engine acts up once in a while

[MK 4 GTI]

I was wondering what CEL was......in school (at Spokane Community College) we called them MIL for Mafunction Indicator Light.

One way to check your clutch is to push in the clutch pedal, put the car in 5th gear, and let out the clutch. The engine should die immediatly if the clutch is O.K.

As far as cleaning a MAF, They now have spray cleaners made for the MAF you can buy at auto stores. After you remove the air cleaner, you should see a thin wire inside the middle of the MAF. Spray the wire then let it air dry. IMPORTANT: do not turn on the car untill the wire is dry!

I hope this helps........

[Ramrod]

CEL = Check Engine Light

[MK 4 GTI]

my car runs fine most of the time it only does this sometimes. i will put the pedal down and the rpms go up but it feels like it is bogging and going nowhere where most of the time it gets up really quick and gets up to speed. i was thinking that it could be either my maf is clogged or my cat is old and clogged does this sound right if so anyone know how to clean a maf?

Say...What year is your car?????? From your name and the car pics, I assume it is a 2000. Your symptoms also sound like a EPC (Electronic Power Controll) issue, that can occour on VW's with electronic throttle controll. Many newer dubs don't have a throttle cable, but do it electroniclly. Does the light "EPC" come on when it happens?????? As a fail safe when the computer does not know how much throttle you want, It limits the engine output.

[VWJET00]

my car runs fine most of the time it only does this sometimes. i will put the pedal down and the rpms go up but it feels like it is bogging and going nowhere where most of the time it gets up really quick and gets up to speed. i was thinking that it could be either my maf is clogged or my cat is old and clogged does this sound right if so anyone know how to clean a maf?

Say...What year is your car?????? From your name and the car pics, I assume it is a 2000. Your symptoms also sound like a EPC (Electronic Power Controll) issue, that can occour on VW's with electronic throttle controll. Many newer dubs don't have a throttle cable, but do it electroniclly. Does the light "EPC" come on when it happens?????? As a fail safe when the computer does not know how much throttle you want, It limits the engine output.

i think that sounds about right i used to have a subaru and it did the same thing but it was the throttle position sensor so how much do those run to fix?

[Mikewire]

It's possible that you need to realign your throttle body (TPS), so before you spend a bunch on parts lets give it a scan with VAG-COM and see what codes come up. Chris had something similar, but he had to replace his TB, which was $200-$300. the TPS alignment issue seems to be fairly common with MKIV DBW (drive by wire). So before you dump needless dollars into parts lets get it scanned. I can bring my laptop to the next GTG...whenever that is...hopefully someplace or somewhere warm.

Chris, how big is the shop you have access to, and could we possibly meet there next time? Maybe a group scan/clinic on some topic?

[MK 4 GTI]

Please get a scan and give the car a through visual inspection before getting too excited on the TPS......while it is true that the TPS can be an issue, one car I worked on kept having EPC codes, and the scan pointed twards the accelerator pedal. We replaced the accelerator pedal, but the problem continued. It turns out that a wire was shorting out under the battery tray!!!!!!!!

[Ramrod]

You need to sit down and talk to the car before you start spending money on it to fix the problem. Often it can tell you exactly what it needs to be happy.

[VWJET00]

ok ok well then i guess we just need to get together to figure this out. just let me know when.