VW Golf Mk2 Owners Club

Help a new Mark 2 owner!

August 10, 2025, 02:29:19 PM

I bought my first VW classic January this year, a mark 2 golf gti 16v, 1991, being around classics for over 30 years this one is proving particularly troublesome!
I had poor running problems a few months into ownership, would run rough, little or no acceleration after warm up.
Booked it into a specialist:
£1000 later, service, timing, gear box timing inspection bung, thermostat housing, fuel pump housing, lift pond in tank replaced.

The car runs exactly the same, runs perfect for the first 5 miles, as soon as its warmed up little or no acceleration.
I am really struggling to find a garage that either knows how to resolve this issue…..I really want to enjoy the car ion these simmer months
Any advice would be really appreciative

Re: Help a new Mark 2 owner!

Reply #1 – August 11, 2025, 07:36:54 AM

Hi and welcome!

Ok, there are two things that I would check, first being the compression.
I've had a mk2 16v before where it would start and run, but once up to temp, the compression dropped and had no real power.
I'd also struggle to restart the car. Genuinely hope it's not that one, as there's no cheap fix for it.

Second (and more likely) thing is that metering head:
The mk2 golf 16v runs on K-Jet, a mechanical form of fuel injection.
Essentially, it relies on incoming air lifting a flap (under the big black boot, above the air filter) that increases the fuel pressure being supplied to the injectors. When it works, it works well, but it needs to be set up correctly and from the sounds of it, the car runs well when warming up, which is when the warm up regulator is pushing more fuel into the inlet, but when the car comes up to temp, it shuts off and drops the fuel, leaning out the mixture. You could detect this by going to a garage with an exhaust gas analyser (any MOT station) and asking them to measure what's going on when it's running rough, if it's lean, that's your problem.

Now the compression can be done quite easily by yourself, if you're happy tinkering and have a compression tester.
The fuelling should really be done by someone who knows how to do it and has an exhaust gas analyser.
You don't mention where abouts you are, if you let us know a location, someone nearby may know for a good garage.

Re: Help a new Mark 2 owner!

Reply #2 – August 12, 2025, 02:31:18 PM

Thank you Monkey, I am based in the Midlands, in between Wolverhampton and Stafford.  The garage I have used are a specialist but I have zero confidence in taking it back there.

Re: Help a new Mark 2 owner!

Reply #3 – August 12, 2025, 03:57:31 PM

No worries, unfortunately, I'm down south, so I don't know anyone up near you.
Might be an idea to put a shout on the FB page, it's much busier, someone may know a garage.