Hi all,

I've recently taken on the task of teaching my step-son the fine art of the shade tree mechanic, which I have been off and on for forty years. He wants to rebuild his recently acquired '85 GTI v8 CIS-E. We already installed a set of CV joints a few months ago and are now trouble shooting a knock sensor problem, which causes the engine to stall under acceleration/load. The car was running well last Thursday and passed its smog check okay. Then began to stall out under acceleration. It is definitely not dealing properly with pre-ignition, and is getting steadily worse.

We've replaced the rotten vacuum lines and cleaned out the air flow meter in the airbox. I've been able to locate sources for most of the parts we need but have had no luck finding a serviceable "knock sensor controller" (HELLA VW part no. 5DA 004 773-00).

We'd sure like to find one, so he can get on with his life.

In addition, any comments or suggestions will be seriously appreciated.