Car stalls on the highway

JEFTA

MEMBER
1994 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
1.8L
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
90,000 MILES

I own a VW GOLF MK1 1994 citi sport 1.8 8v carburetor, 5 speed manual, with an electronic distributor and a 12 pin igniter. I bought a carburetor repair kit and replaced all the jets. The car stalls when I hit high revs as if it's starving. I tried to increase the mixture and it affected the idling and still it would stall, gave it to a mechanic he opened it and saw no blockage and still would give the same problem, he then tried backfiring (exchanging HT cable of plug 1 and 4 and starting so it would throw back dirt if any) and it improved for a few minutes then back again. Sometimes I can set the mixture correct when I rev the engine it does not stall, but once on the road it stalls. I checked for vacuum leeks and their aren't any. Ii replaced the carburetor base. I have to keep my foot on the pedal to keep it idling. I noticed my distributor rotor has a crack on the rotor, would this contribute to the problem? I really love my VW Citi Golf, but this problem has left me hopeless. I have nowhere else to turn for help. Please kindly advice. Let me know if there is something that I am overlooking. Should I replace the whole carburetor / Distributor? I really want to move with this car in a happy mood.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards

Jefta

1 Reply

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,256 POSTS

Hi thanks for the question, it sounds like it could be a fuel delivery problem to start, please do a fuel pressure and volume check. (Remove the fuel line and insert it into a container to monitor the flow, no smoking! ) Start the engine to check the flow, it could be the fuel pump. Next always keep the ignition system clean and free from cracked components. Does the carburetor have a shut off solenoid? This will need power while the engine is running or it will stall. Please let me know what you find.