Less than 1000 mi. after I bought my Mk1A, I had to change the plugs.
Symptoms leading up to this were chugging, stalling, and eventually no
start, although the engine would turn over (it just wouldn't engage). I
don't know how old the plugs were that were in the car when I bought it,
but looking at them after removal, they didn't show any extremes signs of
fouling. (The engine had been pretty much totally rebuilt, by the way).
Then, less than 1000 mi after putting the new plugs in, the same thing
occured. I went from RF9 to RF18 this time. Things were fine from January
until now. The same chugging has set in again, with the usual reluctance
in acceleration. Between the time I bought the car and the present, I've
only put maybe 2500 mi on it at most. Accompanying the above "symptoms" is
an uneven idle, or a too fast idle, especially after driving for a while
and then coming to a stop, and an occasional burst of dark, foul exhaust.
Sometimes these smelly black clouds occur during idling, but most often if
you pump the gas pedal while in neutral. My thought at this point is that
I need a compression check, but even if there are bad rings somewhere, why
would that effect the plug situation so radically? Any
opinions/suggestions would be welcome. Thanks. Curt.
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