is this it? my idle ias around 1050 when the engine is warm, shoudln't it be around 900? i have the fueling turned up, apprently i need to turn down the idle when i do that. If this isn't hte idle adjuster, what is it? i messed around a bit, it'll go to a certain point and then the car just shuts off, i set it back to where i thought it was before.
Its not your idle adjuster.....Idont now what that does but idle is on the engine side of your pump, you cant miss it!
Move the throttle lever back and forth. Let it go and see what screw it stops against. That's the idle adjustment screw.
he has one of the later pump[s with the idle speed boost thingee right?

?dont you only adjust the little hex bolt that sticks up from the rear(side facing head),,,,the little hex is like 6mm or so,,theres a little rod like 3 or 4 inches long,with the little hex ontop???its like that on my 91
Can you post a better pic of the pump ?
You should have a vacuum cold idle boost unit on top.
The two screws on the side are the min idle and max cold start boost.It should not have the long rod with the little hex screw,as there is no mechanical idle bost from the cold start lever,it's advance only.
You can start with the cold idle boost setting,by starting the car cold,and adjusting the max idle screw first.Once warmed up,then adjust the idle with the other screw beside it.
Forgot to add...........I usually set the idle so you get the least amount of vibration.On most AAZ's,that's just a hair over 1000 RPM.Anything less gets the tensioner vibrating away,and it's noisy.If you have the updated balancer,the one way alternator pulley,a good tensioner arm and bushings,then you can get 900 or so with little or no vibration.
Cold start boost should be 1050-1100 or so when cold.That way it will not get too high before it kicks out once partially warmed up.
I hate to thread jack but I'm having the same problem

as you can see, there's the 13mm nut and the slotted screw for fuel adjustment, and I've taken the tamper washer off, but now I raise the idle and I go to adjust the service idle adjuster (the slotted long screw witht the spring, in a vertical orientation in the background of the picture)
and it wont do anything....
am I doing this correctly?
You should have a min idle screw on the backside of the pump.There are two actually,one is min idle,and the other is the max idle boost screw.You want the one the arm rests on when at idle,and the cold start is pushed all the way in.Loosen the 10mm locknut,and back it down a few turns,the idle should come down.Turn it down until the engine just runs without missing.Now turn the service idle adjuster up until you get the idle you want.
Look at these pics,it's #8
http://www.vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=579&start=0
You should have a min idle screw on the backside of the pump.There are two actually,one is min idle,and the other is the max idle boost screw.You want the one the arm rests on when at idle,and the cold start is pushed all the way in.Loosen the 10mm locknut,and back it down a few turns,the idle should come down.Turn it down until the engine just runs without missing.Now turn the service idle adjuster up until you get the idle you want.
Look at these pics,it's #8

4. Readjust your Idle with its value of origin with the screw #7 (service idle adjuster) for those which do not have the conditioned air and the #8 (idle adjuster) for the lucky ones which have it.
so there's the service idle adjuster (the long one with the big spring).... that didnt do anything for me when I turned it... and my car has AC, SO... I'd be using the other two smaller screws just to the right of that (looking from the rear of the engine towards the front of the car)
but I'm not clear on how #8 turns... so it has to go down far enough to push the lever below it?
and again, I'd have to back off the 10mm nut in order to move the screw right???