2000 VW Golf TDI 1.896l fuel pump

I have a quick question. I just bought a'00 Golf TDI that does not run. It cranks normal but no combustion...never fires up. The question I have is, "Does this car have a fuel pump under the rear seat or is it just a fuel level sensor?" It has a 2 wire connection. When voltmeter leads were put on the two wires (on the connector) during cranking I recieved an alternating reading of 1.5 v and 0.8 volts. If this was a pump would it not require 12 v? I have checked anti-shutter valve and bridged the injection pump relay and it clicks on and off. No air bubbles in clear fuel line. Glow plug indicator lights and turns off after two seconds upon start; therefore I assume the 109 relay is intact. Would I not feel some vibration from that fuel sensor/sending unit/ ?pump upon starting? I hear and feel nothing from that unit. Maybe I placed these questions in the wrong place. If so I apologize. I am new here.

Second that... it's the first place I'd look - the injector line to injector nuts, 1/2 turn open and crank engine for 10 seconds, then look if stuff got wet.

Thanks for the info. I'll get on it tomorrow. The injection pump has some yellow junkyard paint on it which I noticed. The previous owner must have replaced it. Hopefully it's just a loss of vacuum cause of air in the line. Thanks again.

What were you told is the history of this car? I might want to step back and take a look at a few things before trying to fire it up (could encounter possible damage, if not already damaged).

I checked the fuel sender/sensor unit and I could pull fuel easily with one to two pumps with vacuum initiated from a mityvac hand pump. I just changed the fuel filter, primed it and fuel is pulling easily from the fuel hose that is connected to the VP37 direct injection pump (after the fuel filter). I cracked the connector fitting on the far right injector, cranked the car and no fuel seemed to spew out of the loose fitting. However, fuel did leak out of the return fitting; the one with the nut on the top right of the pump. Somehow, this seems illogical. If fuel is returning to the pump, does this not mean that fuel is going to the cylinders. If so, why is fuel not leaking out of the cracked fitting in the injector port to the right of the needle sensor?

I am obviously missing something. I was hoping that perhaps someone with a little more experience and knowhow would know what I am doing wrong. I received an engine fault code of 17654 indicating that there may be air in the system (inplausible signal needle sensor).

Is there a primitive way of checking the pump without removing it and puttig it on a bench tester? I tried priming the pump by placing the vacuum on the return hose of the pump, just before the filter and I could not get a smooth draw of fuel. The check valves would probably prevent me from doing it this way but I tried anyway. It didn't work. Does anyone know any shortcuts on testing the pump witout spending a fortune on test equipment? Is it likely that the needle sensor itself is causing this problem? Please help!

Dannyboy said:

Does the engine check light light up when you key on?

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Yes the check egine light comes on. I received a fault code of 17654 which could be caused by a half dozen things. Needle sensor inplausible signal

Rrusse11 said:

That "junkyard paint" is original factory. You'll see it's on 2 parts, shows where it was lined up the first time, a witness mark if you will. If it ain't there, or the brush stroke is misaligned, THEN someone's been in there.

That's my take on it anyway.

These cars and engines are not like anything you may be used to.
Read, research, and learn before you jump to conclusions. Quirky? yes. Get 'em right and they'll go 500k miles. Not to many vehicles
on the highway that can say that. German engineering can be obtuse
and overly complicated, but it does work well when set up correctly.

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Thanks for the insight. I naturally drew the wrong conclusion. I am learning something new every day on this car.

bbarbulo said:

Second that... it's the first place I'd look - the injector line to injector nuts, 1/2 turn open and crank engine for 10 seconds, then look if stuff got wet.

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I just tried it and fuel did not come out at the injector but was leaking at the return inlet on the top right of the pump.