Jetta mk3 tdi wont start

Hey guys. I just bought a jetta mk3 tdi, and it just wont start!
previous owners had installed a new timing belt, glow plug harness, and fuel lines.

here are the symptoms:
Ive cracked the injectors and cranked it over, there is fuel squirting out of all four injectors. with the injectors re-tightened, A small amount of smoke is coming out of the exhaust pipe. When I crank the engine over, two lights appear on the dash: the battery light stays on solid, and the oil light blinks intermittently. There is oil in the crank.

what do you guys think is going on with this car?

Do you have Access to Vag-Com? You need to check for any fault codes. Other than that, I would read up on how to check the timing belt and make sure it is all correct, right down to the crank timing belt gear on the crank shaft installed properly. I've seen several ALH engines with the Crank gear coming loose causing timing to be off because of improper timing belt change being done .

pull the valve cover, and plug on the trans, the belt cover and the lower plastic housing. get everything to TDC and check to see whats off. i would bet you that the IP is not in the right spot. You need to have the IP locked out when its at TDC and you can adjust things as you need. if you have fuel and its not starting, assuming good compression, its timing.

Was it running before the timing belt was changed or was the TB change a shotgun to fix a no start?

Yep, timing issue, but hopefully like Whitedog mentioned, it's not masking a broken timing belt.

whitedog said:

Was it running before the timing belt was changed or was the TB change a shotgun to fix a no start?

Click to expand...

Reportedly, the car got a new timing belt and ran fine until the previous owner ran it out of diesel.
The fuel system if bled, but the car is showing no sign of starting, not even a cough.

luke.weiser said:

Reportedly, the car got a new timing belt and ran fine until the previous owner ran it out of diesel.
The fuel system if bled, but the car is showing no sign of starting, not even a cough.

Click to expand...

In this case I don't think you can take what you've been told at face value. When in doubt just go back and do the basic checks and tests to make sure the timing is set properly.

If it were a car I bought I would check to ensure that the TB is installed and set properly before I moved on.

Once I've verified that I would move on to checking other things like fuel supply line integrity and pump fuel solenoid working etc.

Steve

Verify the timing (redo the timing job), bleed the injectors and then then check the compression.

As long as the cam did not skip more than a few teeth the valves are probably fine, fingers crossed, Most likely the IP is off by some major amount, more than a few teeth. You can get a bolt that is the right diameter and lock out the IP. then inspect that the cam is at TDC and the flywheel as well. Make sure to turn the crank by hand with a socket AT THE CRANK not the cam, until you get it right than go a full 4 turns on the crank to make sure nothing hits. If timing is right on the belt and all your indicator markings, i would defiantly do a compression test. You will need an adapter and use the glow plug port to test. If your good on compression, check your cam and lifters for abnormal wear. Only thing stopping a TDI from running is air, fuel and compression. Check your turbo. timing belt for sure is an area of concern.

got it

Thanks for the advice. The timing was way off, IP was 180 degrees off, not much different for the cam.
Car started right up after I corrected this, runs and drives sweet.

I'm cornfused.

If both the cam and pump are 180* off then they are not off??? Turn the crank one revolution and hey-presto! They are on.

KLXD said:

I'm cornfused.

If both the cam and pump are 180* off then they are not off??? Turn the crank one revolution and hey-presto! They are on.

Click to expand...

So if off isn't off, does that mean on isn't on? Maybe that means red is blue. And what if a six were a nine? LOL

Seriously though, you are right. So I wonder what the real problem was. My guess is the IP timing was close but not close enough to start.

And that makes me wonder how far off does the IP need to be to cause a no start.

If the cam and crank turned at the same speed, and were both 180 off, turning them an additional 180 would make 'em both perfect.

However, they don't both turn at the same speed?

i would still do a compression test and a leak down test. they are easy to do and will let you know if there is a problem with the valves. Lets hope that the cam bing a bit off did not hurt it and that the seller did not snap the belt when it was running. i bet that this did not happen because 99% of the time it does, it bends most or all the valves. you can get everything you need at a harbor frieght aside from the adapter for the glow plugs. Here is the adapter you need. https://www.partsplaceinc.com/vw-tdi-compression-tester-adapter-18707.html

Vince Waldon said:

If the cam and crank turned at the same speed, and were both 180 off, turning them an additional 180 would make 'em both perfect.

However, they don't both turn at the same speed?

Click to expand...

But he said pump was off 180* and cam not much different.

A compression test might not show a problem from valve hits since the valve faces are parallel to the piston tops and when they hit the stems compress rather than bend.

The thing to look for is damaged followers. They will probably be bulged and cracked if the valves were hit hard.