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41
IDI Engine / Re: 1.6IDI Not Fully Rotating/Not Starting
« Last post by ORCoaster on March 02, 2024, 05:59:40 pm »
If the mice left anything in the intake and it got pulled into or fell into the cylinders then You need to pull off the intake from the back of the engine and put a shop vac on each cylinder and rotate the crank back and forth to see if you can pull anything out of there.  You might pull the glow plugs or injectors off so you can get air in from the underside of the head and suck it off the valves.

Just my thought on it.  If you have one of those chip/sawdust collectors that go between the shop vac and the end of the hose use it.  That way you will be able to tell us what and how much crap you had in there messing with your start-up.

42
IDI Engine / Re: 1.6IDI Not Fully Rotating/Not Starting
« Last post by fatmobile on March 02, 2024, 11:09:56 am »
  It might be a piece of nut shell in there, from the mice in the air filter.
 Or a dead mouse.
 A bent valve might show itself with the valve cover off, looking from the top.
Can you tell what cylinder it is? So you kinda know what valves to look at.
 1 and 4 TDC, or 2 and 3 180 from TDC, then what valves are open.

 Great idea to turn the engine by hand first.
Might want to try turning the cam too.
 Maybe pull the intake first so more stuff the mice left in there doesn't go into the engine. That won't cost anything, the intake gasket probably won't fall apart.
43
IDI Engine / Re: 1.6IDI Not Fully Rotating/Not Starting
« Last post by Mohatanous on March 01, 2024, 10:34:30 pm »
Also, I'm not sure what this may mean, but when turning the camshaft it would not turn smoothly, but rather would move in sudden bursts, sort of like hitting compression. I'm not sure how to describe it, really. Thanks!
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IDI Engine / Re: 1.6IDI Not Fully Rotating/Not Starting
« Last post by Mohatanous on March 01, 2024, 08:49:24 pm »
Update:

Upon digging a small amount more into the issue, I managed to get the camshaft to the position it is supposed to be in, but upon trying to turn the motor to the TDC mark on the flywheel view port, it will not go to the "0" mark, as that is where it is sticking. I'm suspecting there are bent valves and that the head now needs to come off, so that is my next step. What else should I check after pulling the head off? Does anybody have suggestions for what I should do if I get the head and valve train redone? Any recommendations would be great!

Thank in advance!
45
IDI Engine / Re: Booster full of brake fluid
« Last post by Rabbit79 on March 01, 2024, 10:36:14 am »
After I exorcised the brake demons from mine they were floating around searching for their next victim and apparently you were the closest. hehe
46
IDI Engine / Re: Booster full of brake fluid
« Last post by ORCoaster on February 23, 2024, 09:42:05 pm »
I am reading this and the old posts thinking.  While I was out tooling about the town I noticed a lack of brakes and the MC doesn't seem to hold when I push down and hold the pedal.  It slowly sinks to the floor.  So, maybe a bad seal in the MC. 

Odd that my brakes act up as you update us that yours are finally fine.  There must be some yin-yang thing going out there that some number of VWs must have bad brakes all the time to keep the planets in line or something. 
47
IDI Engine / Re: 1.6IDI Not Fully Rotating/Not Starting
« Last post by fatmobile on February 23, 2024, 07:10:43 pm »
 I think it's a good sign that it stops.
 When I broke a timing belt it just kept going around.
 Timing cover off first. Check the belt.
 Turn the engine to TDC and look through the timing hole in the trany. Compare it to the marks on the injection pump sprocket.

 Upgraded rubber valve cover gasket available. Comes from a MK3 gasser like a '94 2.0.
The valve cover studs need to be changed too.
48
IDI Engine / Re: Booster full of brake fluid
« Last post by Rabbit79 on February 23, 2024, 02:23:46 pm »
So I know this is quite an old post, but it did end up being quite a saga that dragged on for a long time (mostly due to my own laziness I should interject at this point) and I thought I would show some resolution. I got the brake line situation fixed in a rather surprising fashion. I happened to be chatting with the head mechanic at, of all places, the local Ford dealership (he is a friend of mine), and the subject of my brake line came up, and he said we've got some brake line with metric ends, maybe we can make it work. So I took my old brake line to him and we measured it and it turned out be the exact same length, diameter, and have the same fittings on the ends as my VW line did. Perfect match. He loaned me his bending tools and I got that replaced quite easily. I never thought it would turn out that easy.
The booster side of the story turned out a little different. After I got everything put back together things were fine for a while and then all of sudden my vacuum pump started eating diaphragms. I never really did figure out what was causing this and if it was related in any way to the booster, but after a few years of rebuilding pumps every 3 months I got tired of that and put one of the new vane style pumps in. After this things switched to where I was getting vacuum assist only intermittently and then after a while to no vacuum assist at all. Being my somewhat lazy self I decided to just deal with it and went for like 5 years without any assist on the brakes. Here this past summer I finally decided to fix it and after checking around discovered that you can't get a new booster for a pre-80 Rabbit. Apparently they changed the way it hooks to the brake pedal in 1980 and post 80 boosters (which you can still get new by the way) won't work on a 79 or earlier version. I probably could have fabricated something if I'd had to but what I ended up doing was sending it in to Parts Place and they sent it to their rebuilder. Cost was about 275 dollars. Now.... Did getting all that brake fluid in there cause the booster to fail? I can't say on that because I had no contact with the rebuilder, so I don't know what they found when they went in there. I also have to take into account that it was 40 years old by the time it failed, so it could have been just natural wear and tear, but it did happen just not very long after it got filled full of brake fluid. It's unfortunate that I don't have a concrete conclusion on that but that's how it goes sometimes.  Anyway, it's been in and working fine for about 6 months now (yes I did actually wait for awhile to make sure everything held up before posting).
Saga complete.
49
IDI Engine / Re: 1.6IDI Not Fully Rotating/Not Starting
« Last post by Mohatanous on February 22, 2024, 11:56:45 pm »
I'm mechanically inclined and have done a decent amount of work on gas motors, but not diesel's. If it's worth it to tear into it, I definitely will. I have the Bentley manual on the way! I appreciate the feedback and knowledge, and will be back with my findings when I tear into it. Thank you!
50
IDI Engine / Re: 1.6IDI Not Fully Rotating/Not Starting
« Last post by ORCoaster on February 22, 2024, 11:44:37 pm »
Say you time it up and the engine turns over by hand ok.  But it won't start or it smokes like a bad cigar once it gets running. 

You might try a compression check on it before you even get to the START PHASE.  I say that because it would let you know if you have a cylinder with a valve problem.  Diesel engines need a different compression tester than you find at Autozone or ORielys for rent.  The good limit on a diesel cylinder would be around the 400 psi mark.  Gas engines are much lower.  They fire with spark plugs and diesel fire without, because of the higher PSI in the cylinder.  But you may already know that.

So say you do a check and one cylinder comes up in the upper 370-80 range.  Not good and suspect to me.  Time to pull the head.  Not a hard job but tools are needed that you may not have.  Older engines use torque to yield head bolts that would need to be replaced to get them to go back together.  A new head gasket is required, as well as coolant since you don't have any idea if it is good or not.  This is just for starters. 

You might figure in a new timing belt and tensioner as those might be worn out and you will have them off.  A Bentley Manual will pay back dividends here doing this type of heavy-duty work.  To repair the head you will need new valves, easily found on Rock Auto or maybe Parts Place.  A new head is harder to find and probably would need a machine shop visit to make it right.  You will be pulling hoses off the engine and those if badly weathered, rat-chewed, or otherwise brittle will need to be replaced. 

Getting a different engine is a crap shoot as well. You could buy one and unless the seller rebuilt it you will be looking at most of the same work but the engine will be out of the car.  Big deal, it is still money to be spent and then what do you do with the other engine?  How do you get it out? 

I ran a diesel Rabbit on Veg oil for about a year and finally just quit doing it as the price for diesel dropped back down to a reasonable level.  With diesel up to that high level again it might be worth it to you to find a seller of processed WVO and get your system to work properly.  They can be a pain to maintain, and poor installation only equals poor performance.  I had mine dialed in pretty nicely and still gave up using it as diesel prices dropped. 

I pulled all that stuff and it is in my shed now.  I sold the rabbit without it and I likely won't put it on the pickup I now own.  I would not gain any savings from doing so and only lose time working on it when I should be doing bodywork instead. 

I have done several head/gasket rebuilds on the VWs I have owned but I am mechanically inclined and know what I am doing with the 1.6 engine.  It may be better if you are not to shop around for a good diesel mechanic and get a price from them.  Labor is super expensive these days for anything from burgers to buildings so I hope you got the car cheaply. 

Later
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