1.6 NA Problems after head gasket replacement

[love.the.smell]

I replaced the head gasket and other seals/gaskets according to Bentley specs.  Everything went back together fine.   I installed a new timing belt, set cam/crank/ip timing with no problems.  IP static timing stayed at 0.98.  New injectors, fresh oil, and a coolant flush.

I started the engine last night and it runs like complete crap, but it runs.  Diesel fuel is spraying from the union between hard injector lines and the injector body on cylinders 2 and 3.  The engine will rev fine, it feels very underpowered and as if it is running on less than four cylinders. The idle is very rough.

The only thing I fear I did wrong was not removing the precups.  I didn't want to damage or break them.  I used some cleaner on the head to clean up carbon deposits before reinstalling the head and some of the cleaner ended up around the valves and in the precups.  I rinsed as well as possible and dried the head with compressed air.  Perhaps the cleaner I used caused a valve to stick?  I'm not really sure what is wrong.  The 2 and 3 injectors are pretty much ejecting fuel all over the engine as if there is some type of blockage.

Have I messed something up or is there some other problem?  Thanks for any help.

[love.the.smell]

I guess that if a valve stuck open or closed some damage would be incurred and I would have felt an obstruction while turning the engine over by hand.

Could this be a coincidental IP problem?

I'm going to retest compression this morning and will post back the results.

[Vincent Waldon]

I think you can safely put precup issues way at the back of the list... very very rare to have a sudden issue and certainly there was nothing you were supposed to do to them when you replaced the gasket... a bit of cleaner is not going to likely loosen them.

Same goes for a valve suddenly sticking... pretty rare if they worked fine before the head gasket.

My suggestion would be to fix the fuel leaks before anything else... the car will run like crap if it's not getting the exact fuel required... which it can't be if you have two leaks.

Perhaps start by removing the hardlines and inspecting the ends carefully... any rust/dirt/damage ??

If they still leak when you put everything back together and tighten carefully then you could try shuffling the injectors around.. keeping track of where the leaking ones used to be.  If the leak follows the injectors then your new injectors are suspect....  official OEM ones or eBay/Internet specials ??

New heat shields will be needed every time you reinstall the injectors... otherwise you'll add another issue that might be confusing.  :wink:

[love.the.smell]

Yep, the engine runs great albeit rough.  I fired it up this morning to finish the coolant flush.  I can watch a small stream of fuel being ejected out of the injector/line union.  I guess I was looking at this as a symptom of a bigger problem, but it may simply be the problem. I hope it is that easy as I have extra hard lines and injectors handy. This morning only injector 3 exhibited the problem.  I suspect the lines may be damage as I swapped in my old injectors only to experience the same problem.

Injectors are remanufactured units from a place called Midwest Fuel Injection in Bolingbrook, IL; certified Bosch dealer/service center.  Great place so I thought I'd plug them.

Thanks for the help Vince, your posts and website have helped me out a lot.

[love.the.smell]

I cleaned then tightened the fittings for the hard fuel lines.  This slowed the leak down to a trickle.  At least it isn't squirting everywhere and the engine runs much better.  Why would the fitting suddenly begin leaking?  I set the lines aside at the beginning of repairs and cleaned them with compressed air before reinstalling.  Is there a better way to ensure the integrity of the lines?  Also, where is a good place to buy new ones?

What problems can occur from reusing heat shields?  I reused brand new ones that had been installed with torqued injectors once.  I don't have any unused heat shields.  Will I be ok to drive a few hundred miles before I can get new heat shields?

[Possum79]

Im pretty sure autohausaz.com sells new lines. They do for my NA anyways. They also have new heat shields.

[love.the.smell]

Thanks for pointing out the obvious Vince, I put the engine back together at 3am that morning and was just too exhausted to figure out a simple problem.  

The union eventually stopped leaking after ~100 miles of driving this weekend.  I haven't picked up new lines or heat shields yet because no one around here sells any parts for old VWs.

Anyway, the car runs great and my first headgasket replacement was a  sucess.

[love.the.smell]

always push the line onto the injector and have it seated properly prior to starting the nut by hand

Lesson learned...the hard way.  Good thing autohausaz sells the lines at a reasonable price.