Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

Well, I finally got my 83 GTI up and running (it needed a new hall sender).
But it seems that the numerous backfires have taken their toll. I actually
noticed this new problem just after one of the last backfires so I'm pretty
certain it was the cause.
The car now makes a pretty loud clanging noise roughly once per revolution
(guessing). At first I thought it might be a hole in the exhaust pipes or
something, but that's not the case. The car also has much less power. What
should I look for here?
Thanks and happy 4th!!!!
Fred

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

Is the engine running smoothly?
maybe a spark plug is not firing or the wires are crossed and not in the
proper firing order.


"Fred Mann" > wrote in message
...
> Well, I finally got my 83 GTI up and running (it needed a new hall
> sender).
> But it seems that the numerous backfires have taken their toll. I actually
> noticed this new problem just after one of the last backfires so I'm
> pretty
> certain it was the cause.
> The car now makes a pretty loud clanging noise roughly once per revolution
> (guessing). At first I thought it might be a hole in the exhaust pipes or
> something, but that's not the case. The car also has much less power. What
> should I look for here?
> Thanks and happy 4th!!!!
> Fred
>
>
>
>
>

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

1, 4, 3, 2 is the firing order?

Have you removed the catalytic onverter? I used to go through them
about every 50,000 to 80,000 miles. They would rattle and clog up with
chunks falling out. I had to remove the muffler once to shake a chunk
out of the muffler. Once the car is running well with no skipping,
missing or backfiring you can install a new converter. I actualy might
have gotten a longer life then mentioned but missfiring will trash a
converter. Explosions in the wrong place can cause premature demise.

On Wed, 4 Jul 2007 22:57:52 -0500, "dave AKA vwdoc1"
> wrote:

>Is the engine running smoothly?
>maybe a spark plug is not firing or the wires are crossed and not in the
>proper firing order.
>
>
>"Fred Mann" > wrote in message
. ..
>> Well, I finally got my 83 GTI up and running (it needed a new hall
>> sender).
>> But it seems that the numerous backfires have taken their toll. I actually
>> noticed this new problem just after one of the last backfires so I'm
>> pretty
>> certain it was the cause.
>> The car now makes a pretty loud clanging noise roughly once per revolution
>> (guessing). At first I thought it might be a hole in the exhaust pipes or
>> something, but that's not the case. The car also has much less power. What
>> should I look for here?
>> Thanks and happy 4th!!!!
>> Fred
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

While I've no experience with this particular engine, I doubt that's the
correct firing order. Every 4 I've ever worked on has been 1-3-4-2.
But by all means, look it up rather than relying on Jim's memory or mine.

Jim Behning wrote:
> 1, 4, 3, 2 is the firing order?
>
<snip>

JRE

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

On Wed, 4 Jul 2007 20:24:08 -0400, "Fred Mann" > wrote:

>Well, I finally got my 83 GTI up and running (it needed a new hall sender).
>But it seems that the numerous backfires have taken their toll. I actually
>noticed this new problem just after one of the last backfires so I'm pretty
>certain it was the cause.
>The car now makes a pretty loud clanging noise roughly once per revolution
>(guessing). At first I thought it might be a hole in the exhaust pipes or
>something, but that's not the case. The car also has much less power. What
>should I look for here?
>Thanks and happy 4th!!!!
>Fred
>
>
>
>
>

Backfired and now low power sure sounds like a blocked exhaust, as Jim said.

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

On Jul 5, 8:14 am, JRE > wrote:
> While I've no experience with this particular engine, I doubt that's the
> correct firing order. Every 4 I've ever worked on has been 1-3-4-2.
> But by all means, look it up rather than relying on Jim's memory or mine.
>
> Jim Behning wrote:
> > 1, 4, 3, 2 is the firing order?
>
> <snip>
>
> JRE

it's 1,3,4,2 just replaced the distrib. in my 85.

md

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

Jim,
WATER-cooled and not AIR-cooled!
I see what you are more familar with! ;-)
I try to remember when redoing plug wires, but there are times
when.......... lol
--
later,
dave
(One out of many daves)


"JRE" > wrote in message
...
> While I've no experience with this particular engine, I doubt that's the
> correct firing order. Every 4 I've ever worked on has been 1-3-4-2. But
> by all means, look it up rather than relying on Jim's memory or mine.
>
> Jim Behning wrote:
>> 1, 4, 3, 2 is the firing order?
>>
> <snip>
>
> JRE

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

Exciting new data!:

Well, I pulled each plug wire with the engine running, and found that the
noise comes from cylinder #2.
The noise occurrs with each spark (I checked with a timing gun).
Where does this leave me? Sounds expensive.

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

JRE wrote:
> While I've no experience with this particular engine, I doubt that's the
> correct firing order. Every 4 I've ever worked on has been 1-3-4-2. But
> by all means, look it up rather than relying on Jim's memory or mine.
>
> Jim Behning wrote:
>> 1, 4, 3, 2 is the firing order?
>>
> <snip>
>
> JRE

Note: I should have said "inline 4," and noted that some of them have
been VW's. I have also infrequently worked on horizontally opposed 4's
but don't recall their firing orders and whether they differ.

JRE

Damaged SOMETHING with backfiring ...
 

In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, Fred Mann wrote:

>Exciting new data!:
>
>Well, I pulled each plug wire with the engine running, and found that the
>noise comes from cylinder #2.
>The noise occurrs with each spark (I checked with a timing gun).
>Where does this leave me? Sounds expensive.
>

When you pulled number 2 plug wire, what changed? The "loud clanging
noise" stopped, got louder, or what?