rough idle

i have an 03 jetta tdi with the alh motor. Last week i started to get limp mode so started to check vac lines and the actuator ended up being bad. So i ordered one just with one issue its the only car i have so i kept driving the car while waiting. so yeasterday i changed the actuator and turned it on started right up np. I took it for a little drive it was driving fine till i started to get a rpm surge like it accerate on its own. Then got a large puff of smoke and it stopped surging and drove fine the rest of the way home. now i turned it on today and it was idling really rough and dont know why. anyone have any ideas.

Do you know if you have the actuator rod adjusted correctly?
That is pretty much a textbook description of a mild runaway.
Oil had accumulated in the intake from lack of normal boost and then became
fuel after the turbo was repaired and normal power was restored.
You may now have a bent rod or two from the oil entering the combustion chamber.

hmm
this does not sound good now
in a bit i am going to disconnect the vac to the turbo see if it continues to do the same thing.

well after my small run away i took off the timing belt cover and the tdc cover on the trans and the valve cover and found out that the run away cause my timing belt to jump 2 notches.
so i set everything back to tdc. but i am not getting any start . its cranking over smooth and there is diesel in the line cause i bled the injector lines. i am also getting white smoke which means that there is un burnt diesel coming out the exhaust. so i have no clue what to look at now. Any ideas would be great.

TwistedSmoke said:

well after my small run away i took off the timing belt cover and the tdc cover on the trans and the valve cover and found out that the run away cause my timing belt to jump 2 notches.
so i set everything back to tdc. but i am not getting any start . its cranking over smooth and there is diesel in the line cause i bled the injector lines. i am also getting white smoke which means that there is un burnt diesel coming out the exhaust. so i have no clue what to look at now. Any ideas would be great.

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what do you mean cranking over smooth, like has no compression maybe?

cranking smooth as in it sounds normal.

another question if i happen to have rotated the injections pumps pulley to line up the TDC would have thrown off the pump timing?

If you moved it independent of the tensioned belt yes, that would change the engine time. Often after the timing is fine tuned with VCDS type device, the IP pin hole is slightly off. Timing is TDC, cam slot aligned (we use a lock) and pin hole aligned, then we fine tune it a small amount with the ip pulley, loosening the 3 bolts.

So its possible that my injection is out of time now and could be why it wont start now? So i need to borrow my buddies VAG com to check the timing correct?

video of what car sounds like cranking https://youtu.be/w-dlo58lX5U

Before adjusting with VCDS, be sure the crank, cam and IP are all aligned with their proper index. Then it should start and you can "dial it in" w/VCDS (or equal).
See timing belt replace instructions for indexing (timing) as needed.

copy that

ok well finally had a chance to recheck the timing and it perfect. so my next question i noticed a air bubble in the feed line for the injection pump so i tried to bleed lines out and it clears up then like about a min later its back could air in the lines stop the car from starting ?

TwistedSmoke said:

ok well finally had a chance to recheck the timing and it perfect. so my next question i noticed a air bubble in the feed line for the injection pump so i tried to bleed lines out and it clears up then like about a min later its back could air in the lines stop the car from starting ?

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It's normal if it's 1/2 inch long or so with the engine off.
Mine stayed the same for about 3 weeks of sitting.

The bubble i have is about 2 inchs long i pull it out and it comes back in accouple mins

Have you tried applying vacuum to the return fitting on the pump until there is no air coming out and then bleeding the injectors? Big air bubbles that keep coming back are generally an air leak on the supply side, but it could be the o-rings in the filter T are not air tight and leaking air there.

Ok will try that tomorrow after work depending what time i get home

ok i put in a new set of lines from the fuel filter to the injection pump. Now question is how long do i have to bleed the steel lines to the injectors?

It should only take a couple of seconds of cranking to bleed them. 10-20 seconds max if you have fuel showing in the IP feed line.