BrettS Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Well, got the newly installed 300Tdi fired up yesterday and I was less then impressed. It started for the first time fairly well but the idle was way to low. We adjusted that and it seemed to idle ok for a bit then wanted to stall out again. Trying to drive the truck didn't go so well either as the engine wasn't very responsive to the actions of the accelerator peddle. Pumping the peddle didn't do much but eventually the revs would come up and you could pull away. But between shifts the power dropped off again. Once you could get the revs up again, it seemed to pull well, the trick was to not let up on the peddle. Needless to say, we didn't go for much of a test drive in this condition. Any ideas where I should start looking? This is the first Tdi my friends and I have seen so we are not too familiar with the beast. Could it be the fuel pump maybe? When we joined the old and new fuel lines, we did have some trouble with a leaky return line. I shouldn't think that would give us this type of problem. Any ideas most welcome. Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 you say you've conneted "old to new" fuel line.... is the old stuff the same diameter as the new? might pay to remove the pipe from the lift pump on the engine and blow through with an airline could be the filter blocked, or the lift pump duff. if you loosed the bleed screw on the top of the filter housing, fuel should squirt out (when the engine is running), when my lift pump went south, i could take the bleed screw right out, and looking in the filter was only about 1/2 full (or half empty, depending on your viewpoint ) changed the lift pump (10 minute job) all was well again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettS Posted April 29, 2008 Author Share Posted April 29, 2008 Well, I have a spare lift pump, so will change that for sure. I don't think the fuel lines are blocked, at least from the engine back to the tank. I'm going to run some new lines anyways, just to cure the leaks. The old stuff seems kind of brittle. Fuel filter is new, so that should be fine. Thanks Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 Did you prime the fuel filter, Brett ? Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettS Posted April 29, 2008 Author Share Posted April 29, 2008 Did you prime the fuel filter, Brett ?Mo No I didn't. The general consciences when I asked about bleeding the fuel system was to just crank it over. Was told the system is self purging. The engine did fire up, and with the revs up, it pulled well. But take your foot off the peddle and it just about dies, and it doesn't want to come back up to speed without a lot of coaxing. Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 The fuel filter isn't Brett. You need to open the screw at the top and purge the air from it by activating the lever on the lift pump or by turning the the engine over with the fuel solenoid wire off.. HTH Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettS Posted April 29, 2008 Author Share Posted April 29, 2008 Alright Mo, thanks for the insight. Will give it a shot and hopefully that will take care of that. Brett - Who's new to this whole TDI thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettS Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 Well, new lift pump and new fuel lines and all is well. The old pump was not sucking at all. No wonder the engine wouldn't run properly. Once we threw the new bits at it, it started right up and ran great... up until the trip home. About 10 minutes after leaving my friends shop for the long drive home, a clicking sound started coming from the engine compartment. Faint at first but it was getting louder. I noticed it most at idle sitting at lights, less so at speed. Of course, all the other noises may have drowned out the new noise. There was no loss of power that I noticed. I was towing my 88 on a tow bar and that seemed fairly effortless for the Tdi. So thinking it best not to push my luck, I turned tail and headed back to the shop. The loud clicking persisted, but no other ailments were noticed. Once back to safety, I popped the bonnet for a good listen. The noise is coming from the area around the injection pump. Can't tell or not if it is actually coming from the pump, but it is that side of the engine. It was getting dark, so I couldn't do much more. Hopefully, it is just something come loose, or we forgot to tighten something... but I don't usually have that kind of luck. Just hope I am not looking at something £££! I know it's hard to diagnose a sound with out hearing it, but anybody have any ideas what to look for. One suggestion I have been giving is to look closely at the vacuum pump. Seems they are prone to developing a "clicking" sound. Thanks Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 could be worth checking the tappets too... you might have lost a valve cap and suddenly acquired a huge valve gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettS Posted May 11, 2008 Author Share Posted May 11, 2008 Well, upon further investigation, the clicking sound is more of aa phft sound and it is coming from the front injector. While hunting around for the the problem, I placed my hand on top of the engine to lean down and listen about. It was then that I felt short little blasts of air coming up from between the injector and the valve cover. I pulled the injector expecting the sealing washer to be messed up. It didn't appear to be in too bad a shape. Why would the injector suddenly start leaking like that? It will have to wait till Monday when I can hopefully get a new sealing washer at a diesel shop. Hopefully this will solve this latest set back and I can finally get around to enjoying this engine. Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 I've had the injectors leak around that copper washer before, sometimes just removing it, cleaning up and re-seating it helps a lot. a little tip is to "glue" the washer onto the end of the injector with a little spot of grease, then carefully insert it into the cylinder head without knocking the side of the "tube" it fits down into. that way you know the washer is going to sit flat properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 You can reface the copper washer by rubbing on some wet/dry paper on a sheet of glass. You also find that the copper washer has been replaced in the past, but the old one is still in there too (they can be awkward to get out sometimes) Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAttrill Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 And you can anneal copper by heating in a flame, if you have a gas stove or a blowlamp. Best is to fit new washers if you can, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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