'90 FWD TSI - First Project Car - Getting It Running

[liljaywizzle85]

I found the car on craigslist, and bought it a couple months ago. It wasn't running, and I talked him down to $650. The guy told me it only needed exhaust piping and inter cooler piping... boy was he wrong. This is the car and engine shot when I first got it.

 

[liljaywizzle85]

So after I had the car brought to my shop, I was able to tinker with it through out the day when we weren't busy. Its like everytime I messed with it, I found another problem. First problem was dealing with the fuel. We started it with brake cleaner, and it wouldn't run. So I drained the tank and put fresh gas in it. Still wouldnt run. Then I removed the fuel feed line and turned it over to make sure the pump was working, it was. I then removed the injectors and let them soak in gas overnight to make sure they weren't clogged up.

 

[jonnyboy21]

try checking your coil packs and plugs

 

[liljaywizzle85]

Oh my bad. I was at work when I typed that earlier, didn't get to finish. Its fixed now. It was the fpr. A guy on here named KREEZ and my boy BJ helped me figure it out. But thanks though.

 

[liljaywizzle85]

After the no run condition was solved, oh yeah, we tested the fuel pressure with a pair of vise grips... Clamped off the return line and it ran, . I bought a regulator from a guy on here and I used the vise grips as my fpr until the real one came in.

When I got it, I installed it and its been running ever since. Then thats when I realized I had a clutch fluid leak. I pumped the clutch by hand for about 30mins before giving up and going home. Out of all that pumping, it built up enough to come about a inch from the floor, I was P'd, . Got back to work on Monday to find a big puddle of brake fluid. Turns out the slave cylinder needed to be replaced ages ago, but the guy just rigged it instead, I'll post pics of it...

 

[lex]

On the possibly bright side for the work the car needs, the engine looks CLEAN!

 

[2G-GS-T]

That looks legit inside the bay, one hell of a sleeper

 

[smrogers5771]

hey where did you get that car at?? Looks like the one I sold to a guy named kevin. I mean everything including the paint peeling off the hood! haha

 

[liljaywizzle85]

@lex yea the engine's clean, i gotta pull the oil pan off and redo the gasket, but besides that, its clean.

@2G-GS-T hell yea... I'm going to use it to my advantage, that's gonna pay for the body work and paint, ...

@smrogers5771 I got it from a guy in Slidell, La. ... not Kevin..

 

[liljaywizzle85]

Posted a pic of the rigged slave cylinder(one on the left).

Bought a new one from a guy on here, turned out to be one for a AWD. So I had to get another one, and wait a couple more days. Finally it came in and I installed it. Got busy at work and didn't get to prime the clutch til like two days later. Finally got around to doing it and I finally got to drive her.

 

[liljaywizzle85]

So for the last couple weeks I've been starting and driving it(for very short distances of course). Right now its open mani(no turbo) and no cooling fans...

 

[liljaywizzle85]

Hadn't posted in awhile... so time to get up to date.

So I tried to install a small 16G and I'm using a pace setter mani. It didnt go so well, the the oil return line wouldnt line up. I then mounted the turbo to the drain tube first and then tried to force the turbo and mani to bolt up. I couldn't get all the bolts in, so I took removed the drain tube and bent it a little to line up, it worked perfectly. My manager was giving crap about my car being in the shop so I had to hurry and get it out. It was in the shop because I had to drop the oil pan to regasket it, inspect the bottom, and do some clean up of all the gunked up oil on the bottom of the engine. So while adding oil, I heard a sound like water running.... forgot that i had left the drain plug on top of my box, . When I raised the car, to my surprise, there were two streams of oil, one from the drain hole and the other from somewhere on the back side of the engine. Some time had passed before I finally found the problem. Ill post a pic of the problem. The left front corner of the head(from the cams) had separated from the block, so as I add oil, it would pour from the gap. So I pulled the engine, removed the head and measured the mating surfaces of the head and block. They both were inspect. Got a new head gasket cause I think the guy reused the one he had on there. As I was installing the head, I found the problem that caused the separation... A washer, the one on the head stud, he doubled up the one on the right front(from the cams) and had none on the left, so that gave it room to lift slightly. So I corrected everything and torqued down the head. While hoisted in the air, I re-timed the engine, he had it off two teeth. But yea, all that caused me a big set back. So the engine went back in and I got it running good. Now I gotta get some exhaust component gaskets and install the FMIC...