Car DiedI had an '89 GLi 16V and had the EXACT same problem once. Bouncing Tach and everything. What it turned out to be was a combonation of the distributor, the cap, and the rotor. What happened was that the seal around the distributor wore out and it started to seep oil into the distributor. That hot oil softened up the rotor and slowly dissolved the plastic shield that protected the wiring and also melted the harness that the wiring enters from. The wiring then, not being hield down anymore, got in the way of the rotating part of the distributor and was cut in half. So now the car didnt know when to send a spark so all it did was crank and never start.. I had to replace the distributor and rotor and it worked fine.
In plain english. "Check your distributor for damage, inside and out." on a side note about that '89 GLi of mine. I sold it with 175k on it for $2850 three months ago. Last week while doing some research, I found out that it was the '89 GLi Limited Edition (only 1500 produced.) and then propmtly began to kick my own @$$. I now drive a '91 GLi. ----- Original Message ----- From: Doug Curtis To: A2_16v (E-mail) Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 3:33 AM Subject: [A2-16v] Car Died 89 16V driving home last night, car just cut out completely. Right before it died I noticed the tach bouncing up and down (like when the battery is weak). I grab the key to restart and it cranks fine, just doesn't go.. At the same time, I also noticed after some extended cranking that the fuel pump would keep runnin even with the key in the off position. The only way to stop the fuel pump was to pop the relay out and put it back in. My first that was the Hall sender (which is only a year old or so), but the funny indications on the dash (dim lights/bouncing tach) and the fuel pump are throwing me from that.. Any one have any ideas?
