Newbie to the Van!

[WAgrower]

Hello! I've just purchased an 82 Westy with an 85 Jetta 1.6TD; it also has a WVO set up in it too!

It's currently not running (pervious owner replaced the head and had to put the project aside) I've been tinkering on it a bit to track down some of the issues, but my service manual is "in the mail" so I'm going blind...

here is what I know and what the problems are and what I've done:

Fair amount of oil "gunk" in the air intake
I wiped it down and will be watching for more issues; I haven't looked at the turbo....
Does this sound like a bigger issue I should look out for? should I crawl under and check the turbo?

#2 glowplug metered at 1.2ohms- the rest were at .3-.5
I would swap it out but it's under the FI so hard as hell to get too
Do I need to bite the bullet and pull the pump and swap the 4 GPs?

There was a noticeable hiss when I was turning it over and listening in the engine box.
I found the turbo line from the intercooler to the manifold had a loose hose clamp-tightened it haven't checked to see if helped.
The oil breather vent has a home-made janky gasket; could this make a hissing?

What engine oil should I use? I'd like to give it an oil change before I take it out.

What coolant should be in it? I read that it should be blue but it has green?
Should I flush it and replace with blue? How critical and soon should I do this?

The previous owner put a new head on in the fall and it hasn't been started since then;
So I have to do the head-bolt break-in (12pt bit on its way!)
Anything I should be watching for while breaking it in/ besides leaks...


I'm really excited to get her back on the road and slowly getting her ready for a XC trip this summer so I'd like some help prioritizing the projects so I don't do something silly like replace fuel lines when I should be looking for bigger issues!

Thanks in advance for any help!
Also if your in the Philadelphia area and like to wrench on cars for Beer let me know.

[coke]

You don't need to pull the pump to put glow plugs in it. Its alot easier if you pull the injectors, but I've done it with just pulling the injector lines themselves with a ratcheting boxed end wrench.

The oil in the intake could be caused by blowby pushing it through the vent in the valve cover. You could do a compression check to get an idea on compression #s or a leak down test to see how bad the rings are.

I use green coolant in mine. Haven't ever used anything else. If the blowby in the engine is bad, I suppose it could hiss out the homemade funky gasket you mentioned. It should start with 3 good glow plugs, I say prime the fuel system, make sure the timing belt is on correctly and fire it up and see how the condition of the engine is after that.

Hopefully he used new headbolts when he did the gasket. If he's already done the pre-start torquing and turning, all you should have to do is warm the engine up to operating temperature, then take another 1/4 turn on the bolts. Some don't, but I do, drive 1000 miles or so and take another 1/4 turn. The head gasket I put in mine listed a 600/mi 1000/km retorque so I did it anyways. Just hope he used antisieze or a lubricant on the bolts.

[WAgrower]

Great thanks for the quick answers!

I'll give her a good flush and try turning it over monday If the hissing continues I'll pick up a compression tester and see whats up.

I was planning on the 1/4 turns to the head bolts, he did use new bolts and I assume anti-size....

So glad to hear green coolant is ok

I tried to pull the GP today and got the threads out but the "neck" of the plug was too long to pull out before it hit the FI. I really don't see how pulling the injector would help get it out; I can get to it but there isn't enough head room to pull it out. hope that makes sense, but am I missing something?

Thanks so much I'm sure I'll have more to post soon!

[coke]

They take some finaggling to get them out, but the worst you should have to do is loosen the pump bolts and pull it back.

I never said green coolant was ok, its just what I use.

[WAgrower]

Gotcha; well I'll order some plugs and work on getting it out. Should I try to lock the pump or belt to keep timing or just score a mark on the bracket and engine to get it back?

I'll keep the green coolant for now... Don't want to do a coolant flush just yet...

also what grade oil do you recommend for this age engine with a new head?

thanks!!

[coke]

I use Shell Rotella 15w40 and Rotella T6 Synthetic 5w40

If you have to move the IP to get the plugs out, just scribe a mark. No need to lock it.

[WAgrower]

Ok so today after cleaning the fuel lines and injector lines I was able to get it running! However it was running weak and blowing white smoke, while the throttle was at 25% to keep a smooth idle.

Here is what I found:
The fuel system was blocked up with veggi oil (no comment...), so I drained it and had a clean flow of diesel all the way to the FI pump.

With the ignition on but not turned over I have a good flow of diesel to the pump, but nothing coming out through the return.

I pulled the FI lines and cleaned them of vegi oil, then pulled the return line off the last injector and tired to drain the injectors by turning the engine over.
While doing so it started and ran ok considering it was still working some residual veggi oil through the system. Large black cloud that was followed with some white smoke that kept coming. Had to keep the throttle at about 25% to keep it running.

My thought is the return lines between the injectors are clogged with veggi oil. Would this cause the smoke and poor running by not allowing excess fuel to exit the injectors?

Any other thoughts? thanks in advance

[coke]

Take the OUT bolt out of the pump and check it over for blockages. There are very tiny holes in it, and there is a screen either in the bolt or the banjo (can't remember)

Then get some Lubro Moly diesel purge, probably 2 or 3 cans, and purge that pump!

[WAgrower]

Gotcha I'll run the purge through and probably replace the injector lines (if only becasue I replaced all the other fuel lines)

I'm assuming the OUT plug is the one on the back of the pump with the 2 return lines running to it (sorry manual still hasn't arrived)?
Can I clean it with brake drum cleaner? or what is a good solvent to use?

Also how much fuel should be coming from the return from the injector? I feel like I should have a steady drip but there is nothing coming out... Does this seem normal becasue it hasn't been running in a while?
thanks so much!

[coke]

If I were you, I'd get a set of rebuilt injectors too, or take yours apart and at the very least clean them well. Veggy oil can do nasty stuff when it gets old and stuck in all the parts.

Use kerosene or diesel fuel to clean it. Brake clean or carb clean is ok too, but I usually rinse in diesel/kerosene.

[WAgrower]

Ok so the union screw for the OUT port on the pump was clogged. Cleaned it and its flowing well now. with the igniton on fuel flows well.

After connecting the system and bleeding the air I tried turning over and only got a few promising spudders.

with the engine turning over I don't see any fuel coming from the return barb on the injector so I think it's time to take them out....

That being said I'm looking for the tool to do so. My Bentley manual finally came in the mail today so I'm not feeling so lost!
It says a US 2775 and a quick search lead me to this:
http://www.ntxtools.com/network-tool-wa ... ASM13.html
I'd rather not spend $53 to get a socket in a week so does anyone know if I can use a standard deep 27mm socket like:
http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/in ... ry_id=1227

Thanks again!

[Fatmobile]

1 1/16" 12 point deep socket for the injectors.

Why are you pulling them?
Because you don't see any fuel coming from the barbs?
That's not a good reason.

[coke]

Some of the deep sockets aren't deep enough. There were two types of injectors, one used a taller top part and one used a taller bottom. The ones with the taller bottom were easier to get out with a shorter socket, but my 27mm impact socket wouldn't touch the taller ones. I ended up using a 1 1/16th socket to get them out. Worked fine.

[WAgrower]

NM I was able to find one for $10 on (competitor's name removed by moderator) so it along with heat shields are on their way.

Someone also gave me the idea that the pump may still be working some of the gummy through. I've only gotten a good flow of clean diesel from the OUT barb, so there could be more deeper in the pump. More diesel purge is in order...

Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated!!

[WAgrower]

Ok so the injector socket hasn't arrived yet so I though I would work some more purge through the pump.

What I have set up now is the hard lines are removed from the pump and I am feeding a diesel purge/ diesel mixture though the pump with a priming bulb from a separate tank.
I tried turning the engine over by hand to see if fuel would spit out where the hard lines connect.
it didn't, so I tired turning the engine over with the starter. Once again I was feeding fuel/ purge with the priming bulb. after about 3sec fuel started to spit out of the pump. However it wasn't at any high PSI, it would just dribble out a bit then dribble out the next.
I'm under the impression that it should be coming out at an extremely high PSI, or does it need to be contained in the hardline and injector.

So my question is; one does this sound odd that it's dribbling out of the pump while cranking?
and second would veggie oil be gummy enough to keep the 2000 PSI gummed up?