To test your clutch:
- Handbrake on
- Car in 4th gear
- Slowly take foot off clutch.
If it stays on it's a dead clutch
Listen for vacuum leaks:
- Open hood
- Turn car off and listen to engine bay
You should not hear any hissing. If you do do the following:
- Get a vape/cigar or some source of smoke.
- Take a vacuum line off (Preferably from somewhere you're hearing the noise from)
- Blow the smoke into the line and check where it's coming out from.
Also check for head-gasket failure, your oil shouldn't look like mayo.
Fuel pump might be dying on you as well. Usually on VW MK3 and MK4 platforms the pump fails around 125 130k miles. To check the pump you need multi-meter set to ohms.
You set pin 1 and 4 (First and last) on the pump pins (not the wires)
-0 resistance = Bad fuel pump
- 1-3 ohms = Good fuel pump
- High resistance = Bad fuel pump
*The pump is below the rear seat under a cover with 3 screws
Let's see what's wrong with it. Keep me updated