got the Dasher back together but wont start

[82vdub]

Some will say that it must be spot on. However, I have the mindset that something close like an 1/8" or so on either side of the mark is close enough as long as when you rotate the engine by hand valves don't kiss a piston and there's no contact when it's running. When I was referring to the engine timing in the previous posts, it's the timing of the injector pump to the cam/crank timing aspect, not the setup of the cam to crank timing.

[texcl]

Today I set up a larger remote tank for the dasher and ran it off straight diesel purge, at first it ran the same crappy way and after about 5 minutes it started to clear up an by ten I could rev it with hardly any knock at high rpms and after 15 minutes I could run it at any speed with no knocking what so ever and hardly any white smoke, it is a 100x's better and I could definetly run it in this condition no problem. So I'm thinking the main problem was air in the lines and I just needed to run it off of the remote tank for a longer time period to clear it all out and or the diesel purge freed a stuck ring or something in the i/p or injectors. It runs so much better than it ever has at this point, now I just need to trim the white smoke down a bit and I'll be set. 82vdub, thanks for all the exellent input, it has been invaluable and spot on.

[82vdub]

Glad you got it figured out. Keep tinkering with it and you'll probably get the white smoke to go away. Could be somewhat stuck rings too that need to be driven to work those out.

[nedgleb]

I have been having a similar problem with my 80 Dasher. It was running great, then I accidentally bumped it with my 3/4 ton truck - I didn't feel it, but the VW moved a couple feet in 1st gear with the parking brake on. Since then I've been getting exactly what you had. When the snow melts I will try adjusting the timing.
Is there a chance that something moved when I bumped it?
I have also been told that the part of the injection pump that pulls diesel may be compromised. Anything to this?

Tod

[Fatmobile]

Clear fuel lines will tell you if the vanes in the pump are pulling fuel right.

[nedgleb]

What do I look for in the clear lines? Bubbles?
And if the pump isn't pulling fuel, can I fix it?

Thanks!!

[Fatmobile]

You look for bubbles and how fast the fuel is flowing.
Sometimes if the pump isn't pulling fuel from the tank; you can hook up an electric fuel pump.
This will allow you to rev the engine higher,.. sometimes higher RPMs will cause the vanes to start moving outward again.

[nedgleb]

Thanks for the info. I'll try it.

[bc]

I think an 1/8th to a 1/4 is too much. As close to the center of the timing hole as possible.