AAZ dies, now runs rough

[slorimer]

So the 94 Jetta AAZ died all of a sudden today.  It has been running reliably for 20,000km.  Wife was driving, said she heard a slapping like belt wipping around.  Got it home checked it out everything looks intact, turns over freely.  Checked at the injectors, is getting fuel.  Kept looking around couldn't find anything so check the timing.  The IP is way off, more than 180 degrees off, but the crank and cam are still lined up exactly.  Mystery, popped the IP pulley off, key is present everything looks fine.  So did a rough re-time just by lining up crank cam and IP.  Now it starts but only runs rough for 10-15 seconds before it dies, can't keep it going.  Drain the filter, in case water, no better.  Bypass the filter, in case plugged no better.  So I'm down to setting the timing properly and hopefully it will run.

But I can't figure out how the IP would have jumped so far, the timing belt wasn't loose, could twist it, say 70 degrees between IP and cam, which is not loose.  Anyone have seen this happen or have any ideas how it could happen.  Until I figure it out, I have zero confidence with this diesel.  The crank has a little wobble, bolt is very tight(I can't get it off).

Very strange, anybody have anything on this.

[jtanguay]

how is the crank?  does it wobble when its running? that could be the problem.  

any bubbles in the lines when its running?  could be sucking in air...

[slorimer]

There is a little wobble, but I don't believe the key way has come loose.  There was air in the lines, i guess I'll have to follow the fuel lines back a bit.  Is there a likely spot air will be sucked in.

[jimfoo]

Maybe the pump wasn't 180 off. Maybe it was put together with the camplate off, so the pulley had to be 180 off to be on. Maybe it only skipped a tooth. Just thinking about other possibilities.

[zukgod1]

Maybe the pump wasn't 180 off. Maybe it was put together with the camplate off, so the pulley had to be 180 off to be on. Maybe it only skipped a tooth. Just thinking about other possibilities.

This is a very good point!

[slorimer]

Good point, that is possible, although I do remember using the cam locking tool when setting the timing.

[arb]

Good point, that is possible, although I do remember using the cam locking tool when setting the timing.

My IP pulley has 2 locking holes, 180 deg out from each other...

I'm banking on fuel supply problem - the air bubbles will cause it to run crappy if at all, depending on variables. Try pulling the banjo bolt off the filter housing outlet and putting it in a small _clean_ container of diesel. See how long it runs after you prime the bubbles out. A gallon can should be fine.

Do you have clear lines into and out of the filter ? Bubble on both sides?

[slorimer]

So I tried running it out of jar of diesel.  Using the existing lines, it wouldn't pull fuel up.  Disconnected them at the banjo bolt and connected a clear line directly into my bottle of diesel.  Put fuel into the pump then started it, and it started pulling fuel from the jar.  So now I can keep it running.  But it runs terrible, black smoke, and around 750 RPM with cold start all the way out.  It will rev a bit if I give it almost full throttle but when I let off, it will usually die.

With it running, I rotated the pump to see if it would run better in a different spot but no improvement, it would only get worse if rotated it towards me (front of car).  

I'm now thinking I need to check compression but I don't have the tools.  I don't seem to be consuming oil or coolant, but then again it hasn't been running long like in this condition.

Any other suggestions, could my HG have failed suddenly?

[slorimer]

Just to finish this off, it ended up being the IP.  I haven't figured out what failed internally yet but the theory is something broke inside, locked the pump, caused it to skip on the timing belt and that was the end of it.  I will be disassembling the damaged pump to see what failed, once I build my work bench.  Thanks for everyone's input.