[Vwdiesel] priming the fuel, Audi 5000S

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/12/2006 6:59:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
vegbenz300 at gmail.com writes:

> My girlfriend's Audi 5000S (1980) has been out of commision for about a
> month now.  Originally I thought it was a glow plug issue, but after
> replacing all 5 plug and the relay, I realized that it seems that fuel is
> not getting to the injectors.
> I was able to pull fuel up from the tank with a suction pump, and I've
> changed the fuel filter, but I'm not sure what else I can do to get the fuel
> to the injection pump.  A friend said  that if there was air in the line
> then I just needed to crank and crank for a long time to reprime.  Well I've
> cranked alot, and nothing's improving.
> Not sure why the fuel has lost it's prime in the first place, but the
> problem seemed to start gradually.  The car would be hard to start, then
> harder, then finally it just wouldn't start.

  I thought I'd mentioned this before but here goes...
  Pull the fuel return banjo bolt from the pump (the one marked "out")
and fill the pump full of fuel.  It should then start in a few moments of 
cranking.  Once started, check the clear, supply line for bubbles.  If 
you see any then you need to find the source.  If you don't then your 
leak is either the input shaft seal or in the return lines somewhere.  

> 
> 
> Another thing I noticed yesterday while cranking the engine was that there
> are two ground wires that get very hot during cranking, one from the neg
> terminal to the chassis, and one below the injection pump that goes to
> chassis.  Is it normal for these to get hot?
> 

  Yes and no.  It's sometimes "normal" but it's not desireable.  It 
depends on how long you're cranking, how good the starter is and 
how clean the terminals/connections all are.
  Larger cables would definitely help.  My 5K TD has the ground 
connecting to a flimsy metal strap, welded to the fender, behind 
the battery (under the hood).  Engine then got ground from a braided 
strap between the body and the engine.  That piece of metal would 
sometimes smoke!  I put a #1 or so eye-to-eye cable from the battery 
terminal to the engine and it cranked twice as fast and also started 
when it was below 75F for the first time in a long time!
  Your problem may simply be your starter/power supply.
     Loren