AAZ Injection timing trouble

[gtidiesel1.6]

I am having some issues with timing a aaz engine, i had the belt changed and the ip timed last summer by a "reputable" vw guy, and the car ran fine afterwards, was hard to start when cold but my headgasket was slightly leaking.

Drove it like that for a a few months and parked it until now, recently i changed the headgasket and had to change the head aswell due to a crack inside one of the ports. I was in a hurry to get it on the road and grabbed a 2 notch gasket(original was 1 notch) this time i thought i would give timing it a shot but i noticed something that doesnt seem right, the guy who did the timing last time put the ip ALL the way back against the injector line/nut, this doesnt seem right to me. I figured it should be around the middle so it has even amount of travel for adjustment.

So what i am asking is how would i find the right point to set the timing without it being too advanced/retarded (i tried to move the ip forward a bit and i can still get .80mm near the front and i can find it when pushed all the way back against the injector lines)

[gtidiesel1.6]

can someone help a noob at IP timing?

Seems to have a slight missfire/surge when cold aswell that wasn't there before i fiddled with the timing

[theman53]

go to 1.00mm

It should be good after that. Make for sure that the cam crank and IP are timed correctly though...sounds like you have it but just in case.

[gtidiesel1.6]

Yes i have them timed correctly, whenever i set it to TDC i always stick the IP pin in and the cam lock plate just to be certain, the flywheel mark also lines up.

But does something sound not right how the IP is ALLL the way back towards the engine right up against the injector line, i cant advance it anymore and its at around .81mm

[theman53]

Take the belt off and advance it a tooth on the IP sprocket???

Some of these AAZ I think had a sprocket you could adjust. I haven't ever even looked at an AAZ in person so I couldn't tell you for sure what is up.

[gtidiesel1.6]

Yes the 97 aaz had the adjustable sprocket maybe 96 aswell i cant remember, mine is from a 94. well if you saw a 1.6 with the IP all the way to the back would you assume thats normal? i personally can't remember where my old 1.6 was sitting, i will try advancing it a tooth by the belt and see if it makes a difference.

What should be the amount of adjustment range for the IP from the front to the back of the bracket? (ie: the range of millimeter's on the dial indicator)

[Vincent Waldon]

I'd recommend ignoring how the timing was set by the guy before you and re-do the timing with the locking jigs and dial indicator from scratch...including loosening the cam sprocket completely so that you're resetting the belt position.   This should put 1.00mm right about the middle of the pump's travel.

Another possibility is that the crank sprocket has slipped... any sign of wobbling in the harmonic balancer as the engine idles?

[gtidiesel1.6]

There is a little wobble, very tiny amount that i didnt notice it at first until after i swapped the engine in last year. I pulled the balancer off and the gear, there was no signs at all of the key way being worn down in the gear or the crank, i put it back on with a new bolt and torqued it to factory spec along with a dab of thread locker to be on the safe side, the rubber bushing inside the balancer was also worn out so i replaced it with a new oem one.

[Mark(The Miser)UK]

Assuming the possible problem Vincent has mentioned is solved; to reset the pump, put the engine to TDC.
Put engine in gear with parking gbrake on.
Lock cam. 
Loosen cam sprocket.
Loosen pump and slip belt off pump.
Turn pump and it's sprocket one tooth  together, to maintain timing value.
Mark belt if neccessary beforehand.
Don't let belt slip round crank.  Recheck timing.
(Hand crank engine twice round)