[Vwdiesel] Fwd: RE: was starting and now a bomb

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

  If you're not getting a wafting of smoke out the tailpipe while it's 
cranking 
then it's not getting fuel.  If you start it, shut it off, wait a few minutes 
and 
start again does it start as when warm or crank forever again as when 
cold?  
  If it starts hard then this is odd as it would most likely be injectors or 
compression but should smoke.  
 If it starts easily then you're sucking air.  The places are (and I've had 
almost all of them at the same time!)  Pump input shaft seal, kink and 
pinhole in clear line from filter to pump, flexible line to hard line 
connection
behind fuel filter, larger return line from pump to hard line (the hose 
itself 
can crack and will only look a little dirtier than it should)  incorrect 
injector 
return lines will seep air and or fuel, cracked or leaking nipples on the 
injector body, high pressure injector lines to injector (but DON'T 
overtighten 
and these usually just leak rather than leak air).  Then at the rear there's 
the tank to hard line hose on A1 bodies, tank to water seperator, water 
seperator to hard line on A2 but they aren't as prone to seepage as an 
A1 hose.  Rusting hard lines starting to seep air which will later leak fuel.
Then there's the possibility of the throttle shaft and cold start shaft 
leaking 
air in but hasn't seemed to be so much of an air/hard start issue as a 
leak issue.
  Slacking off the tension on the belt may change the timing slightly but 
should still be in spec if it was spot on.  Certainly better than running 
with it tight!  No singing!  We'll have no singing in this film!!!  (sorry, 
it 
just slipped out!)  ;-D
     Loren