1986 Volkswagen Jetta General Question

Dear Women! (hooray!) My 1986 Jetta, diesel, 1.6, converted to run on grease a couple of years ago, has not been driven for 3 months. It will not start. It may be that fuel is not reaching the engine. I removed the fuel line from the part that the line comes out of immediately before it goes to the glow plugs (carburetor?), turned on the ignition and pumped the gas pedal. No fuel came out of the outlet. The battery had run down but I had it recharged at a garage overnight and it is fine. Any help would be gratefully appreciated. Thank you. Andrea

Posted Oct 22nd by Andrea Hornbein the owner of a Volkswagen Jetta VW Jetta, Volkswagon, gas mileage, ignition, gas pedal

Answers from the Automotive Experts

While I am not familiar with the specific VW model you have, a Diesel of that vintage should have an injection pump. (Four lines should come out of this unit, each feeding an injector) The fuel feed line that goes to the pump from the tank should be disconnected with the end placed into a suitable container to catch spilled fuel. Crank the engine. Fuel should come out of the line. If it does not, the fuel feed pump (located either in or near the fuel tank) which feeds the engine injection pump may have failed, or the fuel filter may have plugged*especially since you are not using regular refined diesel fuel. If fuel does flow, the glow plugs may be inoperative either due to failure of the glow plug or the controller which cycles the glow plugs on and off, or there may be a problem with the injection pump itself. Correct diagnosis should be made by a service facility familiar with diesel powerplants. In addition, Diesel engines do not use carburetors. Hope this gives some basic info*Super Girls Auto

⟩ Answered on Oct 26th, 2009 by Laurie Sarno, Co-Owner at Super Girls Auto

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