Slowmotion
New member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2017
- Location
- MI
- TDI
- 2005 MK4 TDI Wagon, 2004 MK4 GLI (soon to be TDI), MK4 Jetta Wagon 1.8t, B5 A4 4.2 Avant (swap in progress)
Hey All,
Picked up an 03 TDI wagon 2 years ago as a daily and it worked fine for about a year. Then mechanical issues came along, oil leaks, coolant leaks, boost leaks, etc., and the car sat for about a year as I just didn't have time to fix everything in a timely fashion.
Last year, I finally had time to fix all the issues it had and now I'm having a fueling issue that is making me want to sell the car so I can keep my sanity. Now, before I continue, let me list out what was done to the TDI, engine wise:
-Rocket chips stage 4
-Colt camshaft stage 2
-southbend stage 3 clutch and flywheel
-vnt 17 turbo
-pp520 nozzle injectors
-Id parts downpipe, exhaust
-pp150 euro intake manifold with EGR delete
-11mm pump
When I first started it, it worked fine but, would die at about 3/4 of a tank. When it reached 3/4 of a tank, air bubbles would flood the IP and kill the motor. I tried a new fuel filter and T-valve and that didn't change anything, if anything, it made it slightly worse. I then thought to purge the fuel in the tank and replace it with new diesel. At this point, it started going downhill... Now it wouldn't want to stay running for more than 5 minutes. It would start up afterwards, but would die 3-4 mintues later. It would do this until it wouldn't start at all and the fuel line was one big air bubble. Purging the lines at the injectors would only reset the time running back to ~5 minutes. Next, I tried replacing the intank PD pump, that helped a little but, it didn't change the amount of air in the lines. I replaced the T-valve again just in case the first one was bad and still no change.
just as a note, almost everytime the lines had filled with air, I was only able to start it with starter fuild.
At this point, beyond changing the lines, the only other culprit was the IP. There has never been any fuel leaking from it, either on the timing side or underneath. So, I decided I'd find a used 11mm pump that came from a running car and tired that. Everything timing wise lines up correctly, cam lock tool fit and the fuel pump pin went in (though, I couldn't see or find any tdc marks on the southbend flywheel). The results? It started on the first try and ran beautifully....for about 2 minutes. Then it was worse than before. When I can get it started, it'll only run for about 30 seconds at a really rough idle, like it has a big cam in it, and then stall. I checked the IQ and it isn't perfect but, it is within the acceptable injection range. Also, when it is running, there is quite a bit of air bubbles in the line but, as it's getting closer to stalling, those bubbles turn into super aerated fuel, it looks white there are so many bubbles.
At this point, I'm unsure what is going on that is causing the air bubbles to form. I'm tired of working on it and having nothing actually work and I'm hesitant to spend the time to rebuild either my old or new fuel pump and find that still isnt the issue. So, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. I loved how the car drove before I let it sit but, now its becoming a money pit worse than my B5 S4...
TIA
Picked up an 03 TDI wagon 2 years ago as a daily and it worked fine for about a year. Then mechanical issues came along, oil leaks, coolant leaks, boost leaks, etc., and the car sat for about a year as I just didn't have time to fix everything in a timely fashion.
Last year, I finally had time to fix all the issues it had and now I'm having a fueling issue that is making me want to sell the car so I can keep my sanity. Now, before I continue, let me list out what was done to the TDI, engine wise:
-Rocket chips stage 4
-Colt camshaft stage 2
-southbend stage 3 clutch and flywheel
-vnt 17 turbo
-pp520 nozzle injectors
-Id parts downpipe, exhaust
-pp150 euro intake manifold with EGR delete
-11mm pump
When I first started it, it worked fine but, would die at about 3/4 of a tank. When it reached 3/4 of a tank, air bubbles would flood the IP and kill the motor. I tried a new fuel filter and T-valve and that didn't change anything, if anything, it made it slightly worse. I then thought to purge the fuel in the tank and replace it with new diesel. At this point, it started going downhill... Now it wouldn't want to stay running for more than 5 minutes. It would start up afterwards, but would die 3-4 mintues later. It would do this until it wouldn't start at all and the fuel line was one big air bubble. Purging the lines at the injectors would only reset the time running back to ~5 minutes. Next, I tried replacing the intank PD pump, that helped a little but, it didn't change the amount of air in the lines. I replaced the T-valve again just in case the first one was bad and still no change.
just as a note, almost everytime the lines had filled with air, I was only able to start it with starter fuild.
At this point, beyond changing the lines, the only other culprit was the IP. There has never been any fuel leaking from it, either on the timing side or underneath. So, I decided I'd find a used 11mm pump that came from a running car and tired that. Everything timing wise lines up correctly, cam lock tool fit and the fuel pump pin went in (though, I couldn't see or find any tdc marks on the southbend flywheel). The results? It started on the first try and ran beautifully....for about 2 minutes. Then it was worse than before. When I can get it started, it'll only run for about 30 seconds at a really rough idle, like it has a big cam in it, and then stall. I checked the IQ and it isn't perfect but, it is within the acceptable injection range. Also, when it is running, there is quite a bit of air bubbles in the line but, as it's getting closer to stalling, those bubbles turn into super aerated fuel, it looks white there are so many bubbles.
At this point, I'm unsure what is going on that is causing the air bubbles to form. I'm tired of working on it and having nothing actually work and I'm hesitant to spend the time to rebuild either my old or new fuel pump and find that still isnt the issue. So, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. I loved how the car drove before I let it sit but, now its becoming a money pit worse than my B5 S4...
TIA