When to give up?

Nope. The thermostat housing bolts to the pump and nothing else. If you take the pump off, the thermostat housing comes with it.

The pump is only connected to the block at one point which is at the top where the water returns. The rest of the pump connections are by hose only.

Even if you wish to be a cheap-skate and save the pump, the only way you are going to get that stud out is to remove the pump first. Trying to drill it while upside down under the car just ain't gonna happen my friend !

Edit : We are talking about a 1.6 / 1.8 Mark I or II aren't we ??
Edited by: The Pig

 

Yup mk1 GTI, not being a cheap skate or anything, just looked at what i thought was the pump and didn't think the inlet elbow was attached to that, if it is then its great will just buy a new one. was gonna take the pump off yesterday but was in quite a fowl mood so thought it best to just leave it before i broke something else.

does the alt belt pulley bolt to the water pump as well?

cheers pig

 

Yeah, its all one unit.

If you're going to change the pump make sure you crack the three bolts that hold the water pump pulley before removing the belt. Wedge something in the belt to stop it slipping if necessary and fit a new belt afterwards.

The other way to do it is to remove the pump first then wedge a screwdriver in the impeller of the pump to jam it while you crack the bolts. Doesn't do the pump any favours but it's probably knackered anyway.

 

cheers.

made me a bit happier now, got a new water pump on order. just want to get it back on the road as should be much happier now with exhaust finally sorted as was blowing a hell of a lot with the old manifold.

Think am gonna have to take some time checking the timing over, and then hopefully he'll be happy again, and hence so will I.

 

The belt and braces approach above should see it running.

 

Told you you'd have fun putting it back together !!
Gimme a buzz when you've pulled all yer hair out and ill come down and put it back together for ya !

 

try not to be too busy on wednesday or thursday, depending on when i get the new pump

 

Just re-read your original post. Your "bodged" injector seats aren't letting air in are they as this would cause your starting problem ??

 

Don't think they should be, as the ones VW gave me had a long narrowing plastic tube that went into the head, where the ones that came out were literally just seats that screwed in and the injectors just clipped into them, the thread was the same on them so i just hacksawed the long tube part off and they screwed in just fine and sit tight. I say I ... was actually my mate who fitted them, didn't check them myself.
Will have a proper look at em see if they are sitting ok.
bloke at VW said there were 2 types and took my VIN but seeing as my car seems to have had a block change at some point dunno where the head has come from.

edit: does sound a bit yee haw when i read it back, but my mate know more than i do about it all and he seemed happy with em. although the thread on number 1 was quite messy.
Edited by: Gibbothebrit

 

Just a thought ! So long as the injectors fit snugly they should be fine.

Might be obvious and I (or someone else) might have mentioned this before but make sure the inlet manifold is bolted up tightly and that you have no other air leaks on the intake side.

As it's k-jet, pull an injector and make sure you have fuel when cranking.

 

Injectors required quite a push to get them in, fitted nice and snug, so doubt its there, inlet manifold is done up as tight as was possible considering the bugger that decided to put all the bolts on the underside of the inlet

pressume that there is no sensor or anything that would mean the car wouldn't start with the no water in the sytem? or is that just wishful thinking

think it all needs going over with a fine tooth comb.

cheers for the help.
If anyone comes up with anything else worth checking wouldn't mind the clues.

 

Did you put the rotor arm back in?!
One of the usual things i forget to do !
If you set it to TDC, there is a notch on the distributor that the rotor arm should point to (roughly), that will be number one cylinder. Check your firing order is right 1-3-4-2 from that. Check you have a spark.
If all this fails, then gimme a buzz at work and ill talk ya through a few things to check

 

Will probably take tomorrow off work to do it, check through the timing and stuff, although after talking to my mate last night he's pretty sure the timing was was as we both checked it loads. can only see what happens tomorrow though.

cheers lads.

 

Ok, so engine all back together, new water pump, simple as, cheers pig.
went to start it and just kinda popped and spluttered a bit, went to the HT leads and realised the dist cap end of no4 lead had been bent when it had been put back on, snapped when i took it off! , so 2 bus rides later i've got some new HT leads. all on, turn it over and nothing much, just cranks over. have tried rotating the dist but still can't get anything. taking a plug off it smells of petrol, and the sparks are firing, as managed to electrocute myself on one as the new leads have the metal outside to the spark plug end! (should you really get a shock off em though?) battery is on charge now as was getting clos to flat, may be why its not catching but surely by rotating the dist round by .5cm or so pretty much all the way around i should have found something? even returned the engine to TDC and checked where it was pointing...

bit lost with what to do now?
Edited by: Gibbothebrit

 

When I said move the distributor I meant kind of 45 degrees each way while cranking. No need for subtlety until its running.

Have you lifted the rocker cover to do the gross error check as this will show if the valve timing or ignition timing is 180 degrees out ?

If you have fuel, air, spark and compression in reasonable proportions it should at least fire. It could be you've run the battery down too low to get a meaningful spark so try it again when it's thoroughly charged.

Take the plugs out and let the chambers vent a little while the battery is charging to make sure it's not flooded.

If it doesn't start after a minute or so of cranking, disconnect the cold start valve to help stop it flooding.

Keep at at it. It will go eventually but sometimes after major work it takes a while.......

 

possibly flooded and flat battery now to be honest. will take out the plugs.

would changing the HT leads round tell you if you were 180 degrees out? as in move 1 to 4 3 to 2 4 to 1 and 2 to 3? ie rotate the dist cap round 180. as have tried this. or will you only be able to tell by taking the rocker cover and checking that number 1 valves are closed at TDC?

 

Take the rocker cover off and check the valve timing and ignition timing are roughly right all at the same time.

With No 1 piston (nearest the cambelt) at TDC, No 1 valves should be closed, No 4 valves should be rocking and the rotor arm should be pointing to the No 1 segment in the distributor cap.

Then turn the engine 180 degrees clockwise (viewed from the cam belt end) until No 3 piston is at TDC and make sure that No 3 valves are closed, No 2 valves are rocking and the rotor arm is pointing to No 3 segment.

Then turn the engine a further 180 degrees clockwise (viewed from the cam belt end) until No 4 piston is at TDC and make sure that No 4 valves are closed, No 1 valves are rocking and the rotor arm is pointing to No 4 segment.

Finally, turn the engine 180 degrees clockwise (viewed from the cam belt end) until No 2 piston is at TDC and make sure that No 2 valves are closed, No 3 valves are rocking and the rotor arm is pointing to No 2 segment.

If all this is right your cam and ignition timing are close and with a bit of unsubtle dizzy adjustment it should go.

 

Wish i'd read this before putting it all back together 5 mins ago...

just been outside, checked that at TDC (timing mark on crak pulley against belt cover, and piston checked through plug hole) rotor arm is on 1, and number 1 valves are closed. marks are all absolutely spot on!

when battery is charged will try it, if not then will run through your checks pig. and if it all still checks out then i guess something else is wrong, as everything seems to be fine.

can only but wait until the battery is done. could tidy the house up a bit I suppose...