beetle fuel cleanse

Hi,

well I officially bought my second tdi. yay!! 2001 red beetle GLS manual (bought from tdi member!). the car has been sitting a few years, and hasn't been started in three. Cranked it a time or two before i bought it, but i didn't want to hurt the fuel system, and the batt was dead anyway. Whats the best way to make sure i have fuel supply all the way to the injectors? I peeked at the top of the fuel filter, and there was diesel in it, but it wasn't to the top anymore and none spilled out. how do i make sure i don't air lock it? if i have to drop the tank, lines, and all i don't care ill do whatever needs to be done, but i want to make sure i do it right so i don't have problems.

thanks!

Crow fuel like wrench and crack open the 3rd injector, tall one, by counter holding it. You can also use a mighty vac or big syringe to pull fuel into the ip via the return line off the top of the ip.

You need to change the timing belt though. Those things are ticking time bombs especially when sitting for 3 years.

Mongler98 said:

Crow fuel like wrench and crack open the 3rd injector, tall one, by counter holding it. You can also use a mighty vac or big syringe to pull fuel into the ip via the return line off the top of the ip.

You need to change the timing belt though. Those things are ticking time bombs especially when sitting for 3 years.

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I knew that mity vac i bought would come in handy! I was hoping you would respond you always got good info lol! ok sounds like it has about 5ish gal in it from when it was last run 3 years ago. he added anti gel when he ran it last. Is the stuff in the tank ok? or should I dump it all? timing belt has 25k left on it would it really be bad? i guess it's probably 10+ plus years know... guess i didn't think of that.

TB is something like 5 years or 80K whatever comes first
Reality is that many belts have gone much longer. It’s not worth the risk to me and some members here have seen them shred just on the first fire up after years of sitting.
I would run the fuel, as long as it’s not cloudy. Running out of fuel is not really all that bad for a TDI. You’re not going to hurt it much. I personally would drain what I can’t, swap the filter and add a full tank to it with your choice of snake oil anti gel / sulfur additive. Run some liquid molly through a closed loop if you really are concerned with the fuel issues and injection.

I have just seen too many threads about (OH NO MY CAR IS TOTALED I FORGOT ABOUT THE TIMING BELT). Not worth it. FWIW, it’s usually never the timing belt that goes bad, they do stretch out over time and throws off timing but not enough to not run (usually), it’s always the water pump or idler or tensioner or something that the belt rides on that causes the failure. Even the dreaded serp belt failure can trash the TB. Usually it’s the water pump.

ok ya ill do TB then. i thought it was 10 years but good to know. The previous owner told me he had the 100k belt installed and water pump idk if that makes a difference. it has 141k on the dash right now. far as fuel system goes ill do the things your suggesting and go from there.

1st thing you do when buying a car from anyone (don't care if it was family or what) assume everything you got told was BS unless its documented and then assume it was done from some shady mechanic at 9pm on a friday night.

2nd. Replace all fluids (dont care, just do it) if the car is old like this.
3rd, on a TDI Timing belt and all rubber bits like coolant lines, belts and any suspect wiring.
4th, new tires (unless they are under 4 years on the DOT#, the last two numbers are the year)

these old cars really take a beating but they will keep going for a very long time if you keep up on parts that get old like listed above. it will be very useful for you to look into the service for this car.

ok, sounds good. I was planning on replacing most fluids, and I haven't looked into the service records yet i believe there in the glove box. I figured it was going to need work, and it was in good shape, so i didn't really look into the records (that would make more sense if i explained it all but it's a long story so...). I've been so busy i won't have time to look at it for at least a few weeks. im not planning on touching the car till spring, and then i will look into a TB and the fluids. now i have to just decide if im ready to try the TB change. tires are like 8 years old or so, but I'll probably burn them out on near by roads till there done then get new ones. I mean why throw them out if there still functional for something lol.

Because it's the only thing keeping you in control on the road. It's not worth it when you need to call upon them to keep you from crashing and they cant cut it. 8 years is a long time for a tire. My 2 cents, if there under 5/32 tread and or if they show any signs of dryness and or cracking at all, replace them. Tires are cheep enough. 350 or so at costco when Michelin has there $70 rebate.

ya he gave me a set of winter's to go on it. the rear tire's are fine the front's are kinda done, tho they do hold air. I wasn't actually planning on going anywhere with them except for the first couple test drives. When i said "burn them out" i meant just peeling till bang/pop....opp guess there done. but it's also not worth hurting the car or the rims so it was kind of a joke...

GlowBugTDI said:

ya he gave me a set of winter's to go on it. the rear tire's are fine the front's are kinda done, tho they do hold air. I wasn't actually planning on going anywhere with them except for the first couple test drives. When i said "burn them out" i meant just peeling till bang/pop....opp guess there done. but it's also not worth hurting the car or the rims so it was kind of a joke...

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yea i do the same with my Re-71's, i get 22 to 24 runs out of them, about 1 season of autocross, i end up doing some burnouts and skid pad time with them when they are done.

I was going to PM you a congratulations on winning your new beetle project.

On the old Rabbits I'd find a tank full of crap.
I used a fuel pump with a filter in front of it,..
to pump the fuel out, clean it and put it back into the tank.
To polish the fuel.

In the end you might try some biodiesel for a short while
followed by a filter change.