82 Rabbit Diesel sat in open field for 3 yrs:needs work

[cleoo]

Trying to picture this:

A thick gauge wire? Or 14 gauge wire from the Positive Battery post to the injection pump solenoid (is there more than one wire?)

Now, I just need just one of the jumper cables (RED) to attach from the Positive Battery post to the 1st glow plug. After 15 seconds, then what? Move that jumper cable (RED) to the starter???

Now, how does my friend jumper the starter with a screwdriver :?:  Is he touching the jumper cable (RED) to the solenoid too?

Kinda hard to visualize it.

Also, I just wanted to see if the timing was right on the engine block. What I did (might have been the wrong thing...LMK) was get a socket to attach to the cam bolt and turn clockwise. It was moving but then got really tight, I think I heard a metallic tick (did I break anything?). Well, I turned it the other way (counterclockwise) and it was slightly easier to turn. Then I turned it back clockwise and then it tightened again.

I have no clue what I'm doing. I just want to make sure the timing was right before I start the engine with your directions. I couldn't get to the crank bolt, that's why I turned the camshaft bolt.

Did I harm anything by doing what I did?

How, hard would I have had to wrench down on the cam bolt to break anything. I think I just applied about 15 pounds of pressure when it began to tighten.

Is it suppose to tighten like that or keep cycling through continuosly?



When a normal running engine stops...does it automatically stop at TDC???  I'm assuming it doesn't.

Is there an easy way to set timing with just simple tools like a socket wrench and screwdriver???

[Master ACiD]

when you turn the engine over by hand you should do it via the crankshaft bolt. i wouldnt do it via the cam bolt.

just turn it over via the crank untill its at top dead centre. you can tell this by looking in the hole in the top of the bellhousing. theres usually a little plastic plug in the hole that you need to remove first. inside the hole is a little pointer and it must align with a cast in mark on the flywheel.

once the crank is at top dead centre check the injection pump pulley. theres a mark on the driver side of the sprocket that aligns up with a mark on the top of the injection pump bracket.

finally remove the cam cover and make sure the first 2 cam lobes from the cam pulley are facing upwards at roughly a 10 oclock and 2 oclock position.  theres a OFFSET slot on the far end of the camshaft that should be on the same plane as the top of the cylinder head.

if all these items lign up then you can be reasonably sure the engine is roughly in time. atleast timed good enough to run without damaging anything. if the injection pump and cam are 180 degrees out, then thrn the engone over 1 more revolution and try again. these things only lign up every other revolution.

as far as jumpering the starter with a screwdriver, you need to make contact with the main starter wire on the starter housing and then contact with the starter solenoid's electrical tab. this energises the starter and will make the gear pop out and spin.

so you hold power to the glow plugs for 10-15 seconds, then while still powering the plugs, turn on the starter. all the while you should have power to the pump solenoid. you dont need thick wire for the pump, it doesnt take much power. if it starts, when it starts, keep power to the plugs for another 10-15 seconds and then cut the power to the glow plugs. if everything went well the engine should run on its own at this point.

[cleoo]

The crank bolt seems pretty difficult to get at from the top with the timing belt still in place. Do I need to turn it from underneath the car with jackstands?

[BlackTieTD]

from underneith but it shouldn't require jackstands unless the car is really low or sunk into the earth.

[cleoo]

Been a bit difficult to tinker with the car since it is in another place.

Well, I was able to get underneath the car and handcrank the crankshaft in a clockwise motion. At first, the revolution seems to be going over a hump and then it turns easier and then it repeats. I did this several times and didn't felt any other resistance. Now, since I cranked it, do I have to re-align it to some factory setting or will it still start in whatever position I left it in?



I bought an Autozone 48-DL Duralast battery, which puts out 810 cold cranking amps for $59.99 w/exchange.

I put on the battery cables--I used the old ones.
Connected a jumper cable from the positive to the main glow plug.
Connected a wire from the positive to the only solenoid nut I could find. The Bentley calls it the stop solenoid. (I heard a click every time I connected it.)
Tripped the starter with a screwdriver. (I heard a click on it too each time I tripped it, but it didn't want to turn over.)

So, no luck, I'm thinking because the fusebox is missing the Fuel Pump Relay and has a burnt out Glow Plug Relay that that's the problem.

I'm ordering a fast glow relay...

We'll see how that goes...

[burn_your_money]

Don't order a fast glow, you probably have slow glows. Either way you don't need that now.

It sounds like you are doing everything correctly, and with this method there is no need for any other wiring.

There is no fuel pump relay, that is part of the glow plug relay on a rabbit diesel.

It sounds like the starter is not getting enough juice. Make sure it is in neutral. Clean up the connections on the battery and starter and then give it another try. If that doesn't work take booster cables and hook the positive up to the + on the starter and the negative to a bolt head on the tranny directly from the battery.

To make your life easier for now just do this

Hook up the battery to the cables. Run a wire to the solenoid on top of the starter. It should have a wire already connected to it. Just pull that connector off and put the jumper wire to that. Note the thickness of the wire you are removing, you'll want to use one of about the same thickness. This step is just elimating the screwdriver. If you prefer you can continue to use the screwdriver method.
This will get the starter to turn over, but it won't start the car. Once you can get the starter to crank then connect power to the stop solenoid and the glow plugs as previously described.

As for that hard spot you were describing when turning the engine over by hand, it's probably a ridge in the cylinder walls from where the pistons sat for 3 years. It might also just be the cylinders compressing. Either way I wouldn't worry about it.