I had a wv jetta diesel that was hard starting in cold temps.Compression was low and starter weak, Starting rpm and compression are the keys Sounds like a low comp prob,You can buy on ebay a laser tach for 16 bucks,they work great!

 

Thanks for the info.

Funny you should mention a diesel Jetta. Mine just broke down the other day. Driving down the highway to town I came into the reduced speed zone so I took my foot off the pedal, and it would not slow down. I tried to lift the pedal, it moved, but made no difference. I decided to pull over and pushed in the clutch to coast, and it raced to wide open throttle. I turned off the key and shut it down.

When I opened the hood, everything looks normal as to the cable, and the top of the IP. It is in the idle position, and the spring is fine.

Later I had a neighbor tow me home. When I started it in the driveway, it immediately went to WOT, so I shut it down. This pump was purchased as a remanned unit and installed in Feb. 2011. It has only been driven 6-7K since it was installed.

The PO gave me the old pump that came off the car, but I don't know where to begin as far as what causes a WOT condition, or if I can just swap the damaged/broken part from the old pump to the new.

Guess I need to find a good vw mechanic around here, but so far no luck. There is a stealership in TC about an hour from here. I may just buy another pump. I found a good used one on car-part.com for a good price.

Rick

 

At this point, based on the results of you pull start attempt, my vote is for a pump 180* out of time. The easiest way I know to reliably check that is with the valve over off to verify that the valves are both closed on #1 at the same time that the timing marks are aligned.

 

Thanks everybody for the help.

After several hours of re-reading the Chilton's manual and getting nowhere, I finally got online and found the Todd manual and read everything I could find about engine rebuilding, engine timing, removing, installing, and timing the IP and I found what I did wrong.

The Todd Manual says after matching the timing for the crank and cam, to then turn the engine back around again to 24 + 1 degrees BTDC, and then install the IP with the timing marks aligned.

Last night I went out to the shop, pulled the oil lines, oil filter housing, the IP, and set the timing indicator on the crank to 25 degrees BTDC, set the timing on the pump, reassembled everything and VIOLA! It took a while to get all the air out of the lines, but it finally fired up.

I started it again today. It runs, but it won't idle, and it smokes a lot. I'm not sure if it is from all of the diesel still in the cylinders, or if my timing is still off a little. I am going to finish installing the exhaust tomorrow so the smoke will be directed elsewhere.

I pulled the box off today with the help of my lovely wife. Then I scrubbed the back of the cab, and front of the box.

Tomorrow I will also drill the pucks for the box lift, install the fuel tank back under the frame, run the fuel lines from the tank, and replace the box back on the frame.

Any thoughts on why the smoke is so heavy? Should I advance the timing a little?

Anyway, thanks for all the advice. I will never bother with a Chilton's manual again. The most detailed, and accurate information I can find is the Todd Computer manual online.

Time for a beer!

Rick

 

Ok, things are moving ahead lately and I am trying to think ahead a little about the coming projects.

Anybody have any ideas about the best way to get a speedometer and/or odometer working on this project?

I have a 1990 Ranger which had a Mitsubishi 5 speed tranny in it with a mechanical speedo/odo.

My Transmission came from a 1996 Cherokee and the guy I bought it from included the cluster, but not the cable from the tranny to the dash. It is not mechanical, it is electronic.

Any ideas on how I can get a speedo/odo to work with this combo?

Does the Jeep speedo need the ECU/ECM in order to translate the signal from the tranny to miles/mph? Or is it a direct connection from the tranny to the speedo cluster?


If it is the latter, not the former, then can I swap the 2 speedometers in the dash and make it work?

Lots of questions here for me. Anybody want to give there 2 cents worth on how to make this work?

What about Dakota something? I remember reading about them a few times now. Is that the best way, and is it affordable?

Thanks guys!!

Rick

 

You may be able to get a mechanical speedo gear and housing for the Cherokee transmission to run a cable instead of the electronic.

 

Thanks Zeeman,

I didn't think it was possible, but maybe you are right. I will do a search today and see if I can do that.

Rick

 

The older ones (pre 87 IIRC) have a mechanical speedo driven off the back of the transfer case housing. My 84 has this set up...

 

Thanks,

I did find such a setup this week from a company in Wisconsin.

Going to run me about $235 from them to do it though.

Thanks for the input.

Made a lot of headway today. Installed the fuel tank, fuel line, crush blocks, 3" of pucks, bed bolts, heat shields, and ran the motor for several minutes. It seems to be clearing up as far as the smoke is concerned. I actually got it to idle for a little while. Idle is rough, but it smooths out when I give some fuel and it picks up rpms. Smokes less when giving it more fuel too.

Yesterday I finished welding the exhaust together.

Tomorrow I will finish the return line to the fuel tank, run some Diesel Purge through the injectors, put in the headlights, turn signals, grille, and bumpers. Then it should be street worthy.

Rick

 

Hey,

I ran Seafoam through the injectors today. Definitely helped with the smoking, and finally got it to idle when it was good and warm. Idle is still rough, but runs smooth when the rpms go up. Smoke clears up a lot too when the rpms are higher and I can hear the turbo spool up.

I also installed the new return line to the tank, re-built the filler neck, installed the rear bumper, headlights, grille, bumper, and hood up front.

Should be ready for a test drive around the neighborhood in the morning.

Still have a few loose ends to tie up, but made a lot of progress this weekend.

I do have a couple questions for you guys that have swapped in an OM617:

Do you recommend using the ALDA, or getting rid of it? I have seen both scenarios on the swap sites I read. If getting rid of it, how do I wire up the valve to use as a vacuum shutoff for the engine?

Secondly, my Ranger had a much different alternator connection than the MB. What is the simplest way to hook up the blue wire from the Bosch Alternator into the truck harness to activate the fields in the alternator for it to start charging? I know the 2 red wires were connected directly to the starter Positive connection from the battery. I took a photo of that. Just not sure what to do with the blue wire.

Thanks,

Rick