ALH fuel pump issue

Bought a 2003 New Beetle for a crazy low price. Car was running although a cylinder down. Figured out PO had timing belt change and mechanic did the "paint" method for TDC location. Fast forward, replaced head, lifters and cam, while working on it I inadvertently loosened the fuel pump 22mm nut. Now, car won't start. Pretty sure index on pump is out. I looked all over for info on checking to no avail. Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks,
Lester

Are you getting fuel at the injectors? Even if it's out of time it should still pump.

Just loosening the nut shouldn't have caused the hub to move since it's locked on a taper but it might have.

If it did it should be still loose. Here's the instructions but the pics are dead:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=408610

Just loosening the 22mm nut will not cause the pulley to move. It is on there very, very tight.

Regarding Photobucket dead pictures, most browsers have a plugin, add-on etc that will bypass the picture block so you can still see all the old pictures.

Why did you replace the head and all that?

Did you loosen the bolt and then try to start the engine before you torqued it back down?

Thanks for replays, I've been super busy with work and just now getting back on the car. Just to make sure I don't have another problem with the head replacement I did a compression test and all is good. The one weird thing is that while performing the test I had fuel pulsing out of the return line while cranking.

I'm getting fuel to the injectors, I didn't start car with 22mm nut loose, replaced head due to cleaned out lifter, cam and head. Head to valve contact due to improper cam timing when timing belt was replaced.

I'll see if I can view pics on the link and try to get the thing dialed in.

Thanks!
Lester

Was fuel pulsing out of the return line nipple of one of the injectors or the small nipple on the pump?
Any fuel wetness at the base of the injectors?

Return nipple on the pump. I pulled the line since I didn't want fuel getting in my compression gage.

One shouldn't be concerned with fuel in the gauge. One should worry about the cylinder firing while measuring compression. Not to mention fuel blowing out of the other three cylinders while testing.

Pulling the fuel solenoid wire will prevent this. Pulling the fuel return line won't.

It would be normal to see fuel fuel flow from the pump return line while cranking.

To check the hub timing, use a dial incicator in the back of the pump to measure plunger lift. I'm pretty sure that if it's around 0.90mm lift it will be within range to start. You are measuring from the lowest point on the plunger to when the pump lock is inserted. You can do this on the car. You do not remove the hub.

This page gives you some very general info on how to time the TDI pump. Ignore all the engine related stuff and just focus on the pump timing part. The thread pitch for the dial indicator is different on a TDI compared to the old IDIs.
http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=28

burn_your_money said:

To check the hub timing, use a dial incicator in the back of the pump to measure plunger lift. I'm pretty sure that if it's around 0.90mm lift it will be within range to start.

Click to expand...

This brings back memories.
I did that a few times on 1.5 & 1.6 diesels I had.

I would think (ut oh) the 1.9 pump timing could be fine adjusted easier with the gauge and moving the pumps 3 bolt flange as needed.

Last check would still be with VCDS.

On that pump, you have the shaft, the hub, and the pulley.

This is the hub on the shaft without the pulley:



The nut on this one is loose, but as above, the hub is very tight on the shaft via a taper - you have to hit it pretty hard in order to get it off the shaft.

Did your hub ever come loose from the shaft?????????

If yes, you will need to re-sync the hub either via the dial indicator method above...

... or (I have had luck with) inspecting the inside of the hub, and locating the "shadow" of the mark on the inside taper surface of the hub which matches the unused keyway on the shaft.

If you line these back up and tighten the nut, you will get close enough (assuming you time the belt on the Cam/Crank/Pump correctly) for the engine to start, and then can adjust timing properly via VCDS.


If the hub never came loose from the shaft, then you only need to time the timing components correctly. perhaps you timed the pump with the "sucker hole"?

Windex said:

On that pump, you have the shaft, the hub, and the pulley.

Did your hub ever come loose from the shaft?????????

If the hub never came loose from the shaft, then you only need to time the timing components correctly. perhaps you timed the pump with the "sucker hole"?

Click to expand...

I had (still do somewhere) the cam & pump locks.

I never messed with the center nut on the pump.
On the old ones you twisted the entire pump to adjust the timing and watched the dial indicator.
There was no CVDS back then, life was good.

KLXD said:

One shouldn't be concerned with fuel in the gauge. One should worry about the cylinder firing while measuring compression. Not to mention fuel blowing out of the other three cylinders while testing.
Pulling the fuel solenoid wire will prevent this. Pulling the fuel return line won't.
It would be normal to see fuel fuel flow from the pump return line while cranking.

Click to expand...

I had the fuel selinoid wire pulled during the compression test. This is an observational difference from when I did the compression test before pulling head to replace. There was no fuel pulsing out the return line then. I've been busy with work and not been able to get back on it in a week. Hopefully I'll get some time after this weekend. Thanks for all the info, I'll get this going one of these days!
Lester