got the Dasher back together but wont start

[texcl]

OK, I got her all together, before attempting to start and before reattaching the injector lines to the injectors I made a diesel catcher and cranked her till I saw diesel squirting on all 4 injector lines. I then re-attached the lines and cranked her for a longgggg time, she didn't even try to catch. I loosened the lines and no diesel dribbled out and no diesel in the return lines. So now I'm going to crack the lines and try again. Any other suggestions? I saw diesel moving up the clear line so it is drawing.

[82vdub]

What did you do? Did you remove the IP, change the timing belt or what? This will help with the answers. I don't remember what your last project was.

[texcl]

put a new head on, and re-timed everything including the i/p. Set it at .88. I now have diesel at all the lines but she still wont start or even act like she wants to start. I also put in new glow plugs but I have noticed the glow plug light never turns off until I start cranking, but it did this before I took the head off. So I imagine it is the i/p timing or the glow plugs, but you would think it would at least try to start even if the glow plugs aren't working. This is all very discouraging

[texcl]

ok went back out and advanced the timing to .95 cracked the injectors cranked it for about 20 seconds diesel was dripping out of the cracked lines pretty good tightened it all up cranked it and still nothing. Tested the glow plugs and they have power and are brand new bosch duraterms. Even with the old messed up head the car would at least sputter, I wonder if the brand new head gasket is bad. I installed it with arp studs per instructions torqued to 80lbs. Used all german parts, man I just dont know. There is no diesel in the return lined is that normal? Wish I had a compression tester, but am broke from working on this car and don't have a free cent more to use. it just started snowing so I guess I'm done for the day. Had half a mind to point my forced air furnace at the dasher and let it heat it to about 80 and try, but it should start reguardless.

[82vdub]

Rig up a jar of fuel that's elevated above the IP so it removes most of the fuel delivery system. Are you flooring it when you're cranking it? If you have a block heater, plug that in for a couple hours and try it then. That removes any glow plug issues and makes for an easier starting engine.

[texcl]

OK I'll try that tomorrow, I put as much coolant in the coolant tank as it would take, will there be plenty in the block so the block heater can work, I'd hate to burn it up. Also when I floor it, ti slows the revolutions down, is this normal? Also do I stand any chance of hydro-locking the engine since it's not burning any fuel? I checked for pressure in my coolant tank but I doubt I will have any from a bad h/g unless I can get it started. I never took the i/p off so I can't see how I could have gotten it 180% off, besides the hole that I put the locking pin in is clean and shiney and the other is slightly corroded and has a bunch of crud in it, so I know I'm using the same hole I always have. I checked my timing like 5 times so I know it is right, I just don't know. It does have lots of oil pressure at least I can see plenty of oil flowing from the cam bearings and on the lobes. When I opened the one injector line I noticed there was foamy diesel, I'm hoping that is a sign of air and this is the root of my problems.

[DanHoug]

if you're in ND, it is cold enough outside now where it won't even puff if the glow plug circuit isn't working.

plug it in and warm it up good, you'll have enough coolant and just listen for the continual hiss of the block heater. it should pop with a warm block. or just put a jumper cable from the battery right onto the glow plug buss bar and crank it with a fully charged battery.

-dan

[82vdub]

Just as another been there done that comment, is your incoming fuel line connected to the inlet fuel barb and the return line to the outlet fuel barb? I've done them opposite (with an electric pusher pump) and it was extremely hard to start, but it would start and run, but horribly.

Even though you didn't remove the IP, if you set the crank/cam timing up 180 degrees out from the IP, it still can be 180 degrees out of phase. Plug the block heater in first though. This makes things have a much easier time to get the engine fired up in the first place.

[texcl]

yup, they are correct. the dasher is heating up righ now as we speak, I tested the glow plugs by leaving them on for quite a while and they did all get warm, so they are operational. It is all leaning towards messed up injection or low compression, but Inever had any issues in the past with starting as a matter of fact it would start with one crank, but then again it was 30 or 40 degrees warmer.Here's some history on this car. It has 80,000 original miles on it has no rust and is in amazing shape, it has all the original service paper work (I found it in the glove compartment), according to the service records it appears that the VW dealer put in a new engine 20,000 miles ago, but this was back 20 years ago, when I had the head off I could still see cross hatch marks on the cylinder walls, If I had the tools I would have measured them for wear but they had and even cross hatch all around. Here's a list of things I've done to this engine in the past month. New rebuilt head, measured piston protrusion to .88 which is for a 4 notch h/g (just like the one that was on it originally) all pistons protruded equally. Head installed with german 4 notch h/g and ARP studs torqued to 80lbs. New bosch duralast glow plugs, new bosch rebuilt injectors, new starter, new water pump and of course new t/b and tensioner. This is all after I forgot to take the i/p lock tool out and tried to start it, stripping the t/b and causing light piston to valve contact. After the fact I retimed everything and she did start but ran real crappy, and then I decided to do all this work. i never knew what my compression was before all this so I really don't have a base line. in the future I'll have to do a compression check first thing. I hate to think I did all this work and I have a bad bottom end. i guess it could be stuck rings, there was a tremendous amount of carbon on the pistons, which i cleaned the tops off of.

[texcl]

Ok, heated engine was at least 80 degrees top to bottom, tried to start, nothing. Checked my return lines and there was no fuel. Should there be fuel in the return lines if the injectors are getting enough fuel? There are no leaks on the i/p and it seems to rotate fine. When I had the injector line off the injectors it seemed like the fuel was spurting out but now blasting out. What should the stream resemble if it is running proper pressure? Rigging a diesel bottle, but need to run to napa to get an inline filter.

[82vdub]

When you crank it and floor it, is there any smoke coming out of the tailpipe? You should get smoke if there's fuel and it's at least (poorly) burning.

[texcl]

No smoke that I can tell. i even sniffed the tail pipe and there is no exaust or diesel smell.

[82vdub]

It should have smoke coming from the tailpipe if the fuel is combusting in the chamber. If fuel is pooling on top of the piston, it should develop enough heat when cranking to get the fuel to combust (although not necessarily combust properly). If the injector lines aren't on the IP, the fuel will just dribble out when it's cranked. If you're sure the timing is set correctly, you could always try having someone pull the car and try pull starting it. Some have had to go this route to get them to fire as the starter wasn't fast enough to get good compression/fuel into the cylinders.

[texcl]

Is there anything I could have done to screw up my compression, before I did all this work it had no problem starting in 40 and 50 degree weather. When I turn the engine over by hand now it feels like it has greater compression, could I have damaged the i/p when I left the pin in? There are no leaks and there is no wobble or any other signs of damage. I wish I hadn't messed with the i/p timing until after I cranked it. Like I said after I tried starting it with the pin in (old head) I retimed everything and it did start. So it had enough compression to combust prior to the new head.

[texcl]

Ok, I cranked it from a bottle and it drew fuel but didn't start. I had my wife crank her and I went around the tail end and it it is puffing smoke but the engine is just not catching. What do yall think compression or timing? What does it mean when people refer to a yellow dot i/p mine has a yellow dab of paint on the back side of the i/p. If I have the yellow dot i/p I should be setting it at 1.15 right?