Swapped 1z AFN Injector Pump.. now it wont start

avcentraltias

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Location
Midlands UK
TDI
1z Powered T4 Van
Hey everybody, Im just about to get my 1z powered T4 van back on the road but after fitting an AFN cylinder head to the 1z block im experiencing a few problems.

Today, I got the AFN head fitted to the 1z block with the AFN injectors. I got the timing set up nicely and the engine fired very quickly after bleeding the fuel.... but I was getting shed loads of white smoke from the exhaust, which was very strongly diesel smelling. Just for clarity, it wasnt steam as I havent got the coolant system back together yet.

So, i havent got the correct tools for advancing and the retarding the IP so i just fiddled with the pump position to see if i could make the white smoke go away. No matter what I did it didnt get any better..... but then I remembered I had a few issues running on Vegoil last year which may have damaged this IP so I decided to swap the 1z pump for the pump that I got off the AFN engine I took the head off.

Right now, ive got the 1z block, ecu and turbo fitted with the AFN head, injectors and injector pump.... but now I cant get any fuel to come from the tank to the injector pump. There is definitely fuel in the tank, as I just put an extra 20 litres in it, and I can hear the solenoid "click" when I turn the key. Is there a lift pump on it somewhere that I havent seen? The van used to be a 1.9 NA (1x?) which i didnt think had lift pumps but please correct me.

Is there something in the electronics thats preventing it from pumping? All the connections for the AFN pump fitted fine. The 1z ECU has the immobiliser disabled... what else is there?

Please help... id love to get this thing running again:(
 
Last edited:

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
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Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
If the pump's been sitting it may have trouble priming. Have you tried using a vacuum to prime it?
 

avcentraltias

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Mar 14, 2020
Location
Midlands UK
TDI
1z Powered T4 Van
The vans been standing for 6 months with very little fuel in it. Which pump do think is struggling to prime? The IP or the lift pump?

How do I use a vacuum pump to prime it? Ive got a little 12v fuel pump here which i was going to try tomorrow morning....
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Either used compressed air to pressurize the return line this pushing fuel from the tank, or a simple hand held pump. Like 10 bucks at harbor frieght
I prefer the latter of the 2.
The injectors you installed. We have they been sitting with no fuel in them for any length of time? You need to keep the tips submerged if you keep them out of the engine for any length of time past a day
Seeing as you have timing marks correct (right?) And it did start but you have bad unburnt diesel white smoke, I would suspect the I hector's you installed. I would have them pop tested.
 

avcentraltias

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Mar 14, 2020
Location
Midlands UK
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1z Powered T4 Van
very interesting reading...... thankyou, I didnt know any of that.....

ive just managed to get the IP primed with the 12v aux pump I have here. now the clear return line has fluid in it and there appears to be fuel spraying through the injector union im bleeding from, although there is still a small pocket of air at the top of the clear pipe where it comes out of the IP.

The injectors have been here, dry for the last three months and god know how long they were standing in the scrap yard. I swear its almost running, though. Will do as Mongler says and get the injectors check over tomorrow.... cheers guys.....
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
The vacuum would have been applied to the pump return line but you seem to have fuel to the pump now. Some air in the return line wouldn't be a problem but maybe you still have air in the pump.

White smoke can indicate late timing but in your first post you said you tried advancing. Maybe not enough? To late now of course.

Air in the injector pipes can cause late timing since it compresses and the injector opens late or not at all. Maybe bleed the other injectors too.

I haven't had problems with dry injectors. After all, they sit dry in an engine for who knows how long after a hot shut down with no problems.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
If timing marks are correct, no matter how far off the graph timing is, it will not smoke like that. Not on a 1z.
Those nozzles you put in are toast. Possible that you can revive them. If they have been sitting in a engine that was not opened it's fine. If they have been sitting dry on a shelf? Yea no good. They are very touchy. I would try running pure liquid molly diesel purge though it. See if you can clear them up. If it's still bad, well you probably need to have them rebuilt or something. Dont think for a second you can just take them apart willy nilly. You have to be extremely clean and exact how you do it if you do. Only an ultrasonic cleaner and quality solvents will clean those parts too. No scrubby scrubby ok!
 

avcentraltias

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Mar 14, 2020
Location
Midlands UK
TDI
1z Powered T4 Van
OK, apparently the filter was stopping it from bleeding. I just disconnected the return line on the union, cranked it over a few times and it fired up!

Now its starts really easily from cold, the white smoke is gone.... but I do get a load of blue smoke when I rev it up....

Are you still thinking the injectors need looking at? Blue smoke is burning oil, isnt it?
 
Last edited:

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Oh good. I would still run a full flush on the injectors with liquid molly diesel purge, they are probably fine if they started like that. Maybe a little gummy from sitting though.
Blue smoke is oil. Check to see how much of any oil is sitting in the bottom on the intercooler. Does it clear up when warmed up?
 

avcentraltias

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Location
Midlands UK
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1z Powered T4 Van
Scratch that... its not blue smoke, its still white smoke, and it still stinks of diesel...
Just whipped the injectors out and got them to a diesel man. He says one is OK but the other three are spraying a thick jet from two or three holes in the nozzle and a thin jet from the remaining holes. Hes rebuilding them now and hopefully ill have them back on Saturday morning.
Out of interest, as these AFN injectors that came of a b5 Audi A4, have bigger nozzles than the injectors from my 1z does the 1z ECU have to be altered to compensate for the bigger nozzles, or is it clever enough to sort itself out?
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
You dont have to get a tune or anything for such a small bump. Yea its ideal and you will get better results but it's not nessasary. If you up the boost, yes, you will need to but as is, should be fine. If you want to spend the money on it, you will be happy with the results but as is it will run fine with no issues.
Be warned that those nozzles are a 2 stage pop test and tune. Just simply pop testing them normally wont yield best results but clearly, just rebuilding them properly is going to iron out any running issues. Not everyone is set up to calibrate these nozzles. Worth asking. It should be fine though. As long as things are just a matter of cleaning and rebuilding, should be fine. It's a grey area topic on this here. Some have had perfectly operating nozzles with a diy approach and others not so much.

I'm getting ahead of myself here. Just run them as is once rebuilt and see how it works. Probably will be just fine.
 

avcentraltias

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Mar 14, 2020
Location
Midlands UK
TDI
1z Powered T4 Van
Well lets see what happens on Saturday then....

I still have an funny feeling KLXD is right about the late timing but ill cross that bridge on Saturday. Will be interesting to run it with rebuilt injectors, and the intercooler and radiator plumbed in..... currently they aren't, so its only getting run for a a minute or so at the moment before I turn it off.....

Saturday, we shall all know more. Thanks for all your help.
 

avcentraltias

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Mar 14, 2020
Location
Midlands UK
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1z Powered T4 Van
Nope, just ordinary pump diesel.... the blue smoke I saw might be due to the WD40 I sprayed into the IP to lube it while it was bleeding from bone dry....

I’m going to ask my mate to come and time it with the proper kit once these injectors are back... then there should be no excuses for smokiness...
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
once your injectors are spraying properly, you won't have any blue smoke issues. you can easily hammer mod your way to close enough to drive it. also you cant get the timing set properly as everything within VCDS requires it to be running and to operating temperature first. you have some time.
 

avcentraltias

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Mar 14, 2020
Location
Midlands UK
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1z Powered T4 Van
sorted now! ��

Blue smoke gone, white smoke gone, no smoke to be concerned about at all now.
The old girl seems to be running great with new nozzles....

Glad I asked here, thanks ��
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
told yea!
lesson learned here, when storing your injectors, put then into a glas jar with diesel submerging the entire nozzle.
if they are stored on an engine that has fuel in the IP and ran when last shut down, they are usually fine with a once over with a cleaner in the fuel system.
 
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