Pump not pumping?

[bc]

Also, does anyone know where to get one of the 3 sided sockets for removing the 3 sided bolts on each side of the injection pump? I can't find a tool like that anywhere but one source and they are out of them for months.

[sgnimj96]

I made one using a dremel with a carbide burr bit. It was a 12mm 6pt socket, carved out 3 of the flats to make the triangle.

[bc]

That's a good idea using that style socket. I carved out a 13mm 12 pt. socket and it just doesn't grab the bolt head well enough to turn it.

[bc]

OK, so, the pump is pumping and I have the block and cam set at tdc. I have set the pump at.036 in. The engine cranks but does not fire. I can tell it tries to fire a little bit but just cranks over and over? I'm also bottle feeding it straight to the pump and it's taking the fuel. What would you check next? Pop pressures on injecters? Glow plugs are new.

[Fatmobile]

I'd advance the timing,.. to maybe .039" or more.
Getting white smoke out the exhaust?
Got your foot to the floor when cranking?
Check that the glow plugs are getting power and drawing amps.

[82vdub]

The three times I've done a timing belt and set the dial timing by the book, the engine was nearly impossible to start. Either I'm not getting the timing right, stupid, or my pump etc is worn and it needs to be set to something different. When this happens, I've always advanced my pump until it fires up and then adjust by ear from there. If you're getting white smoke when cranking and have your foot to the floor on the pedal, advance the timing.

[bc]

So this is my first pump rebuild. I'm pretty confident that I got everything back in there correctly. Having said that, I set the pump to .039 and still nothing. Just keeps cranking. I have the pedal to the floor, but am only getting a small amount of exhaust smoke. Advancing the timing means turning the pump all the way towards the head right?

[TylerDurden]

A little dab will do ya... all the way sounds like a lot.

OTOH, I guess if it rattles like hell, you can back off in small increments.

[bc]

Turned the pump all the way towards the head. No luck. I'll recharge the battery and maybe get stronger compression.

[bc]

So, I gotta revive this post. I'm still monkyin with this '85 jetta. It has a 1.6 na diesel. At this point, to keep it simple, it seems like the engine does not crank fast enough to pump fuel. I can spin the pump with a drill and it pumps fuel to the injectors, but not when using the starter. It cranks slow. And this is with a new battery and trying a couple different starters with the same result. The engine does have new piston rings and a new 1 notch head gasket. I just don't understand why it can't crank the engine faster. Any ideas?

[82vdub]

How hot do the wiring connections get when you crank it? You may have a bad ground cable or undersized cable or a bad connection somewhere. Feel for heat along the battery cables. There should be a ground strap that goes from the engine/transmission to the chassis. Also look that this is present.

[bc]

That's good advice 82vdub. I'll check the wiring. I thought maybe new rings and a rebuilt head, there might be some resistance.

[TylerDurden]

So, I gotta revive this post. I'm still monkyin with this '85 jetta. It has a 1.6 na diesel. At this point, to keep it simple, it seems like the engine does not crank fast enough to pump fuel. I can spin the pump with a drill and it pumps fuel to the injectors, but not when using the starter. It cranks slow. And this is with a new battery and trying a couple different starters with the same result. The engine does have new piston rings and a new 1 notch head gasket. I just don't understand why it can't crank the engine faster. Any ideas?

Couple of thoughts...

An ammeter will tell you if the glowplugs are drawing proper current (~12A each). You can pull the injectors and visually verify red-hot plugs.

It doesn't take much cranking speed to light-off an engine with good compression, so I would suspect the injectors might not be spraying.

While the injectors are out, you can verify injectors spraying:

I'd probably flip the hardlines and injectors 90 degrees and see if they are all spraying (up into the air)... it's a messy and you will want to protect yourself from injector spray (WARNING: skin injection requires amputation). You can cover the injectors with bottles or whatnot.

[bc]

Yes the spray can be dangerous Tyler durden. I will try that too. I get fuel at the injectors when spinning it with a drill, just not with the starter. I know the glow plugs glow red. But i'll try the messy test. Lol.
82vdub. I checked the wires and they don't get hot.

[bc]

Update: I turned the injector lines 90 degrees to see if the injectors were injecting, and nothing. I think the engine is just not turning fast enough. I'm not even getting oil on the cam yet. New starter maybe? Both starters I used spin fast when bench tested, but slow on the car.