I have a 78 rabbit diesel, 1.5 liter. I had to replace the head due to a tragic incident involving the tension pulley falling apart. The first head I tried turned out to have a crack in it. I found a new MCI head in a car that would not start, the person who sold me the head said it was the block that was bad. So now I installed the head and everything is turning over, but no start, not even with a little starting fluid. I already checked the glow plugs. It could be air getting in through the injector pump (I use biodiesel and the injection pump might need rebuild), but I just wanted to see if I could rule out the head gasket size. I put a five notch in there, would this cause low compression hence no start if it is too much clearance.? I'm not an expert, but I've been through a few gasket replacements with success. I'm at a loss here, maybe the head is the issue since the last car would not start. Is there a way to tell if I have the right MCI head for a 1.5 liter, maybe it's a 1.6 liter head. Any suggestions?
if the gasket is too thick it will lower compression and maybe keeo it from starting. next time you have the head off check the piston protrusion past the block to verify what gasket to use.
the 1.6 head has slightly more volume in the prechambers so if it is a 1.6 head compression will be lower from that too.
it will kick with the quick start if everything is as it should be. if not then something is out of whack, and my first guess would be compression. (do not use glowplugs when using quick starting fluid... the gp's will autoignite the fuel at the wrong time and could possibly burn them out)
so if its kicking with quick start, then move on to fuel system. loosen injector nuts and confirm fuel is coming out when cranking.
Thanks for the advice. I figured it is a compression problem. Everything turns over fine but no explosions. I'll try to locate a compression test kit to verify if it is or not.
it could be that some valves aren't sealing properly.. resulting in bad or even no compression.
meaning bad head, or could this be attributed to the gasket?
I found out that the gasket thickness is only determined by the piston, and has nothing to do with the cylinder head. Since the last person who tried this particular head had no luck I'm starting to think it's the head itself. Time to take it off and bring it over to the head shop.
Good point, there's plenty of those here in Portland. But we also have the aluminum head re builder's shop which comes in handy for other issues involving smoke.