Compression numbers recorded.

From pass to drivers side
425, 420, 430, 430 on a fairly cold engine. From my understanding and results from searching, this is in the norm of what it should be.

However, i still have a cold start issue, well more so a hard start after sitting for 4 or so hours.

Fuel tee filter replaced. All spring clamps have been replaced with hose clamps. Battery is oem replacement from about 3 months ago. Fuel hose's between injectors and back to injection pump are new. Timing is in the middle of the upper part of the graph(as per last time checked..couple months ago). Very little bubbles going through the line while running. However, i noticed when i shut down the engine, some bubbles come from the injection pump back into the clear fuel line. From my understanding, this can be from the seals in the pump and possibly the oring on the shutoff valve for the fuel? Other then this, im stumped. Im getting my vagcom next week so ill be able to produce more details then. But as of now, im out of ideas. Thanks in advance

Sounds like you have a good handle on things.
When getting your compression readings did you turn the motor over until the needle on the guage stopped moving up?
The compression seems a little low for the miles (this may still be OK depending on how the car was driven/maintained). However you have less than 5% deviation between cylinders (this is good).
Perhaps someone else will chime in with a little more detail on the compression values.

B.L.T said:

From pass to drivers side
425, 420, 430, 430 on a fairly cold engine.

Click to expand...

Not even close!

First off cold compression readings are invalid, the engine must be at normal operating temperature.

Your compression should have been in the 500-550 psi range...

Re-do the test correctly and post your numbers.

DB

What he said. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For the record, the car is maintained to the best of my ability. Oil/filters/fluids changed as per maintenance schedule. The car is not driven hard per say, but i let her open up quite often when i get the chance

Drivbiwire said:

Not even close!

First off cold compression readings are invalid, the engine must be at normal operating temperature.

Your compression should have been in the 500-550 psi range...

Re-do the test correctly and post your numbers.

DB

Click to expand...

Deepest apologies most humble sir!. I have no idea where i got the idea i could do it on a cold engine., but mistakes happen and ill redo the test this up coming weekend. Here is the home brew adapter im using with a snap on diesel compression tester to do the test with.





On another note, i unplugged the coolant temp sensor to run the glow plugs for tomorrow morning. I have many doubts that compression is the culprit here. I believe fuel delivery, or possibly timing is still the issue at hand. I figure if the car starts good tomorrow with the plugs on, timing is the issue. If it still struggles to start, fuel delivery is the problem. Any other suggestions on this?

I also take delivery of my vagcom key usb cord tomorrow or wednesday in which ill be able to check the timing as per instructions on this website.

Update:

Car started like it had been running all night this morning with plugs on for about 3 seconds. Then at lunch(just now) started o..k... but still stumbled for a bit and then clearing up about 5 seconds after. So im assuming timing/ fuel delivery now

Fuel delivery wouldn't pay much attention to the heat - timing would.

rdkern said:

Fuel delivery wouldn't pay much attention to the heat - timing would.

Click to expand...

Thats what im betting on. I just got my key usb and everything already hooked up. Just trying to find the info on how to get to timing so figure out what its at hehe

Bob_Fout said:

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-scope/TDIGraph.html

Click to expand...

Just found that like 1 minutes before you posted..Thanks for the quick reply anyways.

I followed those instructions to the tee, selected both of the golf (alh) on the drop box and both of them say TOO RETARDED TO PLOT. Something moved. I just checked the belt and its still tight. Im betting on the bolts for the injection pump loosened up. Guess im playing mechanic this weekend

Edit: when the car is up to temp, block 2 is reading 0. What does this mean?

Most likely whoever did the timing belt job did not bother timing it when they were finishing up the job as the bolts normally would not come loose and if a Dealer or someone with out a Vag com did it they did not time it. Use the Vag-com list up top the page if you do not have one and time it. You will see the numbers you asked about come up to normal when timed right. The numbers are what we used to use when timing the car until someone made the timing chart for the Vag-Com. Take your time it only take a very tiny turn to move the timing.

Birdman said:

Most likely whoever did the timing belt job did not bother timing it when they were finishing up the job as the bolts normally would not come loose and if a Dealer or someone with out a Vag com did it they did not time it. Use the Vag-com list up top the page if you do not have one and time it. You will see the numbers you asked about come up to normal when timed right. The numbers are what we used to use when timing the car until someone made the timing chart for the Vag-Com. Take your time it only take a very tiny turn to move the timing.

Click to expand...

Thats the thing, me and my dad did the timing belt in the spring yet. THe timing was checked right after too and it was around 72(slightly advanced)for the longest time, however, i see our mistake now being that we didnt replace the pump bolts. Either way ill buy the non stretch bolts for it and use the vagcom i got yesterday and retime the engine. Thanks for the help

Update-checked the pump bolts, they are the brass ones, meaning they dont need to be replaced from what ive read around here. Also from my understanding, the start of injection number in measuring blocks is pretty much useless correct?

Done and done!

Well i figured out why my car was thought to be exactly on time, the morons that checked the timing the first time based it on the measuring blocks and not the actual graph. So instead of where it should of been, it wasnt even on the graph!. Spent about 20 minutes trying to get to this number and well im assuming ive solved my cold start issue. We shall see tomorrow tomorrow morning. Id like to thank all the people i annoyed with the stupid and numerous questions. Its appreciated

The money shot

That looks like a good graph. You shouldn't have any timing related cold start issues with the timing set like that.

chromeBuddha said:

That looks like a good graph. You shouldn't have any timing related cold start issues with the timing set like that.

Click to expand...

B.L.T said:

Well i figured out why my car was thought to be exactly on time, the morons that checked the timing the first time based it on the measuring blocks and not the actual graph. So instead of where it should of been, it wasnt even on the graph!.

Click to expand...

hehe

Yes nice looking graft, also I would always check the timing when the car is warmed up to operating temps. Not everyone does it that way but should.