Engine is hard starting

2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA
300,000 MILES • 2.3L • 5 CYL • 2WD • MANUAL
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CHAD WARSHIP
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
Engine rough starting and hunting when idling, and it struggles to pick up rev from low down.
Jan 13, 2021 at 10:29 AM
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KASEKENNY
  • CAR REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
  • 18,907 POSTS
More then likely this is a vacuum leak. Here is a guide that will help with figuring this out for sure:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-an-engine-vacuum-gauge

If there is no vacuum leak then we need to monitor the fuel pressure and find out if that is correct as well.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-fuel-system-pressure-and-regulator

I suspect this is an air issue which is why we lead with a vacuum leak but if both of these check out then we will need to know if there are codes.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing

If there are no codes then we need to move onto a possible mass air flow issue but we can get to that once we get through all this. Thanks
Jan 14, 2021 at 5:00 PM
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