VW Golf MK2 and manual choke problems.

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Mon 14 May 2007 22:30
VW Golf MK2 and manual choke problems. - franco
I am having problems with my choke on cold days which causes the car to cut out while I am slowing down. The problem is that to keep the car ticking over when I am stationary I need to pull the choke out quite far. However, if the choke is pulled out that far when I start driving the engine seems to get too much petrol and starts missing.

I can't win with this because the only way round it would be to keep my foot on the accelerator when I am stationary. Unfortunately this isn't possible when I am slowing down and hence the car is bound to cut out on me.

Is this a problem with the carb that can be adjusted or is there anything simple like a blocked hose or something that could be causing it. As soon as the engine warms up it runs lovely.
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Mon 14 May 2007 23:37
VW Golf MK2 and manual choke problems. - Screwloose
franco

Is this a factory-fit manual choke or an aftermarket conversion?

Chokes have two functions: one is to restrict the incoming air to richen the mixture; the other is to increase the idle speed.

It would appear that yours isn't properly set up to do both at the right ratio.
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Mon 14 May 2007 23:43
VW Golf MK2 and manual choke problems. - trickydicky
Check for split or disconnected pipes, If all is correct you should be able to adjust the fast idle.Off the choke linkage there should be a steped cam, which opens the main throtle slightly to increase engine speed when choke is on.
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Tue 15 May 2007 16:37
VW Golf MK2 and manual choke problems. - franco
I believe it is factory fitted. If this is a job that could be tried by an amateur I might give it a go myself. I seem to remember when I had problems on first buying the car I decided to stay away from the carb even though the carb was not at fault then.
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Wed 16 May 2007 01:12
VW Golf MK2 and manual choke problems. - Number_Cruncher
The problem as you describe it is that the car won't tick over properly, and you are using the choke to speed the tick over up, to stop it stalling.

You need to fix the idling problem - then you won't need to mis-use the choke to stop the car stalling.

As suggested, first look for and fix any air leaks.

Also check that the idling circuit is working properly in the carburettor. With the engine warm, you should be able to adjust the idle mixture to make the engine run rough by being too weak, and at the opposite end too rich. If you can obtain these extremes, good running is found between. If you can't obtain one or other extreme, there is a blockage somewhere in the idle circuit - typically, if the idle jet is blocked, you can't make the mixture rich enough however much you turn the idle mixture screw. Cleaning the idle jet, and re-adjusting the idle mixture and idle speed would then fix your fault.

Number_Cruncher
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Tue 15 May 2007 20:47
VW Golf MK2 and manual choke problems. - Big John
Check/replace all the little rubber air pipes around the carb/distributer/airfilter, they perish and leak in the strangest of places causing problems such as the ones you describe. I spent many a week tracing such a fault on a VW Polo, turned out to be a 3 inch long pipe!
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Wed 16 May 2007 01:49
VW Golf MK2 and manual choke problems. - franco
Thanks guys. I thought I was not misusing the choke by trying to make it idle faster in cold weather, but that shows what I know. I thought the idle speed should be set for when the car is warm and assisted by the choke at other times. I've taken all comments on board and will give my carb a seeing to.
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