I have a 1988 VW Cabriolet. That will not start sometimes and when it does it won't stay running

5

Asked by mattgendron Jul 26, 2018 at 04:27 PM about the 1988 Volkswagen Cabriolet Base

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 1988 VW Cabriolet. I have several issues with this vehicle and have googled, youtubed and read every forum I can to try and figure this thing out. So the I will begin. First thing is that the car doesn't always want to engage the start once the key is turned, you have to press the key in firmly and then turn the key in order for it to sometimes start. Next, when the car does begin to turn over it takes a while to start it takes a while to fire. There is new plugs, wires and distributor cap installed. Next when the car does start it has to be accelerated to about 5000 rpm for a while before it will run without dying. Once you let off the gas and let it idle it will idle rough and then sound like it will cut off (almost like it's starving for fuel or air since sometimes it will backfire). It seems like there has been some bypass done on some of the wiring in the vehicle also. I replaced the alternator in this vehicle due to the fact that it wasn't charging the battery at all and someone had stripped out the main bolt holding it in. I know there is a lot of different issues I have stated I just want to get it running smoothly so I can figure out the wiring the person before me did. They did some very foolish things with this vehicle, for example in order for the cooling fan to kick on you have to turn on the lights or the fans for the heater. Please any advice would be great!

williamwheawill answered 6 years ago

A problem on some VW rabbits etc is the plastic ignition switch behind the key switch were the wires plug in It is fairly cheep and held in by one Phillips screw. Whats happens is people have several keys and things bouncing on the switch causing it to fail after time. I worked on several with this problem. Get a Bentley service book it will be your best help.

Mark helpful

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