Motor won't start after Timing Belt & Cam Adjuster gasket replacement (2.8 30v)

MXHOWES at aol.com MXHOWES at aol.com
Fri Sep 18 11:10:44 PDT 2009


I still own a 4000Q so maybe I can post here with the problem I have on my  
'98 A4 Avant. (I will never, never,ever again complain about having to do a 
 timing belt on a 5 cyl).(air filter, yes, but timing belt, no)   

I did a timing belt and valve cover gasket kit replacement on my 2.8 30v.  
Put everything back together, except for the front end which is still up on  
stands and the nose is in service position. I hit the starter, it cranks,  
immediately fires on one or two cylinders then goes back to cranking with no 
 firing cylinders. Vagcom shows no engine fault codes.
 
So here's what I have done and observed:
Timing belt and cams were aligned with the use of the crank locking pin and 
 cam bar. All timing marks are now spot on. (this was the second try on  
the intake cam bank 2. I missed it by 1 link the first time, with the same  no 
start results but tore it all apart again. Seems like most engines will run 
 (poorly) one link off but mine wouldn't start so I first thing I did was  
get the cams right).
 
The car was running perfect and I was nursing a small water pump leak  
which slowly became worse so I parked it in the garage. About 3 months  later I 
finally had the time, tools and parts to do the complete job.
It has 3/4 tank of fuel.
100% charge on a good battery.
My spark plugs (with only 5K on them) looked wet with fuel after several  
attempts to start so I swapped back to my old plugs which I had  saved and 
had the same no start results.
 
It seems like it is getting fuel (wet plugs) and a inline spark detector  
showed spark (I just checked one plug), Using the crank locking pin  and cam 
bar, exhaust valve timing has to be correct and intake is observed as  
correct. 
 Where do I start analyzing my 'no start'  problem? 



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