what a pooe day! spent yesterday with a mate putting the engine back together after the head getting the head back from being skimmed, (cheers dan). only problems yesterday proved to be getting the wrong injector seats from caffyns, ok they fit after a bodge, and the exhaust downpipe proved to be a fatherless child to change back to the original. all that was left to do today was to put the rocker cover back, alternator on, and all the pipes leads etc and change the thermostat. got everything back fine, went to change the thermostat, turns out it wasn't working cos there wasn't one! oh well put one in, upon doing the bolts back up on the inlet elbow, one decides to snap, won't come out as is flush, won't drill out very well! which means i can't get a proper seal, any ideas? secondly, won't actually start. timing marks were all fine but just turns over and not all that happily. fed up of bumming lifts to work and meant to be going on holiday next saturday, spent around 4 days sorting out all the problems and its still not running.
Get some penetrating oil on the sheared stud while you're considering your options. Are you sure about the timming marks? You didn't mix the plug leads did you? what car is it?
mk1 GTI 1.8, thinking about the HT leads, firing order 1, 3, 4, 2, clockwise around the dist cap from the "top left" i guess? is this right? timing marks seemed to be fine, was well paranoid and so they got checked a few times, but not all that easy to see them so i guess they could be out. Had engine top dead center, crank pulley notch level with the outside of the intermediate cog, with the intermediate cog dot mark level with that, which meant at TDC rotor arm to 1, and camshaft mark set to front and top of head, which meant number 1 valves were closed. is this right? problem with bolt is that its totally flat to the base so can't even get a hold of it or anything, in my anger tried to drill it out and to be honest probably just made it worse. shame it doesn't just attatch to the water pump as couls just replace that, but it seems to be an extension of the block.
should have used a new drill smallish drill bit and a lot of patience. cant you tap a slightly bigger bolt into damaged hole?
I did stop before i got all the way through as i realised that an off centre hole wasn't going to help in the slightest, made me feel slightly less annoyed (making holes in stuff) until i realised it was only gonna make it worse, which made me more , think it might be a case of new drill bits, a lot of patients, slowly working up until i have a hole then a bolt with a nut on the other side as i think i can just about get one round to it. still miffed about the lack of starting though? and at the fact the little metal clip that holds the rubber end of the accelerator cable onto the top of the inlet manifold/throttle body, pinged off when i was trying to fit it, and i've not a lcue where it landed. don't suppose anyone has a spare as couldn't see where it fell, don't think it'll ever turn up. or at least know where to buy one? please ??? Not a good day! edit: Edited by: Gibbothebrit
the mark on the side closest to the head? as in haynes, 1 should be closed when engine is TDC and rotor arm is at 1.
I just had the same non starting prob after doing my head.The engine would turn and turn with the occasional back fire etc. Some how the rota arm was not getting a good contact although it was working before i removed the head and had only been on since xmas. Took it out and a small piece had broken off ,so removed that cleaned the rota and she started up. I wasted about two or three hours trying to start her so i can sympathise with your situation.
down me mates garage he has a reversable drill and also drill bitts that drill anti clockwise he always uses them on bolts as when they catch they normally undo the snapped bolts might help you out if you can get the bits and for the throttle cable just use a cable tie as i pinged my clip and had to get a new 1 from vw's
will check, cheers, rotor arm is brand new, was used for around 15 miles after the head went, as aa man told me that was what was wrong with the car, but won't hurt to try. an "easy out"? does something like this not only work when you can actually get onto the thread? this has snapped flush with the surface its turning into? or are you literally talking about a backwards drill bit?
you can also hire an angled drill from hire shop if you cant get to it, i used one to drill at back of my head
the best way to get studs out of a head is to use a mig welder. weld on to the end of the stud, then use mole grip to undo it. job done
cheers peeps, will try those methods if my next splan doesn't work. Realised last night that i couldn't get the drill to centre on the bolt, kept slipping off, hence an off centre hole. but why not just put the other bolt in so that the elbow cover is back on and use that as a guide to drill a hole in the right place. think i can just about get to the other side to hold a nut so i can just put a nut, bolt and washer in its place. or is this a bit yee ha? to be honest think i've prob mucked the thread up enough with my first drilling attempt so trying to unscrew the thing may not work at all now. will see. just need to figure why the thing wont start, and fashion some kind of attatchment for the accelerator cable.
Don't suppose anyone in sussex happens to be a god when it comes to timing? edit: when its right its amazing, when its not working I hate the f*cker! Edited by: Gibbothebrit
'cos it's ally and the side of the drill will just eat straight through it. cable tie, as already mentioned somewhere^.
I feel for ya mate, had a siezed exhaust manifold stud [:^(] Best way is to use a small drill bit and go slow. If you're lucky you'll leave enough thread intact to get the new bolt in, I got lucky! You'll need a tap and die set to clean the threads out though.
Think a small drill bit and a lot of patience is the way for the moment, or at least worth a carefull attempt at. just need some new drill bits now, and then do some reading up on checking the timing, if there isn't something simple wrong. had some problems with the exhuast that was on there as well, some jocker had put a crappy aftermarket manifold and downpipe on it that was a little too long so nothing sat right and didn't quite get clearance so rattled and blew like anything. 1 of the joins was stuff as well between 2 sections so wouldn't fit out without taking the antiroll bar off, so just ended up taking a hacksaw to it, not like i was gonna use it again anyway. Edited by: Gibbothebrit
Am I missing something ?? Just change the water pump. One hour's work. Sorted. Permanently ! As for the starting problem, do a gross error check. Make sure that with No 1 valves closed, No 1 piston is at TDC and the rotor arm is pointing to the cap segment attached to the No1 lead. Then set it so that No 3 valves are closed and do the same but for No 3 and so on. Sounds basic but it proves beyond doubt that it is roughly right. Pull a plug and crank it to make sure you get a spark. Stick your nose down the plug hole and make sure it smells of fuel. Loosen the dizzy and get someone else to crank it while you vary the ignition timing and it should fire, even if the valve timing is a tooth or even 2 teeth out.
was my first thought, well actually my second after i got the drill out taken a chunk out and calmed down and started thinking. the inlet elbow isn't actually connected to the pump is it? isn't the pump just simply in the housing that the alt belt pulley bolts on to? and the pump then bolts onto the side of the block? or to put it a another way, is the pump not on the side of the block as opposed to the front and bottom where the thermostat fits in?
