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#30
by
8v-of-fury
on 10 Aug, 2012 20:23
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Ah yes! very good I missed that! The stock wiring in these was much to be desired.
I would at the very least,
ADD a body to battery ground.. everything grounds inside to the fusebox, and if it is not perfect you will have super issues. Make sure the battery to engine mount cable is clean, you could move it if you desire, Personally I like to have it on one of the transmission bolts, smothered in die0electric grease. Just as long as its on the block or transmission somewhere.
Another starter issue I found was, the power has to make it in to the starter from where it mates to the transmission.. if this is not a crystal clean mating surface it will not transfer all the amperage across to the starter and really slow down the cranking. Remove starter and really clean up the mating surface, and then glob it with die-electric

.
No probs on the laugh lol.
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#31
by
R.O.R-2.0
on 11 Aug, 2012 19:30
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BEWARE!!!
my rabbit had a ground wire NOT MAKING ANY CONTACT.
it was the main ground.. it was complete, and even still looked good..
touch the ends with a volt meter set to continuity check, and nothing..
tested again, but with the meter set for resistance, and it wouldnt budge off the OL reading..
wire was not burned, over heater, abused, or even touched..
i parked the car (it was still operating fine, i had started it up 15 mins before at a friends house to come home) went to sleep, woke up the next morning to go to school, and it WOULD NOT START. wouldnt even jump start unless i clamped the ground to the trans/engine somewhere..
that bad ground ended up taking out my oil pressure warning system with it.. it tried using that as a supplemental ground.. didnt work out too good.
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#32
by
monomer
on 12 Aug, 2012 18:24
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Whoever called the wiring as the issue was indeed correct.
Pics to come. The disconnects on the positive side are toast. The engine ground is ran to a motor mount bolt right now, changing that to one of the starter bolts and running new wires to the cabin. All larger gauge and new. All sourced from
www.partsexpress.com - everything I need instock and rather cheap.
Need to get a new voltmeter, all the ones around are toast (bad habit)
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#33
by
monomer
on 14 Aug, 2012 18:16
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OK.
After cleaning up the terminals and charging the battery overnight: it cranks like it should.
Pump timing is far off (atleast, I hope it's just pump timing) as it wants to start, but bellows out white smoke while cranking. I'm going to post on the local VW board to see if anyone has a proper timing kit. It's a rather slow board and I have the diesel fever right now...
Which way should I adjust the timing? That is, until I buy/borrow the indicator setup.
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#34
by
8v-of-fury
on 14 Aug, 2012 18:19
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Are you leaving your glow plugs on long enough? White-ish some usually indicates incomplete combustion. The fuel is not getting hot enough before it is asked to ignite and send the piston down, I would move the pump a few hairs towards the engine and see how that works.
Also as a side note; The timing tools won't help you with diddly squat

Your ear and butt are better than the gauge, small test drives for performance will not hurt the engine in anyway. In my honest humble opinion it will be a waste of your money. I haven't used it on the last dozen or two times I've timed mine. 1.6, 1.9AAZ and a 1.9 M-TDI AHU.
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#35
by
monomer
on 15 Aug, 2012 15:17
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Pump moved towards engine, still white smoke
verified that all four cylinders are getting fuel, and checked to see that the NEW GP's are getting 12v (they are.)
I think the starter is still a bit. It'll crank nice and fast the first second, then back down to chug-chug-chug. I hope the wiring helps out with that
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#36
by
monomer
on 15 Aug, 2012 16:46
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Compression check on cylinder four via GP is just over 225PSI.
Somethings amiss.
Should be around 400, eh?
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#37
by
8v-of-fury
on 15 Aug, 2012 16:57
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Pump moved towards engine, still white smoke
verified that all four cylinders are getting fuel, and checked to see that the NEW GP's are getting 12v (they are.)
I think the starter is still a bit. It'll crank nice and fast the first second, then back down to chug-chug-chug. I hope the wiring helps out with that
This is classic crap wiring. Should help out no problem.
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#38
by
monomer
on 15 Aug, 2012 17:21
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Cam's off a couple of degrees from the TDC mark on the flywheel. EDIT: IT'S SPOT ON!!!!!1111
Whats the chance of smacked valves? This would explain the compression, no?
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#39
by
monomer
on 15 Aug, 2012 17:56
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Would not cranking fast enough cause a lower psi? I cranks for a good 10 seconds to get that reading.
the HG is a one notch, like I took off. No room for error, but I can't find any without pulling the head off (again)
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#40
by
theman53
on 15 Aug, 2012 18:46
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If it is cranking slow then yes, it will give you lower compression numbers. Also a cold engine will give lower numbers.
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#41
by
8v-of-fury
on 15 Aug, 2012 19:03
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Get that wiring swapped out, and make sure EVERY connection is clean with die-electric.
Re-do the comp test then.
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#42
by
monomer
on 15 Aug, 2012 19:07
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Get that wiring swapped out, and make sure EVERY connection is clean with die-electric.
Re-do the comp test then.
Just what I was waiting to hear.
Was REAL close to tearing the head off.
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#43
by
monomer
on 16 Aug, 2012 17:37
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Its alive!
More to come. Thanks for all the help!
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#44
by
8v-of-fury
on 16 Aug, 2012 17:45
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YESS! I am so glad when people get their engines running after working on it so diligently
Congratulations, you deserve it.