questionable rebuilt pump

[zuhandenheit]

** Photos fixed, but as links -- sorry!

I bought this pump about a year ago after my old IP kicked the bucket. At the time, I was keeping my van in a different state and could only work on it / use it a few times a year, and I had the pump sent to where I was keeping the van. Thus I only just recently had a chance to check it out.

I want to trust this pump, but I'm having trouble. I installed it and it runs okay except for a high / hanging idle. I think I have discovered the reason for that, but I'm still concerned and curious about the pump.

It had been recently by a shop local to the seller (in Canada). I've had such bad experiences with mechanics that my default assumption is that if I don't specifically know that the person who performed the work has a very good reputation, then it probably wasn't done correctly. I really needed an IP and the price was reasonable, so I decided to take a chance. I bought it from a member of this forum, and I'm not sure if the issues I've found were caused by him, or by the shop.

I removed it again to check/fix a few things. It came to me with quite a bit of rust, which I've removed as well as possible. Please excuse the weird throttle lever -- I'm responsible for that.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=19cNSFBlRev2X8-OO6jyHtHpr4lCGrInh


Notice that there is one spring, and that in place of the seat there's a little dowel. When it came to me, the spring was held by the bolt for the throttle cable bracket. This was causing the spring to catch, such that the throttle wasn't returning all the way to the idle stop. This appears to be the cause of my idle problems.

This is the best that I could do to fix it:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SYxb8OdFCSyoPCKUUsEH3L7ocd6FmQbt


Here's the back:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jcOA7j9oLIiWh2BkWhQJDdbkQlhH2uSo

I replaced the rod with one from another IP, because it was missing the lower spring.

If you look closely at the top, right under the idle stop lever there's a glob of epoxy. It's on both sides. What's going on with this?

The seller mentioned that he installed a 1.6td boost pin and turned the fuel screw, so I'm hoping that these things on the outside are his doing, and that the internals have not been modified in the same spirit.

I'm interested in any thoughts about the pump, but my main questions here are - what's up with the epoxy?; what should I be concerned about?; what if anything might I do or look for to check the condition of the pump?

[burn_your_money]

Your pictures aren't working for me

[zuhandenheit]

Ah, sorry. I can see them only because I'm logged in to Google. I always have trouble posting Google Photos files to forums. I fixed it, but as links.

[zuhandenheit]

By the way, the engine runs quite well -- a lot faster than ever before -- but with a good bit of smoke. I used to run an unmodified pump and didn't get any significant smoke. This pump has a 1.6td boost pin and fuel screw modification, according to the PO.

I think the little K03 can't keep up. It's new and unmodified, with no boost controller. Boost is 10 psi.

My EGTs are very reasonable. It takes a long full throttle run in high gear to see 1200s, and I've only seen over 1300 a couple times, after probably 10 or more seconds at full throttle. Even on the highway, cruising around 65, my EGTs are under 1000.

So, I kind of hate to turn down the fuel screw. I'm considering using my boost controller to raise boost to maybe 12-13 psi. Also I have an intercooler yet to be installed.

I actually like the k03 because it spools so very fast. I never saw such good performance until I put on this new turbo (the last in stock at Cascade Auto Parts).

There is one noticeable problem with the pump -- the cold start sticks sometimes, either engaged or disengaged. I already removed the pump once because of this (and because the rod from the cold start to the idle control lever had come loose). I am not sure what the problem is, but may be removing the pump again.

Other than that, it seems to run well. I can see that the input shaft seal has been replaced recently, and so I have good reason to suppose that all the seals were indeed replaced when the pump was serviced. The shop supposedly did a full rebuild involving the various necessary calibrations. But as I said, I worry about the quality of their work, on account of the goofy throttle spring, similarly crappy rod on the cold start (missing the lower spring -- I used a spare rod), and most of all the epoxy. 

[libbydiesel]

It should have two springs but as long as it can make it to max and return to idle, there's no real issue with the single spring.

The gobs of epoxy probably aren't anything to be concerned about.  Likely it was put on there after remove the pin that goes through the top as part of the process of replacing the aneroid feeler pin o-ring.  The epoxy probably isn't really doing anything this way or that.  A better method is to peen the little balls back into place, but if the epoxy isn't leaking it's not probably not an issue, IMO.

EGTs at steady cruise at partial pedal will not change with changes to the max fuel screw.  The position of your foot might, but not the the EGTs or amount of fuel injected.  If it smokes a lot before you reach max boost, then you need more spring tension on the aneroid pin.  If it has a star wheel, then crank it up (CCW).  If it doesn't have a star wheel (more likely), and just the 1.6TD boost pin was swapped in, then you'll need a stronger spring.

You are missing the little bushings around the cold start cable connection on the pump.  It can make the motion more positive when they are fitted.   

[zuhandenheit]

This is very helpful, and reassuring. Thank you. I'll be taking some long road trips this year, hopefully, and am trying to find and address possible weak links. I have spare parts that I'll give to a friend in case I need something shipped. I found a Giles pump & injectors for sale with very low miles, and I'm tempted to buy it. Otherwise I may try to rebuild my old pump myself, and if I can get it running keep it as a backup. (My old turbo still runs, and I have a DK transmission and lots of parts from the first mess of an engine I bought, which you might remember. I would be a bit concerned about something like a major pump malfunction during a cross-country trip, if I don't have a backup.)

I was concerned especially about the epoxy. I saw that it was on either side of a rod, and worried that it was leaking or something and that this was a repair (which wouldn't last).

I've read a bit about the boost pin springs. I'll take a look and see if I have the starwheel.

There's no visible smoke at steady throttle, but yes, I see smoke from about half or 2/3 throttle to full throttle.

If I can't get it sorted out, I might switch back to the AAZ pin. Do you suppose I'll even see much of a performance increase with the 1.6td pin, given that I'm running an K03?

Also, and I suppose that this is also a difficult question, in your opinion will I likely shorten the life of my turbo any significant amount if I use a boost controller to increase boost to maybe 13-14 psi? I'm pretty happy with the current performance of the van, but I'd like to at least keep my current power level and decrease the smoke. Also, I really need to get my intercooler installed.

As always, I really appreciate your help!

[burn_your_money]

You may want to try adjusting the timing +0.10mm and -0.10mm and see what effect that has on smoke, EGT and power levels.

[zuhandenheit]

I meant to ask about timing -- thanks for reminding me. I set it to 1.00 mm. I'll try some other settings.

I'm thinking the problem might be the spring. I took off the top to have a look, and then I did the same to a bad parts pump to compare.

The stock spring puts pressure on the lid, but not the spring the PO used. Also, incidentally, there is no spring perch. (It's been these sorts of little things that worry me about the care the pump has been given. But I just don't really know enough to judge what's really important.)

Here's an image of the spring:

 https://drive.google.com/open?id=10ZrK3AjxJvNfQ6pxQuAyxff0XxpIJUOb

Sorry again that it's not embedded -- I'll get that figured out.

Does this spring appear to be workable?

[zuhandenheit]

So, I swapped the springs back and forth and can say this spring is noticeably stronger than the stock spring. I will try putting a washer behind the spring perch . . .

[burn_your_money]

If that spring is too short it will narrow the range of fuel injected between no boost and max boost. With the little K03 on there and at stock boost pressures I'd probably use the light spring that came with the pump originally (which is about 2.5" long and not the one in your picture).

[zuhandenheit]

That makes sense -- thanks. I added a few shims and reinstalled the short spring, after verifying that it does indeed provide pressure for the whole range of motion of the pin. I haven't run the motor yet.

I did some research and learned that a lot of people are running 12-20 psi on the k03 (though I am sure it's very inefficient near the top of that range), so I am thinking it's safe to raise my boost a bit (maybe 13-15). I want to be careful with this turbo, but I hate to give up the performance I'm now seeing.

I think I'll try the shimmed spring and 1.6td pin, since it's already together, and maybe a boost increase. If I'm getting a lot of smoke, I'Il try the stock AAZ pin and spring. If there's no smoke and my EGTs are very low, I may try grinding the pin a bit. (It's fortunate for me that I have a knackered pump I can scour for parts.)

Also I really think I need to turn the fuel screw down. I had to adjust the idle control screws as far as I could to get the idle down, and it's still a little high (to my ear).

Finally, I'll try some other timing settings. When I timed the motor, in addition to using a dial gauge I also tried to time the motor by ear. Without the dial gauge installed (I assume that fuel will spray out of the port if I attempt to run the motor with a gauge connected!), I found that any further advance of the pump increased noise quite a bit. I could live with that, at least, once I get a proper exhaust (Been running a straight pipe. I finally have a muffler and piping, but needed another bend, which I'm waiting on.)

Anyway, there's a lot to tinker with here. That must be one of the reasons people enjoy these engines.

[zuhandenheit]

I've tried a number of things: timing set to 1.05 and turned down the fuel screw (in addition to the shims on the boost pin spring).

I also tried turning up the boost. In the process, the screw fell out of my simple manual boost controller! With the wastegate thus disconnected, I see a maximum of 15 psi. I'm tempted to just leave it like this -- I'll only hit even 15 psi at full throttle and higher rpms. But I don't want to have to watch the boost gauge all the time, so I'll fix or replace the boost controller.

I think the boost pin is just too aggressive for this turbo. I'm still getting too much smoke under boost.

I even turned down the fuel screw to the point that I couldn't go over 7 psi boost, and there was too much smoke. So I'll try switching back to the AAZ pin and spring and see how it runs.

I sure like the performance and things stand, and my EGTs are quite reasonable -- during a full-throttle run in top gear, they climb very slowly from 1100. I don't know that I can even hit 1300. It's really curious to me that I'm getting so much smoke with low EGTs. With my old pump I could hit 1300 fairly easily and I wasn't seeing smoke!

[zuhandenheit]

So, I'm going to see how it runs with the AAZ pin and spring, but I see that unlike the 1.6 pin, the AAZ pin is not symmetrical, and I don't know how to orient it! Which direction should the taper face?

[libbydiesel]

The typical AAZ boost pin has a single flat side that has a very small ramp on it.  That side should face the sprocket.

I think you'll see a significant drop in max power  and smoke with the AAZ pin reinstalled. 

[zuhandenheit]

Got it -- thanks.

I was hoping that if I replace the pin and then turn up the fuel screw, I wouldn't suffer a performance loss . . .

If I did, I may try grinding it a bit.

I still haven't swapped the AAZ pin, but I'll report back once I do.