Please help! Stuck with re timing VW 1.9TD - ABL engine code

[burn_your_money]

You do not need a dial gauge for that pump, don't waste your time and money. It is pretimed.

Make sure to rotate the engine 1 complete cycle (2 crankshaft rotations) and recheck all your marks before touching the starter

[vwt4]

You do not need a dial gauge for that pump, don't waste your time and money. It is pretimed.

Make sure to rotate the engine 1 complete cycle (2 crankshaft rotations) and recheck all your marks before touching the starter

Pre timed?
As in its not adjustable?  :shock:

Can anyone else confirm this please...If its true. I will use the dial gauge anyway....but the adapter, not for a while maybe!

[vwt4]

Thanks for the help guys  :wink:

The T4 is now running again.
As sweet as a nut and sooo quiet and smooth.
it sounded like a bag of spanners before (not surprising considering the timing was 2 teeth out!!)

Also, the pump does indeed seem to be self timing which is quite cool  :lol:  Just set it on the marks and its sorted!

Also, I dont have to use the cold start lever now to start from cold which is great! I always used to have to use that for at least 2 minutes (even before the timing belt slipped I believe the timing was out and also the accelerator cable was stretched.....meaning I never got full throttle!)

These are the jobs I ended up doing on the vehicle.

New water pump.
New air filter
New pollen filter.
New oil filter
Oil change with good oil
New Accelerator Cable.
New Cambelt and tensioner
New glo plugs
New bolts all round
New crankshaft seal (wasnt leaking at all but seeing as I was there etc)


The T4 now sounds, runs and drives like a new van now.....its so much more powerful and actually pulls up hills now like it should have done from the factory.
Im so happy I thought I would share and say thanks to those who offered info and advice  

Now, on to project power  :lol:

I have started another thread listing my aspirations....

[burn_your_money]

Glad to hear you got it sorted out and running good

[vwt4]

Well, bizarrely, although the weather has been damp and quite cold in the morning for the past few days....I now have to use the cold start lever or the van runs really lumpily for a few minutes...?

When I first tried it without this cold start lever after putting it back together, it was a warm day, so I cant be sure....

BUT, I am wondering what could cause this if indeed it has changed..

The van is runnign sweetly and pulling just like it did after the timing was done. its just the cold start lever is puzzling me a bit!!!

or are these vans designed to HAVE to run with the cold start lever when the weather is not great....and hence the reason why they have a cold start lever in the first place  :lol:

Also, the cold start lever seem to work its way back in unless I pull it fully out? is this strange or normal?!!

[Vincent Waldon]

Diesel ignition is highly temperature-dependent so it's completely normal to need the cold start to smooth out the first few minutes of operation once the weather starts to cool.  In northern Canada we use the cold start... oh... 10 months of the year. :wink:

And yes, the cold-start knob will want to retract on its own due to internal pressure... in fact, there's a thread kicking around on using a fish scale to measure it.  *Not* wanting to retract would be a bad sign !!

[vwt4]

Diesel ignition is highly temperature-dependent so it's completely normal to need the cold start to smooth out the first few minutes of operation once the weather starts to cool.  In northern Canada we use the cold start... oh... 10 months of the year. :wink:

And yes, the cold-start knob will want to retract on its own due to internal pressure... in fact, there's a thread kicking around on using a fish scale to measure it.  *Not* wanting to retract would be a bad sign !!

Thanks Vincent
Thats very comforting to hear!!!