Timing 8v TSR 2.0 - No start saga - Head removed - *FIXED*

I see, and from what I have just read it should be a 5 pin relay - 4 normal pins and one small one. How has it been running like this? That bridge only goes to 2 pins.

I'm thinking that either the wiring has been messed with or not running that relay has broken something, either ECU or the Control Unit, I have a control unit on it's way. With that bridge out the fuel pump doesn't prime but I don't understand how it's been working without the rest of the pins

 

The bridge is sending a permanent live to the ECU whenever the ignition is on, I'd think. I'm struggling to think what the other feed would be from the 5th pin. I'm sure RJ will be back with the answer shortly!

 

The 5 terminals on that relay are:-

Permanent live
Switched live
Earth
Fuel pump
Signal from coil (this is the small terminal)

The last terminal mentioned is a safety cut off basically, it is designed so that if the engine is not cranking or running no signal is received at the relay and therefore it will not power the fuel pump.

Hope this helps?

 

Cheers guys, I'll have a look around the scrappers when I'm back home as there was a mk3 16v in there last week, If not I'll buy one.

Also last time I was with the car we used jump leads while cranking as the battery doesn't seem to have much staying power but even with jump leads from a land rover the cranking begins to slow down after 10 secs or so, would you say this is a problem with the starter motor or battery?

 

Whoops....sorry forgot we were talking Digipants

 

Fusebox mess

Hi all, I dropped the fusebox down today for a quick look and found some dodgy looking bits...

First off there's this hanging about, obviously earthed to the chassis but plenty of exposed wire which could have been touching anything as it was positioned around the back of the fusebox.


This is up near the ignition barrel, as you can see there's been some hacking there but what is that 4 pin plug for?


Two wires that look like they are coming from the upper dash, red and black - possibly speaker wire maybe?


Then there's these wires that seem like they go into the drivers door but I'm not fully sure yet as it started raining heavily. No problems with the central locking so it's not for that.


As I said it had an alarm which was a 'Toad Ai600 Cat1' this was installed in 1998 and had been disconnected (cut wires) when I bought the car.

Someone has scavenged the valver that was in the scrappers so I'm off to track down relay 30/32 now.

 

Fitted relay 32 today and a different control unit but hasn't made any difference

Decided to take the dash out to check the wiring properly and there isn't anything that would be causing any problems from what I can see so far, shed loads of wire tapping on various wires and a few terminal connectors on the main positive wires from the ignition but that's about it. Mostly just removed old wiring from the alarm and speakers although I didn't come across the actual alarm so I think that's been removed.

Just had the ECU apart to check for any visible damage but looks immaculate inside and other than the chip lock on the main board being slightly offset there's nothing to mention, I have resat the chip lock now so it fits flat.

Any ideas anyone?

Should the rev counter move at all when I'm cranking? It doesn't move at all.

 

Cheers RJ I'll try that next.

However while tidying the fusebox yesterday I noticed when I nudged the fusebox the CD player would either go off or eject the disc so I went through all the plugs to check for any loose wires at the fusebox and I found that one of the single terminal positive wires wasn't plugged in fully, it was plugged in but not clicked in. I'm fairly sure the pumps don't prime when it's not connected so that's now clicked in properly and I just need to organise the wiring a bit more and put it back together and see if that's made any difference.

When I fitted relay 32 and the new TCI unit and I first turned the key the pumps didn't prime and then on the third turn they did and they was ok after and then when It didn't start I decided to take the dash out and found that loose plug so maybe it wasn't making a good enough connection to power the fusebox properly or something?

Fusebox has defo been out not so long ago, the wiring behind it was unbelievably messy and I found the fusebox clips in the vag service compartment lol. Oh and most of the fittings from the dash missing too

This is the plug that wasn't in properly, that one goes off into the engine bay and then I think there's another but its bridged so is that the main power to the fusebox?

 

Yeahhh I was putting the dash back in today and realised it's actually the only live to the fusebox so hopefully that is the cause of my problems it was so loose that a very light flick of the wire would make everything go off.

I think I know what you mean, I'll move it over if it doesn't start. The wiring is much better now anyway, I have removed half a Tesco bag of alarm/stereo wiring

 

right all back together but still wont start...

ahhhhhh so, I have tested for live at the 5 pin plug and I'm getting battery voltage there. I will test the other wires tomorrow.

I have a couple of questions..

1) If a hall sender is faulty can it still function so that the car produces a spark but stops the car from starting in some way?

2) If the ECU chip (aftermarket) fails does the ECU still prime the pumps or does it just not fuction at all, can they fail?

I'm still dubious about the hall sender not only because of it's appearance and wobblyness at the plug but also because of a problem I have had for about a year which would cause the car to jerk badly at constant throttle, the symptom appeared randomly one day and only happened badly around 3 times in the year but the car never liked to be driven at constant throttle, especially at 30mph in 3 gear it would buck slightly. Basically the same symptoms I had before it broke down but much more extreme, and now it wont start makes me think it's the dizzy/hall sender.

I timed it up to TDC and reset the dizzy and the plugs were wet and there was some visible fuel in each cylinder so I'm sure it's not fuel related for sure now.

When I turned the ignition on the engine backfired through the inlet slightly I then tried to start and it which failed but couldn't get it to backfire again. It doesn't even try to start, it's just dead not even a backfire

 

Cheers RJ, I bought a new dizzy last night - Recon for 70, figured may as well go new seeing as people are wanting 40 for ones that look as used as mine and this new one comes with a new cap and rotor arm as well.

My ECU has two chips in it, if the new dizzy doesn't solve it then it about only leaves the ECU/Knock sensor and the car's wiring and I have checked a large portion of the wiring now.

Can any of the throttle sensors cause them to not start?

 

Fingers crossed on the new dizzy sorting the problem then

 

[:^(] New dizzy hasn't made any difference, I didn't get much cranking till the battery died but didn't sound any different to before so still a problem I'd say.

So I dropped the fusebox again and had another look at the wiring and the only wire I didn't check had a terminal connector on it so I removed that and used some wire to bridge it as it's quite short but couldn't give it a proper try as the battery is dead .

It would seem it's an important wire though as the fuel pumps don't prime with it disconnected. It's Red/Yellow which from the fusebox the FAQ suggests the live for the fuel pumps.
---------------------------------------------------
M
1 - brn - GTI fuel pump earth and transfer pump pin 4
2 - red/yel- GTI fuel pump live and transfer pump pin 3
3 - vio/blk- fuel tank level sender pin 1 (sender feed)
5 - blk - cassete storage illumination
6 - brn/blu- fuel tank level sender pin 2 (sender earth)


Obviously the pumps were priming before but I'm sure they sound better now I have removed the terminal block and bridged with some wire. It had a kind of lazy sound before whereas now it sounds healthier, I did previously test the lift pump by unplugging the inline pump and it could be heard priming but I didn't do it the other way round. Possibly the inline pump wasn't priming? But who knows I'm probably just imagining it now, this car is driving me mad now.

Edit > I also swapped the main feed to the fusebox so the live goes to the top and the bridge wire in place of where the main live was.