Two weekends ago now I finally got the time to button up the engine work I was doing on the VW. I took it out for a test drive on the new head gasket, after proper torque, heat and 90 degree turns of course. It ran kind of strange in that it would seems to really get up and go then bounce back down to almost a foot off the pedal feel. I chalked it up to the different injectors I dropped in just not working quite right yet.
Well that behavior went on for a couple of days then went away, car started and drove fine. So I forgot about that type of action.
This weekend I decided to check the timing, and compression just for good measure you know. Well after I got the snorkel off and started working on the injector nuts I looked down and whoa!? what is that bolt doing laying there? The far bolt towards the engine that holds on the injection pump is completely out of its hole and laying on the edge of the engine above the oil pan. In the process of getting it out of there I spy the nut that goes on the back of the bolt that holds the bottom of the injector in place. Crap I say. But hey look here on this radiator hose, the bolt itself!
Ok so I look to the top of the injection pump again and the front bolt is nearly out of its hole as well. Hmmm, something tells me the mechanic took a break here when it came to tightening something down. I reached for the 17 mm box wrench and rolled the engine over enough to touch that nut on the front, yepper, he forgot this one too.
All in all I had forgotten to tighten any of them and somehow the pump was not affected at all for performance. But what I was feeling was the advance it would get when revved up and the retard when slowing down. Somehow it came back to a good setting, actually 7 degrees BTDC, every time I stopped the engine.
I was surely lucky to not have lost all the nuts and bolts but even more so that it ran nearly flawlessly for a week.
The compression numbers were 480, 480, 440 and 480 so I think I will leave well enough alone. Maybe send the injectors off for a rebuild as it is blue trailing all over town now. Not sure what the MPG is as it takes me months to burn through a tank nowadays.
Just wondering if others have such good fortune. Maybe you found that 3/8 ths in drive ratchet laying in the fan housing? or screw driver on top the battery?
I am counting my blessings and thinking that might be my quota for a while.