Waterbug
Member
OK people, I'm not having good luck w/vag-com and get results that I dont expect. First of all, I have posted comments about my 01 NB not starting good when cold. I read that the basic timing setting may be too retarded. OK. I hooked up the COM and watched the active graph plot the timing in real time...Great.. It hovered right around the center line (49-54). OK, so I got out the wrenches and "advanced" the pump a bit. I loosened the 3 screws, and rotated the pump shaft "against" the normal rotation a tiny bit and retightend. Started eng went back to see what the graph was showing, and guess what? I went DOWN to like 12-14, saying too retarded to graph! What the!!! I thought I was advancing it by turning shaft against rotation, BUT, nope! I re-set by turning shaft a bit more back WITH rotation of sprocket. NOW, it shows 117, too far ADVANCED! OK, re-did again, tried, and now it sits right at the top line about 68-70. So, I left it there. I also tried to advance the what I call: dynamic timing, the timing that the ECU sets injection start too by a couple degrees. OK, I'm not sure what it is doing, but now shows like 2 degrees or so. Dont know if it;s BTDC or ATDC. Anyway, not much change in starting. Ya, a bit less smoke, but still have to crank for a bit (5-9 sec) till she catches. This long cranking happens especially when the stupid ECU wont let the glow plugs light off, because it "thinks" they arnt needed. Sorry, I think glow is needed to about 65deg. And, it needs to be on longer at lower temps! I've learned how to do the multiple key cycles trick,that helps a bit. AND, I think my MGG's went right through the floor! So bad, that I see wetness on the inside of the tailpipe! What is the deal here? The ONLY difference in performance, is that it idles a bit smoother. Does'nt shake as much. I dont know about the rest of you folks, but this is NOT my first diesel car I've had. All as I can say, is that I'm NOT impressed with all the glitches for something being so "wired up"! And, like some others here, I cant figure out the EGR thing either! Same problems. NOT that I want to turn it off, but just "experimenting" to see how it behaves. One thing I noticed that I have seen mentioned, is that the vag will cycle things during idle. Like it'll advance and retard the dynamic timing, cycle the EGR valve open and close, turn the turbo boost on and off, etc. Kinda neat. We need more practical input on the Ross-tech Vag-Com here, AND, get a petition going to have the software written for us old farts who have problems interpreting all the measuring jargon. Yes, I like the metric system, but have all the "old school" pounds, PSI, gallons, stuff too deeply rooted. What's the big stink Ross-Tech? Just re-write and have a switch to toggle between metric and American. Well, enough for now. I'll wait a bit for anyone to speak out on my comments.
This is a great site, chuck full of good info, but still a bit disorganized. We need to more specifically organize topics better.
This is a great site, chuck full of good info, but still a bit disorganized. We need to more specifically organize topics better.