[Vwdiesel] First time into the guts of an injection pump.

[William A. Thompson]

82 VW with an earlier engine in it ... ran fine until 
It wouldn't start one morning. Luckily it didn't crump
out on the road.

The symptoms were:
Normal cranking but no fire.
No fuel past the check valves on the injection pump 
distributor. Low pressure fuel pouring out the timing 
plug hole when removed while cranking. The plunger 
seemed to be articulating normally.
After pulling the line on the pump inlet banjo to 
check if there was free movement of fuel thru the 
filter ... air was in the line once it was reconnected.

Now the give away symptoms.
Subsequent cranking showed the air bubbles first 
traveling part way towards the pump ... downhill in 
the line ... and then moving back towards the fuel 
filter ... uphill in the line even while still cranking.
Fuel was first being sucked into the pump 
carrying the bubbles with it ... and then 
stop ... then the bubbles still visible in the line 
while still cranking would move backwards to the 
highest point in the line towards the filter.
I figgered that during the first few rotations while
cranking ... fuel and bubbles were being drawn 
towards and into the pump. After a certain point 
the pump would be full ... and with no high 
pressure fuel exiting the check valves ... the 
plunger collar must be dumping the fuel out the 
plunger control port on each plunger stroke.

Yanked the pump and then the distributor off the 
pump to find this broken part laying on top of the 
cam plate as the pump was pointed distributor up 
as I took it apart. It was not in the recess on the
end of the plunger and it was broken in half.

I expect that this breaking is unusual?
Does anyone know if these are a matched part?
Might anybody have a junk pump to get one out of?

This is the pump.
NR 0 460 494 005
VE 4/9F 2500 R162
068 130 107A
011831 32018

.. Bill

William A. Thompson
Sedro Woolley, Wa.