark. The spark is a fairly simple system to check. As long as it is a good strong spark and the right time, you're good.

Most likely it is a fuel issue. The warm up regulator is designed to give the fuel system extra fuel to start when the engine is cold. Eventually when the engine is warmed up, the fuel mixture is leaned out to the proper level for a hot engine. The cold start valve is very easy to test, since it runs on 12v. The valve only works for a few seconds to give the system a shot of fuel when you are cranking the engine. After those few seconds are done, it will not work again. It should not work when the engine is hot.

The issue you have may be a simple fuel mixture adjustment. It could be there is a vacuum leak causing the mixture to be off. All the air needs to enter the air filter and not come in anywhere else. If it does, the air is unmetered and the fuel distributor will not adjust for that. Most VW engines have vacuum leaks and small ones may not effect the engine running too much.

So, can you swap the warm up regulator without any adjustments? In theory, yes, in practice not usually. Can you work on CIS without fuel pressure gauges? Yes. Should you, NO! Not knowing CIS will probably just make you really pissed at your car and the German engineer who designed it. It is a wonderful system that when set up properly has very little issues. 

The buzzing noise from the frequency valve should be present anytime the key is turned on. If it does not buzz, you have issues. If the fuel mixture is not correct, you will have running issues [cold or hot]. I wish I could help more, but there is so much information out there it would be easier to research that.


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## 94 SLC Storm (Sep 30, 2013)

Butcher said:


> As you know, the engine needs gas, spark, and compression to run. Compression is a given so we'll concentrate with gas/spark. The spark is a fairly simple system to check. As long as it is a good strong spark and the right time, you're good.
> 
> Most likely it is a fuel issue. The warm up regulator is designed to give the fuel system extra fuel to start when the engine is cold. Eventually when the engine is warmed up, the fuel mixture is leaned out to the proper level for a hot engine. The cold start valve is very easy to test, since it runs on 12v. The valve only works for a few seconds to give the system a shot of fuel when you are cranking the engine. After those few seconds are done, it will not work again. It should not work when the engine is hot.
> 
> ...


One of the first things I did was a compression test a friend of mine helped me out with that the compression was good.
I also checked the spark which was good we checked for fuel and we think it's quite possible the issue is coming from somewhere from the fuel distributor/ meter valve Do you know what a normal compression reading is for an 8 valve engine is for this car?


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

Compression is always a weird value. They should all be the same [within 5-10psi]. I would suspect at least 125-150. 

I would start with a fuel pressure reading. That involves buying a gauge made for CIS, certainly not a cheap way to go to fix your car.


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## 94 SLC Storm (Sep 30, 2013)

Butcher said:


> Compression is always a weird value. They should all be the same [without 5-10psi]. I would suspect at least 125-150.
> 
> I would start with a fuel pressure reading. That involves buying a gauge made for CIS, certainly not a cheap way to go to fix your car.


 Thanks sport i'll definitely look into a CI S fuel pressure reading gauge also I found out what the problem was theirs as valve underneath the fuel meter distributor that was left wide open which was just pouring an abundant amount of gas into the cylinders so we just made some adjustments and fix the few vacuum leaks in the car is running back to its best again.


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

Nice. I guess you know a bit more how CIS works and your car runs again.


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## 94 SLC Storm (Sep 30, 2013)

Well I learned a few things from a Volkswagen specialist mechanic that I know of and I realize it's never just one thing with the car we had to diagnose all three elements spark fuel and air and it was the second element which was fuel sure enough the problem was underneath the fuel distributor meter so yeah now the car runs again back to normal high-fives all around 🙌🏻👍🏻🌅🌅 The car could still use a thermal time switch that's about it besides that it's a strong runner.


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## fast84gti (Mar 2, 2003)

Don't forget the idle air bypass valve on back of intake manifold.
I had a big cam, and several mechanics told me my crappy idle was due to the big cam (I sprayed everything with ether to check for leaks but forgot the hose on back of intake).
Well, many years later I had to pass CA smog and had a friend help me diagnose the crappy idle. 
He was NOT convinced it was the cam.
Sure enough, he found that the idle bypass valve had a broken hose.
So, I replaced it, put in stock cam, tuned up the car and it ran better than ever!!!! And it passed smog with stock cam.
And I didn't have to pay a mechanic...

The more you learn, the more you can fix...
Glad you found the issue.


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## 94 SLC Storm (Sep 30, 2013)

The idol bypass valve that's on the back of the intake manifold ? So you can adjust that too is what you're saying right ? Well the bad news is I'm back to square one I'm having the same issue again the car all of a sudden when I come to a stop light or stop sign It idles really low and It wants to stall out and has stalled out a little bit and doesn't really want to start back up again someone told me they think it could be A fuel pump relay switch or even a bad connection from your ignition wire to your ignition coil or perhaps some broken vacuum hoses off the idle valve??


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