1989 Jetta n/a pump problems

[busman1978]

First, the car stats:

1989 Jetta n/a diesel unknown miles.
I bought this car in early February in Nashville, TN and drove it 1,000 miles home to Houston, TX. Averaged 30mpg, had a fuel and exhaust leak, odometer wasn't working, shift bushing was non-existant, so I took it to an area mechanic to get these items taken care of.

Let me re-phrase: I took it to the world's worst mechanic.

6 weeks later, I have to pick this car up on a trailer because he can't get it to start. My IP is in the trunk in a bag.

He also couldn't tell me with any certainty where any of the important settings were before he took it off, ie. idle screw, full throttle screw, etc. I put the pump back together from various how-to's off the internet, but this is the first pump I have ever been into, and now there is absolutely no fuel being pumped to the injectors. I have filled the filter, primed the pump to the return line, and still nothing at the injectors. I have, in a fit of desperation, taken the plunger out of the stop solenoid and cracked the injection lines at the pump, and still nothing. The pump is doing nothing. Is there anything else I can do, or am I looking at taking the pump back off and sending it to a shop?

Thanks ahead of time for any help.

[Glegor]

First, the car stats:

1989 Jetta n/a diesel unknown miles.
I bought this car in early February in Nashville, TN and drove it 1,000 miles home to Houston, TX. Averaged 30mpg, had a fuel and exhaust leak, odometer wasn't working, shift bushing was non-existant, so I took it to an area mechanic to get these items taken care of.

Let me re-phrase: I took it to the world's worst mechanic.

6 weeks later, I have to pick this car up on a trailer because he can't get it to start. My IP is in the trunk in a bag.

He also couldn't tell me with any certainty where any of the important settings were before he took it off, ie. idle screw, full throttle screw, etc. I put the pump back together from various how-to's off the internet, but this is the first pump I have ever been into, and now there is absolutely no fuel being pumped to the injectors. I have filled the filter, primed the pump to the return line, and still nothing at the injectors. I have, in a fit of desperation, taken the plunger out of the stop solenoid and cracked the injection lines at the pump, and still nothing. The pump is doing nothing. Is there anything else I can do, or am I looking at taking the pump back off and sending it to a shop?

Thanks ahead of time for any help.

as for it not pumping fuel at all, even with the stop plunger out, it may just have the fuel screw backed out too far. screw it in a turn or 2 and see if it makes fuel pressure.

as far as the settings for the fuel and idle screws (those are the 2 important ones) once you can get it to run, those screws are fairly easy to set.. i usually set my fuel HIGH, and then drop the idle to bring it back to earth.

does the pump still leak fuel? if it does, re-seal it before you put it back on the car.

and FWIW, 30mpg is TERRIBLE in a diesel VW. my GTI gets better (~33mpg) economy than that, and its an 86 w/ CIS-Lambda thats never been tuned since 86. hell, my 83 Audi 5000TD got better than 30mpg.

it should have had a FAIRLY BAD fuel leak for it to account for the nearly 20mpg drop in economy..

is the pump back on the engine? do you have a dial indicator to check the static timing?

THIS LINK should be all you need to get your engine running again, assuming the pump is in good enough shape to allow the engine to run..

[air-cooled or diesel]

next time you take a diesel to a shop it needs to be a shop that works on german, or specializes in Diesel

[81dzlcaddy]

next time you take a diesel to a shop it needs to be a shop that works on german, or specializes in Diesel

Amen.

[QuantumSyncro]

next time you take a diesel to a shop it needs to be a shop that works on german, or specializes in Diesel

Unfortunately shops will tell you just about anything to get you in the door....then when you have to pickup your vehicle with a trailer they admit they know zilch.

Any update on your dilemma?