TDI Non-starting after timing belt change

[claude626]

Ok, I went back to square one and checked everything. It seemed that the cam timing locking pins from the kit I brought from ebay were very slightly larger than the blind recesses in the head for them to engage into. basically I was roughly one tooth out on the cam timing.
Once I had correctly retimed the cams it started beautifully. I just did around 500km to Echuca and back without a hiccup.

So Lessons Learnt:

1. Do not trust non OEM timing kits.
2. If your fuel filter is black then it could be the tandem pump seals have gone.
3. I syphoned out almost 30 litres of jet black fuel out of the tank. It took a while to wipe out the tank to remove any of the residual gunk.
4. The in tank lift pump was flushed through by placing it in a bucket of clean diesel and running the outlet back into the bucket.
5. The cranking RPM threshold seems to be less than 280, mine starts below 250..
6. If in doubt check and double-check the timing, I thought 100 % I had it right 1st time.....

Thanks for all of the help and advice....

[Bora Sport]

Good to hear. When we did the timing belt it started turn of the key after the change. I test drove it about 6k's to get lunch. It then started first go and I drove back to my mates place. I then started it to move it and it took a couple of goes to start. Later when I went to leave, it wouldn't start. Back to basics, scanned it and it said cam position sensor. Pulled it all apart again and the adjustment had moved just enough for it to not start. We adjusted it back and its done about 4,000k's since.