stumped on startup.

[95gltd]

I'd just advance the timing a little at a time until it runs good without rattling too much.

Thats what i did with mine. Bought the guage and all. Followed the procedures and never could get the right reading. Line up all the marks and then go back till the DI goes as far back as it goes then turn the engine over and the reading is way off the chart. Moved the pump ahead/back never seemed to get the reading in spec. Gave up and started it up and moved the pump while idling. Backed it off untill it stoped rattling then bumped it ahead a lil bit to get a little rattle.

IP timing makes a night and day difference in a cold start.Seems too much advance and it starts and smokes almost as bad as not enough.

[smoken u]

ok well i finally got mine timed, I just ended up doing it by ear, started it warmed it up, then advanced it until it sounded right, nice smooth idle, and no smoke , still have a bit of a cold start issue, im gonna re-check my glowplugs resistances, i have a funny feeling that 2 of them arent quite right lol

[smoken u]

ok so i checked all 4 of my glowplugs, they are fine lol, and work like new. so I took off the main feed fuel line from the filter to the pump and replaced it with a piece of clear line, hoseclamped it down, started it, and whaddaya knwo theres tons of air in there!!!!!. so now i have i have to pinpoint where the air is coming form, when i did the head i also changed the fuel filter, so maybe a hose was disturbed in the process??? all the lines at the filter are all hose clamped dpwn and very tight, so im guessing the leak may be from farther back??? what are the real problem spots on these cars for air leaks?? i know the water seprator is a trouble spot, but the car ran great before the head was off, so i dont think i had any air at that time. 

[macka]

check the water separator under the passenger side. Mine was cracked, I just bypassed it, problem solved.

[burn_your_money]

Line up all the marks and then go back till the DI goes as far back as it goes then turn the engine over and the reading is way off the chart. Moved the pump ahead/back never seemed to get the reading in spec. Gave up and started it up and moved the pump while idling. Backed it off untill it stoped rattling then bumped it ahead a lil bit to get a little rattle.

When that was happening to me it was because I had side-loaded the gauge and it was sticking.

[smoken u]

ok so today i went and bypassed the filet with a clear rubber hose, adn ran my fuel supply line to the injetor pump straight form a jerry can of diesel fuel, got the car running, there was no air in the fuel line, yet the car wtill ran incredibly rough and smokey, till it warmed up (about 20 min of idling) just like it always does. so now what??? injector possibly??? im gonna go and replace all the small return lines between injectors so ill see what happens then

[vanbcguy]

Replacing the return lines won't make any difference in how the car runs unfortunately...

Have you tried doing a compression check?

[smoken u]

yup, tried a compression check all 4 cylinders check out ok, about 425-430 psi

[burn_your_money]

How is your cam/crank timing?

What RPM are you trying to idle at?

[smoken u]

cam/crank timing is dead on, idle is at 1000 rpm, mind you it misses at all speeds, until you run it for about 20 min or so. I pulled all 4 injectors tonite, im taking them to giles tommorrow, (its great to only work 15 min away form his shop ) to have them checked out, when i removed them I did notice that 3 of them were dry on the bottom injecting surface, and one of them (cylinder#4) was soaked. Now, i have no idea if you can tell if the injectors are firing properly or even at all that way,  its just somthing I noticed as I was removing them, and decided to take note of it.

[smoken u]

well i got my injectors tested at giles the other day (thank you very much tyler, and nice meeting you ) lol so friday, they go back in, and back to do some more troubleshooting , i'll figure this thing out if its the death of me.

I must say, going to giles was well worth it, good service, got to watch the whole process, and got new heat shields (one was leaking, though i put all new ones in when i did the head) , at a much better price than the dealership,i must say, definantly satisfied, and ill be back there again for sure

[smoken u]

forgot to mention injectors were around i belive 136 bar for pop pressure, so they are definantly getting old, and a set of rebuilt ones will be on the horizon.

[burn_your_money]

Good meeting you too. Bring your car next time. I'd love to check it out

[Smokey Eddy]

i did notice injector number three bubbling slightly at the head where it threads in, but the injector is threaded in all the way and cranked right down.

Did you use new heatsheilds after compression check? Also did they go in correctly? Don't over tighten the Injector to fix the leak the head will crack. This is all just in case you didn't know...it could save you money.

Also, when tightening the injectors always push towards the head not pull, my last head a PO ripped the injector completely out of the boss (or what ever its called) and re-relded the piece back on the head. Did a pretty dang good job to be honest. but it was a foolish mistake.
Aluminum is WEAK

[Rabbit on Roids]

i did notice injector number three bubbling slightly at the head where it threads in, but the injector is threaded in all the way and cranked right down.

Did you use new heatsheilds after compression check? Also did they go in correctly? Don't over tighten the Injector to fix the leak the head will crack. This is all just in case you didn't know...it could save you money.

Also, when tightening the injectors always push towards the head not pull, my last head a PO ripped the injector completely out of the boss (or what ever its called) and re-relded the piece back on the head. Did a pretty dang good job to be honest. but it was a foolish mistake.
Aluminum is WEAK

no, the vw engineers that designed the heads were too stupid to use a little more metal around the injector boss.

aluminum is not weak. my family commercially builds fishing boats out of aluminum. and it honestly fairs better than steel, wood, or fiberglass.