HELP! car running on 3

[GoLfMan]

the new engine is in and running,
however it is running on 3 cylinders, Jarred and i have checked everything, theres plenty of spark and we did the timing...
need some help please!
cheers

[WABIT]

there may be a vaccume leak somewhere

wabit

[Peter Jones]

Blocked jet?

Try squirting a bit of fuel or wd40 into the cylinder that's missing to see if it's just a lack of fuel.

Check the firing order too.

check the plugs for cracks, swap them around and see if the fault follows one of the plugs.

Gap the points just to be sure.

It's dark now, run the engine in the dark and look for sparks! (I'm not joking!)

(You did hook up the vacuum line to the booster AND check the one way valve right?)

Happy hunting,
Pete

[Jmac]

Ok guys the Pipe that runs from the brake booster to the inlet manifold, take it off and put a small pipe on it and plug it at the manifold, see what happens, this pipe splits and draws from 3 and 4. Common as.
if that doesnt work get out your compression tester.

[Peter Jones]

He's running twin side draughts so there's probably just a hose off no 4.

Guys have you checked that you've blocked any vacuum outlets on the carbs themselves?

Pete

[Dan]

First thing i would do would do would be fire up the engine and unplug no1 spark plug, see if the engine runs any worse, if it doesn't plug it back on, move to no2 spark plug unplug it see if it gets any worse, if it doesn't move on etc, do all 4. At least you can track down if it is one of the cylinders in particular. I spent ages the other day playing with the carby just to discover that the problem was a stuffed spark plug on number 1 (I could not believe it! Seriously p1ssed off with my own stupidity).
Also , i fired up a rebuilt engine with the wrong firing order once took about 10 minutes to figure out why the engine was jumping around so much - good advice Pete

[Jmac]

Can i just add 2c about the last post. In any 4 cyl engine and you think you have the fire order wrong well here is some more useful info and as the previous gent has stated which is so true it doesnt take much to mix up. Well even for the laymen if you know where 1 is ( lets say you have to turn the engine till TDC etc and look at where the rotor arm is pointing) then you will definately know its number 1. Ok EVERY 4 cyl engine number 4 will ALWAYS be across from 1 on the CAP ALWAYS as number 1 piston ALWAYS goes up with 4 . That way you can only but only mix up 2 cylinders 2 and 3 as easy as that. Just remember if you have 1 then you will always get 4, which only leaves 2 and 3 for a quick swapsy (again 2 and 3 go up together)
2C
JMac..

[Peter Jones]

Can i just add 2c about the last post. In any 4 cyl engine and you think you have the fire order wrong well here is some more useful info and as the previous gent has stated which is so true it doesnt take much to mix up. Well even for the laymen if you know where 1 is ( lets say you have to turn the engine till TDC etc and look at where the rotor arm is pointing) then you will definately know its number 1. Ok EVERY 4 cyl engine number 4 will ALWAYS be across from 1 on the CAP ALWAYS as number 1 piston ALWAYS goes up with 4 . That way you can only but only mix up 2 cylinders 2 and 3 as easy as that. Just remember if you have 1 then you will always get 4, which only leaves 2 and 3 for a quick swapsy (again 2 and 3 go up together)
2C
JMac..

Good point Jimmy. I always used to rely on that Zunderfolgen stamp on the beetles. Didn't the Golfs have the firing order on an emissions sticker somewhere?

Pete

[GoLfMan]

its definately cylinder #3, did the check with taking out leads and seeing which ones die, cylinder #3 is the only one that doesnt make a difference.

everything is hooked up, i will check for a split in the brake booster vacuum pipe, i have changed the spark plug and there is plenty of spark leaping off the plug and lead.

i certainly hope it isnt compression otherwise there will be a return to sender sticker on the engine

thanks for all the fast responses fellas

ohh and btw its a single DCOE with a Lynx M150 manifold i think the firing order is right its 1342 its in the haynes manual

[Jmac]

yeah it is 1342 and like i said earlier if you get 1 right the rest follows as per threaded. Print it off as this rule of thumb works for EVERY 4 cyl engine , is this a freshly built engine ?????? put a little squirt of oil down that bore if it is mate and unstick the rings.
Good luck and keep us posted.
JMac

[GoLfMan]

yeah it is 1342 and like i said earlier if you get 1 right the rest follows as per threaded. Print it off as this rule of thumb works for EVERY 4 cyl engine , is this a freshly built engine ?????? put a little squirt of oil down that bore if it is mate and unstick the rings.
Good luck and keep us posted.
JMac

i dont know how long ago but it was rebuilt sometime and bored to an 1800.
#3 piston is moving up and down alright, Dad stuck his finger over the open spark plug hole when we were checking spark and you could here the amounts of suction on his finger, not exactly a great test but good to see there is some compression there

[Peter Jones]

This is a new motor right? What kind? Hydraulic lifters?

I remember you had the timing belt off for something was it to change the cam? Did you remove any buckets?

You might have a stuck lifter that hasn't pumped up yet although they're pretty clattery when that happens.

Is there plenty of oil in the motor?

Annthing I've forgotten ?

Pete

[GoLfMan]

its a 1600 bored to 1800 with an early pre emissions head, plenty of oil about 3/4 full, new filter.
no removal of buckets, or anything like that and sorted the timing to TDC when i got the new cam belt on so no worries there, it did momentarily spark to 4 then back to 3, will explore all options tommroow when building the exhaust

[Jmac]

Yeah valves not seating perhaps like Peter said, mate just as a test make sure on the cap 4 is across from 1 im sure it is as you have it running at least on 3. now just swap number 3 and 2 around at the plugs
What you got????

[Jarred]

it seemed to have compression, when we were turning it over (without the spark plug in)

I think we'll have to check the vaccum lines, mainly off the manifold, and then if still no luck, do a compression test.,