Hi folks, a couple of issues I'm having with my B at the moment, would welcome any advice

1). If I drive the car for 20 mins or more, and/or if the fuel level is low the engine stutters for a couple or 3 seconds then picks up again, so perhaps a bit of fuel starvation ? I'm sure I've read here that if I drill a hole in the fuel cap this would eliminate any vacuum and solve the problem

2). The old battery was a bit dodgy but would jump start ok if car was left for a few weeks. The last time I tried to jump start I had no joy and only had the electric fan running. New battery was put in, used the car for about a total of an hour over a few days, then a few days a few days later the battery was totally flat - sounds like it could be the alternator ? But if it is, why would it drain the battery completely when car isn't being used ? Surely a new battery would last more than one hours driving ?

Does it want to stall when pulling away in 1st gear ? The clutch on mine bites twice when the engine is hot after about half an hour. As I let the clutch out it bites slightly straight away so I have to give it plenty of revs or it wants to stall, then about half way up it fully bights and then it’s fine. 70000 miles on the same clutch.
Don’t drill the fuel cap or fuel will spill out when you take a sharp left.
New fuel filter, cap and pump maybe?

You can test the alternator at the battery terminals with the engine running should be putting out about 14.4 volts.
Check the interior light isn’t left on or the glove compartment light.
Maybe the radio or a faulty alarm.

My Radio drains my battery, it's ok for a few days but if I leave it a week, it's flat. I have a quick release type battery connector on the neg terminal, always disconnect when not used. Downside is the radio needs reprogramming.

Noideadave said:

Does it want to stall when pulling away in 1st gear ? The clutch on mine bites twice when the engine is hot after about half an hour. As I let the clutch out it bites slightly straight away so I have to give it plenty of revs or it wants to stall, then about half way up it fully bights and then it’s fine. 70000 miles on the same clutch.
Don’t drill the fuel cap or fuel will spill out when you take a sharp left.
New fuel filter, cap and pump maybe?

You can test the alternator at the battery terminals with the engine running should be putting out about 14.4 volts.
Check the interior light isn’t left on or the glove compartment light.
Maybe the radio or a faulty alarm.

Click to expand...

No, it's pretty much every gear depending which one I'm in. It does seem like fuel starvation and I'm sure I read here somewhere to drill a small hole in the petrol cap to avoid a vacuum....can't find it anywhere though.

It did drain the battery once by leaving the interior light on (now I double check this) and the glove box is the passenger airbag....no place to store anything, but one less light to worry about

Try driving with the fuel cap loose and see if it helps. If it solves it buy another cap, if not the cap should be okay.
Is the fuel pump whining at the back of you?
Have you changed the filter?
Injectors could be partially blocked.
Have you tried the Multiecuscan to find any faults?
Good luck.
(It’s all good fun )

I think I remember the idea of drilling a hole in the fuel cap being mentioned a while back in relation to the issue of fuel smell in the cabin which some of us had/have... to try and ensure that there was no chance of excessive pressure building up in the tank which might then cause fuel vapour to be noticeable in the cabin. But I think it was mentioned as an example of something you shouldn't have to resort to, as there were more obvious things to try.


In this case, could it simply be that the fuel pump is starting to fail?