issues after qa seal replacement.

After replacing the qa seal and finally getting it. i have a couple issues. First is taking quite a few cranks to get it turned over and once running idles fine but when you rev the engine up it revs up good and strong but as soon as you let off it stalls out. Now i was in the process of doing the hammer mod and had the numbers down to 5.7 before i stalled the car out from revving up and then my starter burned up. (been a hell of a week) I am not using vcds since i do not have access to it. I am using snap on modus since a friend has it. Maybe i am not far enough over yet or modus read out is incorrect or i have bigger issues. Trying to do a bit of problem solving while waiting on a starter. I thought i read on here about someone with a similar issue when researching the repair but i have not been able to find it yet. Sort of hoping someone tells me i still need to move it a little further and it should clean it up.

Thanks in Advance

well as far as i know, the QA on most TDI's wont cause it to stall, just run poorly or just right or better. I would suggest you go over the rebuild process again to check for some errors in installation. I saw a thread where the head cover was dropped on the IP and caused the pin cam to bend a bit. I have to say that the least knowledge i have on TDI's in on the idi unfortunately but within my experience on most TDI's with IP's that no matter the range, the engine runs and have never had one stall out. Seems like th 5.7 is a bit middle of the road. Have you check your timing marks? It feels to me that your timing might be off enough that your QA is not keeping up during retard timing adjustments. Your not too far from me, like 45 minutes or so. I could swing by and lend a hand if you want on a weekend for a few beers etc... Ill make sure to bring some of my custom tools for IP work and timing etc and my VAG-COM cable! Hope you have a laptop, mine died! but i do have the coveted cable and VCDS is free, well the light vs is, and that all you need really.

Thanks for the offer. I may take you up on that. Although i will have to wait until i get starter fixed The injection pump was never off during the reseal and ran fine at what ever it was currently timed to but on the flip side is i did buy the car about 2 years ago and the from the story i got the previous to the previous owner did do injectors, chip, and upgraded intake. Although i think there was more done to it. short version is it could be out of time and i think i was not the first person to be in this pump. Just a theory though. Good info about the way it runs for the qa. I thought the same but limited knowledge on tdi pumps (more proficient with the old 1.6 and their VE) and wanted to confirm. The car did sit for a month till i purchased a new clutch with a 1/4 tank of diesel (wifes fault lol) so was even pondering on bad diesel or clogged filter. I do have after the repair have check engine for fuel temp and possibly more. I can update that when i get home on what codes were activated. I have done tons of timing work and injection pump work on the old school rabbits with little to no issues but this has me stumped good. If when i get the starter i still am having issues will pm you if your still willing to lend a hand and vcds (laptop is no problem)

Sounds good. I would test the filter setup by doing this. Take the fuel line from the IP and put it into a glass jar with diesel in it. try again. if it stalls then its nothing to do with the filter or lines.

The QA being too far off will absolutely cause the running you describe.

Abacus said:

The QA being too far off will absolutely cause the running you describe.

Click to expand...

Okay. If you can remember is it usually when numbers for mg/s are higher that causes it or lower?

Also, for those maybe reading it may be a week or so until i get back to this issue and i love info so keep it coming until then. Pulled my starter last night to find my SBC flywheel teeth chewed up. Not happy. Although starter is fine other than light issues to the teeth (it will be replaced for those wondering anyways). Sort of pissed since the starter was bolted tight and i just installed the entire clutch kit. Waiting on a response from south bend on whether they will replace the flywheel or not. Not my month for cars lol.

i would check your clutch out and inspect for parts that may have come off or something that got into the gears. Its not common for a starter teeth to be good when the flywheel is jacked up. in most cases, the flywheel is a normal mild to hard steel with or without some hardening done to it but the starter gear is always softer, or so i have always been told. Like the gear for your distributor in most v8's the cam and the starter gear must be matched so that one does not eat the other.

Yes you are correct that its uncommon. Most of the time i have torn up starters and flywheels are okay but this time its the reverse. Still have yet to pull the tranny to see what gives. Everything was torqued to VW and Southbend spec with new hardware. Tranny installed with due care to not hit the assembly(pay this much last thing i want is an issue or removal lol) From what i can see through the starter hole looks like a tooth sheared off initially and got cranked through the rest of the teeth but will know more once tranny comes out a second time.

Well back at it. Once I installed the new flywheel and got everything button up again i started back in on the issues with the QA. For my birthday my wife bought me vcds. So here is where i stand. The car will Idle slightly rough at 10-12. When I try to adjust down it gets worse. Any time i go below 9 it starts to miss heavly. So currently to move the car around i have it set at 10 but still has the issue when revved up it stalls out as soon as you let off it. The car was chipped stage 2 and runs larger injectors by a prior owner and IDK if that is why i am having issues dialing it in or not. I do have the stock chip for the car. I also have faults for the qa being out of adjustment, i believe another for qa being to low, and fuel temperature sensor open circuit or to positive. Would fuel temp sensor cause this issue? I'm stumped a bit and worse comes to worse i will pull it to have it rebuilt but I sort of want to figure this out before that.

No, fuel temp would not cause the symptoms you describe.

I wonder if your timing is off by a notch, which is compensated by adjusting the IP.

Who did the chips? I have 2 sets of them in my possession, from a well known manufacturer, that cause some pretty crappy running. I installed them in my own car just to check them out, and yep, they're trash. I won't mention whose chips they are because I don't want to start a fight on here.

You should be able to run the IQ at 3-6 without an issue.

I was trying to find the ad on another forum that i bought the car from and seems like they are missing all posts between 14 - 17. I bought the car in 16. I believe the company is no longer around and i can not remember the name but would know it if i see it. I know its not malone/kerma/rocketchip. I was not the one who put it in and probably should have written it down. It ran great up until i messed with this but the pump from what i can note with out using VCDS by looking at the bolts on the pump is that the pump is turned from the looks about advanced as it can go from a rotating stand point. I may try to rotate the pump a bit this weekend like i do for my old 1.6's and see if it cleans it up a bit. I just wish vcds would check timing without fuel temp sensor working current readings from sensor are like -5C.

I had a similar issue before. It's almost like there are a few "zones" where the QA can be set in. In between these zones the car idles rough, surges or doesn't run at all. Try going down to where the 3-6 range is and see if you can adjust it properly from there.

That describes exactly what i am getting. I did scratch mark the pump and i am still not close to being lined up so this may very well be the issue. The head is closer to the timing belt side of the mark. When I get down to around 6 it starts to surge up and down from 0.3/1 to 6.?. So I may be jumping the gun and not tapping it enough towards the Transmission. Is there any fear of tapping the head to far towards the transmission and the engine running away?

Yes there is, but as long as you turn the key off it will shut off since it's being fueled by diesel and not engine oil. Usually it won't go past redline anyways.

Correct. Unfortunately tapped over and it did not smooth out and engine started to run away. I think i am going to have to get a reman or this one rebuilt. I can not remember if you can recommend someone on the forums or not but if someone knows either a good shop near south central pa that does pumps or a reputable website for a reman pump i would appreciate it.

I may have one. PM me.

If it was running fine before, you should be able to get it running right again. It will just take some fiddling. I leave the QA bolts loose and adjust the QA with the car running. Make sure they are snug enough to not move on their own though.