IP Reseal job, wish me luck.

Hey everybody, been gone for a while but I find myself in need of wisdom. I think I'm on the right path but figure I got about 12 hours for someone to tell me different.

My 2000 TDI has been trucking along despite my poor treatment. Fixed a few things here and there, had the clutch replaced, but noticed my fuel mileage starting to slowly get worse and worse. Could be caused by a lot of things (havent cleaned my intake yet, injectors could use a rebuilt, had a broken rear spring I didnt know about that was eating rear tires likely because it was dragging them at an odd angle, etc. etc.).

But to skip to the end, what i thought was steam from a coolant leak turned out to be my IP pissing fuel on the engine. Took it to the dealership, got a $4500 total repair bill for all the work they felt needed doing. I debated my next course of action. I was never able to nail down exactly where the leak was but based on the cars history (IE running B20 for years then switching to ULSD) I'm guessing its a fair shot that the IP seals are leaking pretty bad. My neglect finally caught up with me on the highway heading home from work. She had been hard starting for a good long while, VERY extended cranking times. but then she lost power. Engine didnt die, but pressing the accellorator in 5th gear produced zero additional speed. I took an exit, nursed her off the ramp into a parking lot, spraying for mosquitos the whole way, super rough idle that felt like misfiring, and then shut her off, hopefully before something broke. and had her towed home.

fast forward to now, I just opened some packages in the mail, consisting of my shiny new VAGCOM dongle from ross tech, and parts from diesel geek consisting of the proper socket, pump head o rings, and upper and lower quantity adjuster seals.

got the battery tender charging her up for work tomorrow, and am currently watching the 7 video series on the job to make sure I have at least a vague idea what i'm getting into (have I mentioned how freaking fantastic everyone here is for the absurd amount of info and assistance they offer? best forum I've ever been on)

So that's the story, getting to the job in the AM, unless someone tells me I've missed something huge that has eluded me.

All the best to all of ya that I havent talked to in ages, hope the new year is treating you right.

Good luck, take your time and keep us posted.

Cannot, in any way, say thank you enough for the guys who put these video's together.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUNS-IqlfxwCxLPoYGeI_-E_O_dsBkDp1&app=desktop

Seriously, had no idea how badly I could have boned myself doing the pump head o-ring and making the mistake of pulling it out all the way.

I'm guessing there are two in the pack from dieselgeek in case I screw one up on the install, because there was only one to replace on the job. But otherwise, gonna make sure I've got all my tools together, and get a good nights sleep to avoid thinking problems.

For the love mark the right part of the top of the IP. I scrawled the wrong part and it took HOURS of moving the IP top back and forth to get it close enough to even start. Ugh.

Ok, so SNAFU.

its amazing how few of these parts and tools are available in my immediate area. I had 90% of the necessary tools this morning, ran out to pick up a few things (shop towels, brake clean, etc) got home, and realized the car was on the ground, where the two truck dropped it, and I cant get to the crank bolt. It doesn't run so I cant get it up on the ramps I usually use to do oil changes and get under her.

Dont have the camshaft sprocket holding tool that was used in the videos. couldnt find one to rent. couldnt find one to buy. tried to make my own out of bar stock, nuts, bolts, and a harmonic damper puller. and failed miserably.

So, here I sit, IP torn down and apart, pump head ready to be removed, but the cam plate is not in its compressed position, and I cant rotate the engine..... options?

1. Likely the most reasonable, however there is pressure to handle this quick. button the IP back up. order the proper part, wait till it gets here, start over.

2. use the starter motor to bump the engine until the IP is in the right spot.

3. Say damn the cam plate position, full speed ahead, and very slowly, very carefully, back the pump head out to get at the O-ring, and hope the shim doesnt fall into the pump body.

I know its safest to do the pump head o-ring when the cam plate is in its compressed position, but is it NECESSARY to do so. is that just an extra safety margin kinda step?

appreciate all thoughts, no matter the degree of gibbs smacking involved.

Option Number 3 is a horrible option that will make you wish you were never born, as the odds of the shim falling down are very very high.

Option Number 2 should work fine for you... little tiny bumps with a helper watching.

Possible Option 2A (if you have a manual transmission): remove the TDC inspection cover at the top of the transmission and you should be able to use a large screwdriver to pry against flywheel teeth and slowly rotate the engine.

Vince, didnt even think about the inspection cover.... *facepalm* Ill go try that first. Thank you so much

Well, shes back together, I think all went well, but as I was removing one of the two torx screws to slip the O-ring in place, one of the springs made a sound like metal relieving stress.

scared, the, everloving, piss, out of me.

but no resistance going back together, and all seemed to button up quite nicely.

cranked and bled the lines, tried to start her.....

extremely slow crank due to a dead battery.....

sonofa....

will report on status once the battery tender charges her back up.

Going thru the same thing with the injection pump on the 98 TDI at the moment. Full size battery charger makes life easy when you're working on a fuel or electrical issue that prevents starting the car, if you can borrow one, or check out Wally world, or a tool focused store, about $27 these days gets you a charger that does 2-8, 20, and 50 amps!

Chris - Battery was so far gone, I charged it overnight, then switched the charger to the 50 amp jump start mode, and got a few three rotation cranks as the battery immediately died.

replacement battery wasnt actually as painful as I was expecting. so ill be putting that in come the morning and seeing where i land.

"but then she lost power. Engine didnt die, but pressing the accellorator in 5th gear produced zero additional speed. I took an exit, nursed her off the ramp into a parking lot, spraying for mosquitos the whole way, super rough idle that felt like misfiring, and then shut her off, hopefully before something broke. and had her towed home."
Based on your first post I'm wondering if you may have more going on here than just a leaking IP.
Almost sounds like you may have blown a turbo......or a maybe a boost leak?

Status update.

SHE"S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!

well, at least, she will start and idle, but she's not happy about it. She idles around 900 rpm, shaking like a paint mixer, and fuel quantity on vag com is bouncing between 0.00 and 5.00 no way to lock it down. White/gray smoke coming out of the tailpipe at a medium thickness. not misty, but not a blanket either. Wondering if my 210,000 mile injectors are the issue?

I tried bleeding the lines while she was running, to see if maybe air in the line was preventing an injector from firing, and it may have helped a little, but it did not fix the issue. and trying to bleed lines on an engine shaking front to back an inch at a time at 900 rpm is an interesting adventure.

Does this sound like my quantity is just way out of spec? or like something else major is wrong? Like I said, she fires quick on 1-2 cranks, and she will hold an idle. I have not tried to push the accelerator while she's idling to see what happens.... i suppose I could go try that and report back. see if there is any response, or maybe I didnt put everything back together right.

Sounds like the Quantity Adjuster is messed up. Any codes? What does the injector balance look like? That should say whether you have an injector (or two) that is wonky.

Cracking each injector to see if you can catch one that has little effect and that'll be a culprit (if not #3 then swap with another to see if it follows the injector).

What's the IQ reading?

I suspect the alignment marks are slightly off.

If they are then a slight hammer mod is needed or recede with VCDS.
I personally like to do the hammer mod with VCDS and car running.
If you do that option only crack the bolts no more than a half turn loose.

steve, he'd mentioned that it's bouncing around between 0.0 and 5.0.

Note: Need to be up to operating temp in order to get accurate IQ readings.

Ahh missed that. I still say his alignment marks are off.
He's over fueling and needs to tap the cover . I can't remember which way he's gotta go.

Didnt check for codes yet, Have the QA cover a little bit towards the driver side, that's where it wanted to be to fire, I will see if I can adjust it a little towards the passenger side and see if it smooths out to a constant QA value.

Really really appreciate the help guys. I could really use a victory here.

We are all in the same boat.
Best place to get the right help I'm my opinion!

I have four that like to torture me : )

Sometimes your the bug....... Sometimes your the windshield.

ok, looking at error codes, it would seem that while this was where she wanted to start, Steve may be spot on that im running wayyy to rich. Error codes per vagcom are as follows.

P1563 - QA (N146) - lower limit reached
P1354 - modulating piston movement sensor (G149) electrical malfunction
P1163 - fuel temp sensor (G81) open or short to plus
P0390 - glow plug heater (Q6) circuit malfunction

gonna clear codes, fire her up, and start nudging the QA cover towards the timing belt. and see what happens.

yeah, sooooooo engine stopped cranking.

I can hear the solenoid click, but no engine rotation. either the battery died again, the starter crapped out. or something inside the engine is not as it should be.....

Ok......
So how old is the battery?

Have you tried charging battery?

Are the connections good on battery?

Are the connections on starter good?

Sorry, should have clarified.

from sitting 6 months, the last battery bit the bullet, this is a brand new battery that I just put in two days ago. I have had a tender on it, and up the charge to "starting" amperage when I'm working on the car to keep from draining the battery down.

Connections to the battery are corrosion free and in good shape.

Starter is an unknown quantity. its original to the car I believe. 250k and 16 years on it by now I think....

Argh! I know this feeling! Was in a hurry to get the wagon out to put some miles on it (suspension work- needed to take it in for an alignment) and after some headlight work (replacing w/new & aiming) I went to start and got Wrr....click. This car has always stated instantly. After baling on a bad battery charger (another grr!) I jumped it and was on the road.

I'd check grounds as well as take a look at the wire from the solenoid (the one that has a tendency to cook/decay).