1986 VW Golf is now in my possession.

[Christ]

Pics fixed.

[Christ]

I did finally get a new starter and put it in, and got the thing to start once, but I need a good battery and a booster box or something... it just doesn't seem to want to start.

I have a feeling I need glow plugs, but it won't even start on ether. The battery doesn't have enough juice to keep it turning over fast enough, and when the ether gets in there, it just stops it from turning completely, which is to be expected with a weak battery.

In this case, they should call it "Stopping Fluid".

When I did get it to start, I had the battery hooked up, with jumper cables hooked to my Father's Blazer running at ~2kRPM for a boost charge.

Can't wait to get some extra cash and get a battery so I can get 'er started and take 'er for a test drive.

[ChrstphrR]

The older diesel's not much different from the new one -- The 1.9 TDI I have, the stock battery has around 800-850 CCA.

That's probably the worst of it -- it needs a LOT of juice to crank over to start initially.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by ChrstphrR

The older diesel's not much different from the new one -- The 1.9 TDI I have, the stock battery has around 800-850 CCA.

That's probably the worst of it -- it needs a LOT of juice to crank over to start initially.

Well, add to that the fact that it's not keeping fuel in the injector pump for some reason, and it just makes life a little difficult when the car hasn't been started in several months.

There's an electric pump on the fuel line under the hood, and according to the guy I bought the starter bushing from, who used to be a local dealer, and still does service every day, these didn't have fuel pumps in the tank. He says the injector pump acts as a lift pump from the tank and injects the fuel at the same time.

I'm not sure I totally believe that, but I haven't been able to disprove it yet, either.

[Christ]

Ok, I got it to run today, just a few mins ago. I took the electric pump that the PO put in out, and it seems to run OK for a few seconds, and then it stutters and dies, after maybe 30 seconds. This is with the cold-start lever on. If I turn the cold-start lever off, it takes a little longer to crank up, and when it does finally start running, it only runs smoothly for a second, before it starts stuttering, and eventually fails.

I attempted to adjust a screw on the back of the injector pump, just above the injector lines, and worked it until the idle wasn't as rough (went out until it got rough, then back in until it got rough, and made it as not rough as I could between those points).. No real change, though.

What else do I do to make it run smoothly and stay running?

Also- at times, throttle input does nothing. At other times, throttle input revs it up/down/up/down/up/down until it eventually stalls. It never gets past about 3k by ear, though.

I had to give up - the smoke was giving me a headache.

[robchalmers]

if its smoking and running rough, you may have a clogged air filter, Take it off and see if that sures it.

I was going to mention during you start-up issues but I never got chance, have you tried loosening the injector unions while cranking it to make sure you’re getting a strong feed to each cylinder?

Loosen all four @ the injectors, then as the crank the engine over (get a friend to do this while you’re under the hood. Make sure the car is connected to a booster battery or another car that’s running) as each starts to squirt tighten them back up you’ll hear the car try and catch on a couple of cylinder but you’ve got to bleed out all so keep going.

Once all four are working, the revs may rise and fall as the air get dragged out of the filter so you may have to leave it running for five-ten mins.

On the in->line from the filter does the pipe have a clear section? If so watch for bubbles in the fuel

Hope some of the above helps and isn’t stuff you already know

[ChrstphrR]

Even my 2000 has just that injector pump up front, run off the engine - no lift pump in the tank, until 2002. My newer one is like this -- once, and only once, I ran the tank so dry that the fuel filter and half of the lines leading from it to the injector pump were dry.

I'm not sure where the fuel filter is, on the older generation like yours, but, you may want to check, if you haven't, to ensure it's not clogged or full of water. Mine's on the passenger fender, and the feed and return lines to/from the injector pump are about a foot long.

This made it relatively easy for me to fix my no-start issue when I ran the fuel filter dry that one time - popped off the top cap, and funneled in a part bottle of diesel treat, put the cap on, and cranked the car a few times for a minute, or so, and it finally drew the fuel in. I was just lucky that the injector pump didn't lose its prime.

Fundementally, that engine is the same as the ones that were plopped into VWs until 1997. TDIs were from 1998, on, and just had more electronic controls, so yours is really easier to be shadetree mechanic with compared to anything recent.

I'd suggest scouring what you can for info off TDIclub.com Christ... They do have a section for the older diesels... and VERY knowledgeable users. moreso than me, so far my fuelling problems have been solved by luck and remembering something I'd read, or'd been told months before.

[Christ]

I haven't done the injector thing yet, I was hoping it would just self-purge while running. I also didn't check the filter for fuel, but I don't know when it was last replaced, so I'm going to order one anyway, especially since I plan on running homebrew in this engine. I'm told they're very forgiving of fuel quality compared to some modern diesels.

The filter is under the hood on the left as you look at the engine, on the right in proper terms (pass side). The line is clear, but clouded with red from heat soak. Not sure if I could see fuel coming through it or not, honestly.

I will manually purge the injectors and swap filters the next time I get a chance, and use the filter bleed and a turkey baster to fill 'er up manually. It seems like each time I started it, I could get a few quick revs, then it would stop responding to throttle input at all, then it would eventually die.

I'm really hoping the governor in the pump isn't sticking from not having been run for so long...

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.. updates as I have the time.

[Arragonis]

Possibly silly suggestion but have you tried feeding it from a can of clean and fresh fuel ?

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Possibly silly suggestion but have you tried feeding it from a can of clean and fresh fuel ?

I have not, and while it seems like that'd be the best idea at the time, it never even crossed my mind.

The fuel in the car is less than a year old, however, and was treated for the winter. I'm hoping it's OK to use, even if not quite "as good" as new fuel, because 3/4 of a tank is ALOT of fuel to waste.

I will try these suggestions as I get the time to get back over there.

Also going to get a new battery.

Does anyone know what the limit switches on the pump are for? I've checked around, but lost the information I had on them. The car does not have A/C, so they shouldn't be for that, I would think.