iainmcinnes

Good idea but being impatient I managed to find a manual for the Denso built version of the Bosch VE pump online which gave me a sensible value for the torque. Having got the pump off the vehicle I managed to set the timing with a DTI and the adapter you can't fit with the pump on the engine. It might be wishful thinking after all the work but the engine seems to be slightly quieter and with noticeably better drive ability after setting the pump timing more accurately.

Thanks for all the good advice. I'm now in the process of changing the seal and obviously the pump sprocket had to come off. I've tried searching the usual places i.e. the manual and the internet but I cant find the torque for the sprocket retaining nut anywhere. Any advice will be gratefully received. PS. I have a DTI and I bought a cheap adapter of e-bay to fit it to the back FIP so I should be able to time it OK.

Lying under the vehicle whilst doing the 500 mile oil change on the newly rebuilt engine I noticed a slight sheen around the wading plug hole. Doing the touch and sniff test revealed a strong diesel smell which I assume indicates failure of the fuel injection pump driveshaft seal? My other question is given that diesel hardly pouring out of the pump if I pull my finger out and get the seal changed pronto can I get away without changing the timing belt? Given it's a Dayco belt with only 500 miles or so on it I really hope the answers no!

I did the same thing and the left hand drill bit worked a treat for me as well.

When I got my shiny block from Turners I measured the clearances for the gears in the housings (w/shop manual gives the clearances) and finding no wear there or in the housing just re-used them. Unless the plunger is badly scored the advice from Richard was to give it a quick polish and re-use it. If there's no wear in the shaft or the bush it runs in then I took the view that it was good to go again. I would recommend packing the gears with some engine build grease to get the oil sucked through faster when you spin it up to get the oil pressure before first start.

A cautionary tale that might help others as well as a chance for those more experienced to chortle at a schoolboy error. Having finished the complete rebuild of my 200tdi last weekend the fateful moment came when you can't put off turning the key and seeing if all that hard work (and expense) has worked out. Key was turned and after not too much churning it started the oil pressure light went out smartly and everything sounded good. Whilst it warmed up I was feeling pretty smug until one of the kids asked where that large and growing puddle of oil was coming from. It was coming from the front wading plug hole in the timing cover and it clearly wasn't going to stop. Long story shortened the source of the leak was the bolt in the centre of the timing belt adjuster. I had fitted the gasket that effectively seals the thread of the adjuster securing bolt off from the oil coming from the nose of the camshaft that runs down the front of the block and back into the sump to the wrong hole. In my defense the manual seems to show the gasket going on the top hole and the you tube video I watched definitely shows it going on the top one . Obviously I should have checked by offering up the timing cover chest when I was building the engine and seen that in my case the bolt was going through the bottom hole but to be honest I didn't get the significance of the gasket. After sulking for a while I pulled the front of the engine apart changed the gasket along with all the others and the engine is now leak free as well as sounding good. Am I the first numpty to make this mistake I wonder?