stuck at full throttle 1.6 sitting for 12 years

[srgtlord]

Well Napa compression tester came in. Cylinder 1) 380 Cylinder 2)390 Cylinder 3)330 Cylinder 4) 340.    The compression looks on the lower side of things but it should fire ,right? I'm thinking something is borked in the pump. Time to pull off the pump and swap with one of my good working pumps.

[ORCoaster]

Good numbers would be floating around 480-450 so yours are low.  Would it keep it from running?   Maybe if in a cold climate but not likely right now.  I can't remember if you have done a check on valve clearance on this head or not.  Maybe they are out of adjustment too given the lack of maintenance these old neglected cars receive.

Being nearly 150 off on those last couple may be keeping the engine rolling although the firing order should account for that. 

[srgtlord]

I have not checked the firing order or the valve clearances. Is there a good how to guide for checking valve clearances? I have never had to deal with a mechanical head before. 

[libbydiesel]

If everything else was correct, it would start and run fine with those compression numbers.  I've run worse than that and had no trouble with starting/running down to 15°F or so.

Considering it sat for a while, the compression will likely come right back up after running for a bit.   

[fatmobile]

With numbers like that, the crank probably tried to turn backwards when checking the compression by hand.
 At least above 360.

[ORCoaster]

Well the firing order is set by the type of engine it is.  For the 1.6 L I have, the order in which the cylinders compress and fire the diesel is 1 - 3 - 4 - 2 with #1 on your left as you stand in front of the engine bay.   So, if the 3 and 4 are not up to doing the job you might see a performance lull as they are trying to continue the crank along its way one after the other.  #3 fires the crank goes down and #4 comes up and is supposed to fire and send the crank on down again when the #2 would then fire. 

The measurement of the valve clearances is a little involved in that you need to pay attention to if the engine is cold or hot.  Clearance cold is different than when hot.  Then you need some feeler gauges that you can get under the cam lobe and the cam follower with the cam lobes up and not pressing on the valves.  Again following the firing order allows you to turn the engine over 180 degrees and get to each one at TDC. 

Honestly, you don't have a Bentley for working on the car?   IT IS Time to get one.  Even my local Library has one for my car and several others that give more general information on VW's.  I can get up to 7 pages copied free of charge.  Look into that resource as a temporary filler for processes like this. 

I can do pictures and upload to Photobucket but you need better than that. 


But if that is all you can get I will do it.  Let me know.  We can go Personal Message with that. 

[srgtlord]

I have the MK2 Bentley but I can't recall seeing a section on mechanical valve adjustment but I'll double check in the morning.

I should have been more specific about checking the firing order. I meant checking to make sure the previous owner hooked up the injection lines to the proper cylinders

 I think my primary focus will be getting a different pump bolted up and see if that makes a difference. I have a sneaking suspicion that the aside from the governor that was stuck there is probably bits of rust that are causing the pump to not deliver the proper pressure to all 4 injectors, even though there is indeed fuel being delivered.

[ORCoaster]

Not sure if the MK2 have that ability to change valve clearance.  Didn't that go away with the use of the hydraulic head?

[libbydiesel]

Mk2 started in '85.  The 85's were solid lifter.  The change to hydraulic happened a year later with the '86+. 

[ORCoaster]

Thanks for the history lesson.  I don't follow the model changes very well.

[srgtlord]

So I bolted up a good used pump and the car did the same thing. Ran like absolute garbage. I think this is pointing towards the injectors at this point. Any other ideas folks?

[srgtlord]

So out of frustration I decided to crank it over a few more times, and it struggled to run but after about 10 minutes the idle evened out and it's running on all 4 cylinders So there was definitely something wrong with the other pump. When I pulled out the stop solenoid on the old pump there was some grime and rust on the plunger. So I'm happy with the end result for a motor that was sitting in a farmers field

[ORCoaster]

Might have just been the injectors not functioning properly for so many years.  There isn't a lot of lubrication in those parts in the first place.  I don't think there is a teaspoon or 5 ml worth really.

Glad you got er going.  Now are you going to put the other pump on and try it?   

It's OK to just say NO. 

[srgtlord]

I think I'll just leave this pump on and change the leaking throttle shaft seal. I think the original pump needs to be pulled apart and cleaned out before being put on another motor.