[theadams]

Even with the highest percentage of PhD's in the country in this town I still can't start my car. The local dealer is good though. I just have tough problems.

Hello. I have a 2000 NB Yellow with dark tinted windows and 128k miles. I bought it on ebay 18 months ago and really like it. I have taken many trips to Bama games about 350 miles round trip and loved it. However, it is not able to be what I bought it for which is to train the teenagers to drive a manual since it is so unreliable. I have enjoyed it since I am a DIY mechanic. I am addicted to 50mpg. The kids won't touch it because they regularly are left stranded. The latest woow is the car starts but won't run after 1 second. I wore out the starter trying to start it before discovering the IMMO-2 threads. Not sure that is the problem since the little NB/Key dashboard icon doesn't stay on. In fact all the lights go out before I start canking it.

I have successfully replaced the glow plug harness, injectors, injection pump (perfectly timed with the vag-com to just above center on the graph, btw), no MIL/CEL, new head liner (with sun roof), new fuel pick up, tank inspected, and greased the fuel line connections between the tank and filter for good siphon. New filter, no bubbles in sight tube, good flow. I can put my hand over the EGR intake and feel strong suction when cranking and starting, but then it dies. It is currently up on jacks with the starter out. I am inspecting the cables and looking into a new starter.

Paul

 

[Seatman]

Make sure the anti shudder valve isn't closing as soon as it starts too as I've read that can be a problem, if the car starts fine then it isn't the starter, if the starter was the problem then the car wouldn't turn over in the first place or it would be very lame at doing so. You might want to try disconnecting the battery cables and leaving them tied together so the ends are touching for 30 minutes, I've read of this solving wierd issues too.

welcometomyturbodies

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Easy, time to let the kids push it off a cliff!

You've done so many things to fix it, I don't know what's left other than something simple like an ECU error. That sounds like the immobilizer but you'll see the light. It will also throw error codes. Have you had the car scanned?

 

[theadams]

update

I put in a new starter and wow it has never started up like this before. it runs great after the fuel system is well primed. I figured out that I need to have a daughter in the car on the ignition switch while I tighten the injector bleed. This can't be done serially.

The problem now is that it starts and runs really well until the next morning when the fuel system looses prime over night. I isolated the injection pump from the rest of the fuel system with vinyl tubing, clamps, and an inline filter. I primed the pump and put the output under diesel fuel. there are some microbubbles on the outlet side of the pump while it's running in this setup. The next morning it looses prime and won't start until I reprime the system. I called eMiata about it since they rebuilt the pump 8 months ago. They are very helpful. They suggested that I pressurize the system with 100psi air and spray soapy water on the external of the pump to look for leaks which I did. Nothing showed up. On the assumption that there is some residual air in the pump after driving it, the next thing I am going to try is bleeding it each morning until all the air is out of the system.

Could one of the injectors suck air over night, they didn't hiss under air pressure?

 

[chittychittybangbang]

I will just say this, eMiata sells some parts retail for less than the wholesale prices elsewhere, in some cases they buy parts for 95% less than other places. My opinion is that they only sell very low quality parts and based off the experiences of others, their parts have ruined many engines. Also, there are not many places which have the equipment to calibrate and rebuild Bosch injection pumps. I strongly doubt that retailer follows the correct procedures. Is there a problem with the pump? Maybe not but I wouldn't trust it. No offense and I hope it does work out for you. 100psi air is quite a lot..It only sees high pressure from the pump head downstream. It might even pop a seal off. 10-20 psi should be enough to show such a big leak.

If the injectors aren't wet around the base they're not leaking at the housing but the nozzle tip could be leaking. If you bought nozzles from the same vendor I wouldn't be surprised.