Author Topic: runaway, overheating, broken pulley all at once! (Read 5216 times)

dittohead · « **on:** March 17, 2007, 08:04:04 pm »

My gf was driving my new-to-me 1986 jetta diesel. It has 550,00km's on it and was supposed to be my latest work beater. Well, she was driving down the road, geared down to 4th to climb a slight hill, when she said it started smoking (from under the hood) she pushed in the clutch, and the engine ran away. Instead of trying to stall it out, she just pulled over and let the engine runaway for a bit, until it died. By the time i got there (about a minute later) I opened the hood and the dipstick had pushed out, spraying the engine with oil, which got into the intake and caused it to runaway IMO. It also overheated, but i bet it was becasue the crank pulley came apart when the engine ran away, threw the belt, and the water pump wasnt turning. I towed it home and i got it to start, so i figured i got lucky. Well i cant get a crank pulley locally and i went to start it the other day, and i get lots of smoke out the tailpipe, but it doesnt even try to start. I doubt i have air in the lines, but its my next shot. Also the oil level is very high. Is there a way fuel can get into the oil on these engines? This is my first VW diesel, so im in the dark on some of this. I figured the injection pump has failed from the high rpms it hit when the engine ran away. Any thoughts or places to start the diagnosis?

jtanguay · « **Reply #1 on:** March 18, 2007, 04:37:56 am »

i think one thing can be learnt from this experience... women should stick to new cars :lol:

dittohead · « **Reply #2 on:** March 18, 2007, 07:26:49 pm »

I would go with blowby as well, but the car was driven for 800kms before this by me with NO symtoms whatsoever. It really just ran fine until now. Im going to dump the oil, refill and use a better filter, and get a crank pulley and try to get this car going again.

QuickTD · « **Reply #3 on:** March 18, 2007, 07:59:50 pm »

Quote

Also the oil level is very high. Is there a way fuel can get into the oil on these engines?

I've seen injector leak hoses accidentally connected to the vacuum system, this will fill the crankcase with fuel via the vacuum pump. The small braided lines on the injectors should only connect to the other injectors and the fuel return line. The spare fitting on the last injector should be capped off.

dieselsnowmobile · « **Reply #4 on:** March 19, 2007, 07:48:55 am »

I am surprised that you got a runaway for an '86 Golf. Most runaways are with Mk1 cars (i.e. Rabbits) with the unrestricted valve cover hose hooked up the intake. Most Mk2 have restrictors in the intake manifold that keep runways from happening, or so I thought. This would be unless the previous owner of the car knew the blow-by was bad and drilled out those restrictions to keep oil from being pushed out the dipstick, which is what I had with my '89 Jetta. I never had a runaway though.

Some people who sell their used cars never tell the full true story behind them. It is like ethics and honesty are for sale.

dittohead · « **Reply #5 on:** March 19, 2007, 07:59:55 am »

I bought the car from a "mechanic" and he even told me he rebuilt it at 300k. I dont believe everything people tell me but i figured it was only a $500 car and it did run pretty well on the test drive and through the first tank of fuel. Are rebuild parts (rings/bearings/gaskets)easy to come by for these engines? The only reason i want to keep this car is because i drive over 100kms a day and it is so cheap to run, plus i just put new glow plugs and exhaust on it. I repair heavy equipment for a living so it wont be a big deal to rebuild this engine, i just dont have a reliable parts source that i trust for these cars.

burn_your_money · « **Reply #6 on:** March 19, 2007, 01:29:33 pm »

mike_w on this forum should have the parts you need. I think that is his name.

You probably need new glow plugs though, runaways tend to be really hard on them.

Did you change the air filter? If it's clogged it can cause a runaway.

Did your HG explode? the last runaway I bought blew the HG during the ordeal

dittohead · « **Reply #7 on:** March 20, 2007, 07:38:15 am »

I am going to do a compression/leak down test when i get the car back together. The glow plugs were all new(one week), but im sure they are trashed now. The air filter looked pretty good, but i will put in a new one. I also have to check for broken valve springs. If im lucky i only have to do the HG.