welder01
New member
Hey guys, new to the TDI Club and new to working on diesel engines. I bought a 2002 Jetta TDI ALH that had a broken timing belt. Cylinder head surprisingly was still good, so I had the head rebuilt, new valves due to finding a few bent ones, guides, seals, lifters, camshaft. Pistons and cylinder walls looked good. Put it back together with a new timing kit (all timing marks were in line and checked 3 times to make sure) and water pump. Bled the fuel system and everything looked good. Checked the anti-shutter valve, fuel shut off solenoid, replaced all the ground cables, new starter (Bosch), new battery, crank sensor, Motor is turning over at about 250 rpms, and it will not start. Glow plug light is working as it should be so relay 109 isn't the problem. I see a small amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe when it is turning over. I scanned the codes, and it is bringing up the coolant temp sensor which is not causing the no start issue. I pulled out the interior when I bought it because it had a water leak, so I thought maybe it was not starting because the seats were not hooked up and got to thinking the airbags was not detected and could possibly prevent the car from starting so I hooked them back up but still no start. I checked all the wires I could think of but did not find any problems. Only thing I have not checked is the compression but have a kit ordered since its metric. I cannot imagine that the problem is anything major and very well could be something simple that I am overlooking. Spoke to the previous owner who said it was running great with no problems until the timing belt broke. At this point I am kind lost of what it could possibly be and thought I would reach out for some ideas.