VW mk2 1.6 td JR sudden loss of power

[Danny_bb]

Hello, I'm new on this forum and I'm sorry that my first topic it's about a problem I have to fix somehow.

Actually, it's not a whole VW, it's just it's "heart"(engine).

I changed piston rings, cleaned the injection pump (not me) and the engine worked fine. Sometimes was hard to start it, and I blamed some air in the circuit. The car ran very good for about 7000-8000 km
-Last week, the weather got a bit cold and when I tried to start it in the morning, it didn't start.
-I checked all the plugs and they were OK
-I put a transparent hose between the fuel filter and injection pump and also fixed the problem that caused the air to enter into the system
-there are no bubbles in the hose now.
-I pulled it and it started very easy. (in a couple of meters)
-After that, i decided to check the solenoid stop valve, I took it off and it looked fine. After that I pulled the car again, but it started a bit harder. Then ,after it rune about 1 km,.. a strange thing happened: a sudden power loss occured and the engine won't rev up. When I stop the car and restart it, in most cases, it works just fine for 1-2 minutes but after that it happens the same thing.
-I changed the solenoid stop valve but the problem didn't disapeared.
-I put the inlet and outlet of the injection pump in bottle to see if there is a problem with the fuel filter, fuel tank of pipes, but the result was the same sudden loss of power at a couple of minutes after I start it.

I don't have other ideas. I think I will take off the injection pump and take it to a workshop to check it but I hope someone will have other ideas.

I'm sorry for my bad english. 

[maxfax]

Welcome!!   

Sounds like you have checked all the typical problems...

It sort of sounds as though you do have some variety of internal pump problem.. Possibly the lift pump, or maybe one of the seals have gone bad..   Sounds like taking your pump to the shop will be your best bet..   Let us know how you make out.

And don;t be sorry for your bad english..  There are some of us who live in english speacking countries that speak very poorly...

[1outof5]

your english is not bad at all, at least I understand it.

is your pump timing correct? Did you change your headgasket? If so it is the right one?

[Danny_bb]

I'm back. I'm sorry for my long absence but I had some problems accesing the site.
I got the injection pump to a shop to have it checked and... surprise: it's OK.
Also, I checked the engine's compression. And it was bad, really bad: one cylinder had 14 bar and the rest of them had around 20 bar. (They should have 34 bar).
I took the cylinder head off to check the valves and I saw 2 of them were leaking (not much). I took the cylinder head to a shop to get it fixed and get valves seals (I don't know how to call them in English) changed. I hoped that will be a temporary fix until I change the piston rings.
But it didn't work. The car has the same symptoms. I don't know why, but something gone bad. It's not normal to change piston rings so fast, no mather how cheap they were.
Now I'm waiting for sunny weather to get the pistons off and check them. I hope replacing the piston rings will solve this problem.

I will keep you informed with the progress.

Thank you for the answers. 

[Rabbit on Roids]

didnt you already put new rings in it once? another new set of rings isnt gonna fix anything if the bores are too far worn out of spec. might want to invest in a overbore and a set of pistons. how much oil does it burn?

[Danny_bb]

The oil consumption is not very high. In 8000 km I put about 3 L. I will measure the cylinder diameter to see how bad it is. I saw some piston rings with a bigger diameter, +0,5 mm, and +1,00 mm. When I will get the pistons off I'll check the gap of the piston rings and decide what diameter to choose.
A major repair is out of discussion because the car it's old. If it will last another 15-20k km I will be satisfied.
I got tired of repairing it. I can't find quality parts and the only part that I trusted, the engine, failed me. But I hope I'l manage to fix this.

Here are 2 pictures of the car, and of the engine.

[Rabbit on Roids]

oil filter is just laying there... thats great. haha.

[Danny_bb]

I had some trouble with the oil filter. But it was hold by a bolt.
The hoses were very short and rigid had to take all the vibration from the engine. So I had to change them often. I replaced them with longer hoses and the probleme is gone. I don't have a picture but I will show you soon.

[Rabbit on Roids]

what the hell kinda car is that anyway?

[Danny_bb]

I was expecting this question. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_Dacia

[Rabbit on Roids]

hahaha, thats kinda cool, had no idea these cars even existed. looks like its a rear wheel drive setup? or is it front drive like an audi?

[Danny_bb]

It's front wheel drive. And it has it's original gearbox. It's not a VW gearbox.
It was built this way by the factory. A kind of "very limited edition".