ALH fuel pump priming 2002 Jetta

Owners - I am new to the club but have been reading posts and articles as a non member. Have owned several 240D Mercedes and 2 older jetta diesels. I now have a 2002 TDI.

Problem: Just replaced timing belt & head, ground valves replaced lifters. Will not start.

1) Sure timing is OK
2) Primed pump.

Symptom:

After troubleshooting determined that high pressure pump is intermittent. With injectors connected to lines and injectors out of cylinders to atmoshere, when cranking I get 2 or 3 squirst out the injector pintle from random injectors then nothing.

With injectors installed the car will fire a few times then stops. Seems to be in conjunction with the few good injector squirts. (confirms timing and compression is OK)

I have vacuumed pump/filter with a Mighty Vac and cracked the injector lines as prescribed in the several threads I have read.

When Vacuuming (sucking) the pump on the return side it always is sucking some air bubbles but fuel does flow. Also there is always a air bubble in the supply line (clear) between the filter and inlet to pump.

It seems as though the pump still is air bound. I have visually cheched for a suction leak with nothing found. During the repair process the pump high pressure and the inlet and outlet lines were disconnected for ~ 1 month and so the potential for air to get into the pump.

Please any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

If a pump does not prime by suction, it could have a slight seal leak that lets air in. Especially if pump has not run in some time.

Get an outboard squeeze ball fuel line and a jug of fuel. Flush out line and connect to inlet fitting of fuel filter. Put jug on roof of car so gravity helps. Fuel moves very slowly through IP, so be patient.

Going to get priming pump will let you know - Thanks

Have primed IP as prescribed with pime bulb - no air. Have cracked injector top lines. Still only get a few high pressure squirts at injectors then nothing.

STUMPED!

Was the pump full of air when you primed it the 2nd time? maybe filter tee o-ring? A small bit of grease can help those re-seal.
You could try advancing the timing a small amount.
I'll apologize in advance, but did you leave a rag stuffed in one of the big pipes when you did all that engine work.

Gents thank you for your replies - the second time purging did not seem to get any (more) air out just agood flow of fuel. I have puged it several times using mighy vac and a priming bulb. The only air purged out seems to come from air in the injector bleed lines from being disonnected during troubleshooting stages.

In any case after a purge of the pump and purge of the top injector HP line it makes a breif start then nothing. With injectors to atmoshere it makes a couple squirts out the pintles then no fuel.

Could there be a signal from the ECM shutting fuel off?

The only code I am showing is for the engine coolant because I have it disconnected for max glow plug.

When I turn on ignition I get a click at the IP then a second click a few seconds later is this normal!

I have ruled out (in my mind) low compression because of the no fuel indication of the injectors. It will fire with a small shot of ether and at one point I lubed the cyliders with oil and after blowdown (glow plugs out) it started up and ran for 1/2 minute on the lube oil.

I am currently stumped!

Do not quote me on this but I do believe there is ONE wire on the outside of your injector pump that has to have power in order for it to pump to the injectors. I'd check to make sure this solenoid is hot when you're cranking.

If not then you know where to start troubleshooting.

Thank you for tip - the one wire to the shut down solenoid is hot with ignition on and cranking. With it disconnected and cranking I get no attempt to start. When connected It starts for a few seconds then stops.

Still has same symptom. Injectors fire a few times then nothing.

I have primed and vacummed fuel pump. No bubbles. Cracked injector fuel lines get a few good squirts then volume drops down. It does this after each starting attempt.

I am starting to think the IP is B/O.

Still Stumped!

emdiesels said:

Thank you for tip - the one wire to the shut down solenoid is hot with ignition on and cranking. .........

Click to expand...

One of the wires in the IP connector is B+, I think it's #5 and it is fused at #32 on my car. Check wiring diagrams for details.
Another thing to keep in mind- these are mechanical pumps with electronic controls.

Checked the wire and fuze. I believe this is the signal for the #3 injector coil. When cranking with the connector disconnected to injector I get a P1247 code. After Clearing fault and hooking back up does not repeat so I assume it works.

Currently have the injectors hooked up to atmosphere. I have the fuel inlet and outlet system bypassed from tank. I am running a loop through the filter in and out of a jug of Diesel Service. System is purged and vaccumed as best as possible with a Mighty Vac and purging bulb. The system is sucking and returning clear fuel throught the lines while it is cranked.

The syptom is:
During first 5-10 seconds of cranking the injectors spray a good pattern but then quits after ~10 seconds. Immediatly after cyling key for another attempt the same thing happens. It always sprays out the injector for only 5-10 seconds. This symptom is repeatable.
When this is attempted with the injectors inplace it momentarily starts up.

Stumped - is there something in the between the low pressure side fuel pump wrong or is there a ECM signal shutting fuel off?

Unfortunatly I do not have a VagCom.

At this point I am trying to fiqure out if the problem is loss of internal fuel prime of the IP pump or is a signal being generated to limit or stop high pressure fuel.

Thanks for all prior help - late in responding due to storm that blew through knocking out utilities.

When I put things back together I got the Change-over valve and the CCV heater stub connector crossed with anotherand It gave me the same symptoms, would fire up for a second and then shut down.

The change over valve I'm guessing is the shutdown control valve (intake air slammer). I know the CCV heater. I do not remember disconnected those, both of these have interchangable connectors and could be swapped but the lenght of the wire seems to short.

I will try tomorrow.

Thank you for input!

Could it be the immobilizer if so equipped?

Or bad relay 109? Immob kills engine after 2sec run, little key thing illuminates on dash. 109 is dead if glow plug light doesn't blink on when key goes to on.

KLXD and SKI in NC - Thank you very much for this information. I think you set me on the right path.
Unfortunatly had to go to work today but will trouble shoot ASAP.

Sincere thank you!

I too think it is the immobilizer because it sprays fuel for a few seconds, I would put injectors back in then disconnect the battery, touch the connectors together (do not touch the battery terminals together!) the cars terminals for a second to get rid of any remaining power in the cars system and computer, connect the battery back. Hopefully that might reset your computer and allow the car to run.

To all above who have responded:
It is the immobilizer! Stupid me the dash was flashing the icon the whole time and I did not realize this!
I will try and reset it today. I tried shorting the disconnected batt cables together but did not work. I will be trying other recommended steps.
Thanks again I will let you know results.!

Somewhere on here (I suck at searches) read to put key to on position, don't start, then leave it alone for like 15min. Car re-learns the key??

Got the immobilizer to reset. Shorting disconnected batt cables did not work. Put key in ignition to on with trickle charger and let sit, reset after ~ 10 minutes.

Now can complete repairs!

It was the immobilizer. It reset after shorting disconnected batt cables and turning on ignition for ~ 10 minutes.

Thanks to all who responded!

I am new to this fourm, but i am glad i was able to put in my 2 cents. I have a 02 beetle tdi.

wait a minute I have same symptoms and I thought it was IP because I get the p1562 code thrown out at me. What does the dash light look like when its the immobilizer?

There's a little key symbol on the cluster that will flash if the immobilizer shuts down the car.

The symptom when this happens is that the engine will fire when cranked but immediately (~2 seconds or so) shuts down.

You can reset the system by pulling the battery cables for a few minutes. The ECU and Cluster "match" to each other and will re-transfer immobilizer information if reset, provided it's still in there. If you have somehow lost key adaptation entirely the only way to recode it is if you have the SKC; there is no way to do so using just the keys themselves.

Vagcom can program keys but cannot read the SKC out of the car; VagTaco (the chinese thing) CAN read ALH immobilizer SKCs. The stealer is no longer able to retrieve SKCs for you as of a few years ago (their system now directly talks to the car and doesn't display it) so when they tell you they can't give you the code they're not lying - unfortunately.

The other thing to check is that the air door (passenger side right near the firewall and visible with the engine cover on) is not stuck closed. That happens somewhat frequently, especially in cars with non-adapted (or deleted) EGR that have never had their intakes cleaned and will produce an engine that fires and immediately dies, but on a re-crank does nothing (there's no air!)

Genesis said:

There's a little key symbol on the cluster that will flash if the immobilizer shuts down the car.

The symptom when this happens is that the engine will fire when cranked but immediately (~2 seconds or so) shuts down.

You can reset the system by pulling the battery cables for a few minutes. The ECU and Cluster "match" to each other and will re-transfer immobilizer information if reset, provided it's still in there. If you have somehow lost key adaptation entirely the only way to recode it is if you have the SKC; there is no way to do so using just the keys themselves.

Vagcom can program keys but cannot read the SKC out of the car; VagTaco (the chinese thing) CAN read ALH immobilizer SKCs. The stealer is no longer able to retrieve SKCs for you as of a few years ago (their system now directly talks to the car and doesn't display it) so when they tell you they can't give you the code they're not lying - unfortunately.

The other thing to check is that the air door (passenger side right near the firewall and visible with the engine cover on) is not stuck closed. That happens somewhat frequently, especially in cars with non-adapted (or deleted) EGR that have never had their intakes cleaned and will produce an engine that fires and immediately dies, but on a re-crank does nothing (there's no air!)

Click to expand...

thanks, the anti shutter valve works. Car will crank but wont run so I guess its definitely injection pump.

Welll... no flashing key symbol on the cluster when you're cranking?

If not then you still have a bunch of other things to check before condemning the pump.

threadjack: Ive checked everything from fuel temp sensor ohms, compression, glow plugs, injectors getting fuel. Im in Japan right now so its going to be a while before I get back to car but I didnt get a flashing key light from what I remember.

Any solution found on this?