Volkswagen: VW Golf Starting Problem, mass air flow meter, mass air flow

Question
Hi,

I have a VW Golf CL, 1600, 1995, 123,000 miles.

Up until last Sunday had no problems with it at all. On Sunday when trying to start, the engine fired and ran for about 2 seconds and then cut out. It repeatedly did this for about 10 minutes and then, suddenly burst into life. Everything went smoothly until Tuesday, the car started first time, drove about 20 miles, turned the engine off for about 15 minutes, restarted ok and drove 20 miles back home. Since then it just refuses to start and keep running, the engine bursts into life on the first go and then stops. I'm not a mechanic, but I've checked the obvious (ie the petrol, tank is about 1/4 full, no wires hanging off anything under the hood, all the Spark Plug Leads are fine and connected, the Rotor arm is clean as are the contacts in the Distributor.)

Totally baffled, any ideas as to what might be causing the problem would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks & regards


Answer
I'm sorry but we didn't have this model here in the U.S.  However,...if you have a mass air flow meter, (has an electrical plug just past the air filter.)  These are prone to going bad on models in the U.S.  You can try to remove it and clean with carb cleaner first.  Also, look closely at the coil, (must remove first to inspect)  Small cracks will cause the spark discharge to leak outside.  Good luck and I hope this helps you some.
shad