Need help with '86 and '88 Cabriolet

[Shi7]

Hello, my mom has a 1988 VW Cabriolet that is having an issue. We don't know much about these cars and no one within miles of us will work on them.

She just bought this car and it was running good. The fuse for the fuel pump went out so we replaced it and it ran good again. Well, the other day she went out to start it and nothing. The lights will come on but it won't turn over or anything. When it is jumped though it will run fine, until it is turned off again. We replaced the battery and the negative terminal, it was an older one, and still nothing. Any suggestions on this?


She also has an issue with an '86 Cabriolet. She ran out of gas in it and it has an issue now. We have replaced the fuel pump and filter but nothing. It used to run but would just stop going down the road. You had to pull over and wait then you could start it again and go alittle more. She finally got it home and now it's not wanting to start at all. Someone said something about air in the fuel line, does this sound right? and if so can anyone tell me or suggest a site that shows how to bleed the fuel line? I'm not sure this matters, but someone took out the fuel injection and put in a carborator. Looks like they tried to make it a race car at some point.


Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you.

[rabbitnothopper]

Hello, my mom has a 1988 VW Cabriolet that is having an issue. We don't know much about these cars and no one within miles of us will work on them.

She just bought this car and it was running good. The fuse for the fuel pump went out so we replaced it and it ran good again. Well, the other day she went out to start it and nothing. The lights will come on but it won't turn over or anything. When it is jumped though it will run fine, until it is turned off again. We replaced the battery and the negative terminal, it was an older one, and still nothing. Any suggestions on this?


She also has an issue with an '86 Cabriolet. She ran out of gas in it and it has an issue now. We have replaced the fuel pump and filter but nothing. It used to run but would just stop going down the road. You had to pull over and wait then you could start it again and go alittle more. She finally got it home and now it's not wanting to start at all. Someone said something about air in the fuel line, does this sound right? and if so can anyone tell me or suggest a site that shows how to bleed the fuel line? I'm not sure this matters, but someone took out the fuel injection and put in a carborator. Looks like they tried to make it a race car at some point.


Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you.

88: probally dead altenator, remove it and have it checked at autozone or whevever
replace the voltage regulator if it fails
or just buy new alt if it fails
the alt probally isnt charging the battery


86 yes air can accumulate in the fuel line/pump and it cant get fuel
i would check your research to see if your engine is carb or Fuelinjected
the carb engines require a different pressure from the fuel pump than the CIS fuel injection

you can bleed your own fuel line easily enough
remove gas cap
remove the outlet hose and blow on it until it flows smoothly
there should be no restriction to the return fuel line

id also check to see if youre getting water in the tank
if your fuel filter is rusted then you probally have a plugged fuel pump also


need more help id suggest searching and using the manual
also use the websites dedicated to MK1 and CIS/bosch for resources
and of course try again to ask questions here...