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Hi, i have a 87 gti and when i start the car i have to give it gas until it warms up or it stalls. the mechanic said to replace fuel distributor. i did that and it idles better but still have to give it gas to start. i got a second opinion and was said to replace fuel pressure regulator. i'm not sure what to do. anyone have a responce.  

Its an 87 so I am going to assume its a 16v with jetronic injection. Vacume leaks are very common on the Jetronics, especially on a twenty year old car. Check all the vac lines, it will cause a problem like are talking about. Unfortunately there are about 20 other things it could be. You could have a bad idle stabilizer, warm up regulator. You could have a couple of bad fuel injectors, or the new fuel distributor could be out of adjustment. Unfortunately you are probably going to have to spend either time or money to diagnose the problem rather than just swapping out a part. What part of the country are you in? Depending upon where you are, I might be able to recomend a good shop.  

i live in the bay area; berkeley, ***
i have a repair manual. i want to adjust the fuel distributor, but it doesn't say how far to turn, to adjust.  

I love the bay  

you will need a multimeter to check the duty cycle on the injectors or an air fuel meter in order to adjust the fuel distributor correctly. Unfortunately I don't know of any shops around the Berkley area. There is New Dimensions but they are down in Santa Clara. I found AVS specialists online but I don't know anything about them personaly.

If you search around there are some CIS Jetronic trouble shooting pages on the web. There is also a book out there specicificaly written on CIS, unfortunately I think my copy is in a different state. There really are several things it could be, I would take it to a shop if you don't feel comfortable. Try and find a VW specialist who will have experience with your car.

Did you check for the vac leak?