82 rabbit diesel pickup

[Mdill74]

I bought this pickup and it ran amazing for a month. I came home and parked it then it wouldn't start in the morning. I replaced glow plugs, fuel filter, battery and air filter.
It really wants to start. It has good compression power all checks good. Fuses are good. I'm at a loss. Any advice?

 

[oilhammer]

Any signs of fuel leaks around the pump?

If you crack one of the delivery pipes loose and crank, does it spit fuel out?

Is power getting to the glow plug bridge?

 

[Vince Waldon]

Given that it was running great and then quit suddenly I'd probably suspect things that can quit suddenly.... like the glow plug fuse or relay... as Oilhammer suggests.

Being an IDI engine it's completely dependent on working glowplugs to start... and those wide fuses can get micro-fractures that are hard to spot by eye. Testlight or meter on the glowplug buss bar is a great next step.

 

[JELLOWSUBMARINE]

Speaking from experiance with my 83. I can (and have) let it go unstarted for up to 12 months (garaged). As long as its run thru 2 glow plug warm ups (out of over precaution), and the advance pulled, it'll fire first time every time as if its a gasser.

I HAVE had an issue with the low pressure return fuel lines leaking air. It would happen when the nose was parked downhill in the driveway. Line leaks are vital to watch for. Even high pressure hard line leaks are invisible usually and create al kinds of issues

See if your fuel filter has an air bubble and top it off. Check all hoses. Crack a line @ the injector and carefully watch for air. Most of the time you can burp out the air enough to fire, if g.p's, compression and start up proceedure is good it should fire.

 

[Mdill74]

Tried everything you guys suggested. Even jumped from battery to bus bar to make sure they were getting hot. Still no start

 

[JELLOWSUBMARINE]

Any air in the filter? Check @ injectors for air/fuel in lines?
What were all 4 compression numbers?
Battery voltage while cranking?
Power to glow plugs? How old are they?
Double time out the gp's right before starting?
Full advance?

 

[nokivasara]

Remove fuel hose from filter and blow air in it, the in tank screen may well be clogged. BTDT

 

[JELLOWSUBMARINE]

Remove fuel hose from filter and blow air in it, the in tank screen may well be clogged. BTDT

These dont have a clamp on inline filter unless its been added. Factory is a spin on (engine oil type).

OP did you run thru the 6 steps above on post #6?

 

[nokivasara]

Yes it is a spin on filter but there still is a fuel line between the tank and filter. I once got stranded with my old mk1 Golf 1.6d on a long road trip, for days I searched high and low why it wouldn't start, checked timing several times. Then my dad drove up to where I was and the first thing he did after I told what I'd done was to blow back that fuel line to the tank. At first it was completely clogged but soon we could hear bubbling in the tank and then the car started. It would clog up every now and then during the drive home, later it turned out that the fuel filler pipe was very rusty and I had a ton of rust in the tank.

 

[JELLOWSUBMARINE]

Gotcha, yeah there is a plastic screen in the pickup. Were spoiled here on the west coast with no rust. I had my tank out a couple of years ago to flush very old fuel. Was surprised at zero rust but removed the screen anyway.

So op where ya at?

 

[nokivasara]

Gotcha, yeah there is a plastic screen in the pickup. Were spoiled here on the west coast with no rust. I had my tank out a couple of years ago to flush very old fuel. Was surprised at zero rust but removed the screen anyway.

So op where ya at?

And to think that it was back in 1998/1999, the car was only 15 years old at that time...