Have a look at this

You need two 8mm dowels / bolts, inserted as shown in "4" on the final page.

Turn the engine over and check if the two cams are aligned correctly

timing_belt.pdf

I think I know where I have gone wrong now.

After reading over the timing instruction when it's not blowing a gale and pissing it down it makes more sense.

Going to take it all off and time it up again.

I need a garage, working outside is so frustrating.

It's so much easier in a garage when you and the car are warm and dry. Glad it makes sense, having done it once I think you'll find it much quicker on the second run through.

Don't forget to turn the engine over a couple of times before you try to start her again, just like before.

Good luck and here's hoping for better weather for you

Cheers bud, like I said at the beginning of the thread this is my first time tackling a job of this complexity except the clutch on a polo and it's a bit of a learning curve.

But once you have done it before the second time is a lot easier.

In terms of weather I think we are getting the tail end of the big storm they had in the states tomorrow. Think Wednesday night be a better bet and also I'm karting tomorrow night! Need a break haha!

Just don't over exert your forearms holding onto the steering wheel so you can't wield a spanner on Wednesday then

Another thought - you'll need to rotate the crank so the pistons are not too near TDC when you are getting the inlet / exhaust cams back into line otherwise the valves could touch the pistons. You'll then need to rotate cams / crank in the right direction until the cams line up with the dowel holes and the crank is in the correct position. Take your time and go steady with the movements. Be aware that the cams will tend to want to jump forward / backward as the valves move off the cam lobes and the springs exert pressure to close the valve.

Edited 25 January, 201610 yr by 937carrera

I position the cams first, locking them with a pair of M8 bolts, with the crank at TDC. Then carefully place the cam carrier onto the rockers. In this position the lobes are retracted the most anyway, as with any other 4-pot at TDC. I want the bolts in the sprockets anyway, for the belt timing, and I want the sprockets with the little belt on, and little tensioner in place, so this way is ideal.

Out of interest when the cams are locked in the timing position using the two 8mm dowels how are are the valves position across the 4 pots? I'm trying to upload pictures but the app is having none of it.

The pistons are all at their furthest reach, so the valves are all switching from one to the other - all of them are near closed (around the point of overlap).

Out of interest when the cams are locked in the timing position using the two 8mm dowels how are are the valves position across the 4 pots? I'm trying to upload pictures but the app is having none of it.

It's a 4 cylinder, 4 stroke engine

What this means is that each cylinder in on one of the 4 strokes at any point in time

If No1 is at TDC (or let's say just before) it is at the end of the compression stroke. At the same time piston number 4 is at TDC on the exhaust stroke.

Numbers 2 and 3 are at the bottom of the stroke, with a firing order of 1-3-4-2, number 3 in on the intake stroke and number 2 is on the power stroke

Ignoring the complexities of valve overlap, which is there for a number of reasons, valves can be thought to be operating as follows

Compression........Both Closed

Power...................Both Closed

Exhaust................Exhaust valve open (before TDC allowing air to flow out)

Intake...................Inlet valve open (after TDC sucking air in)

Overlap just makes the problem worse because both valves can be open near TDC as the exhaust stroke finishes

The video below seems to have a decent animation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGj8OneMjek

It's fine simply setting the cams and then putting the cam carrier in place when the head is off. It's what I did.

In your situation Tom the head is already in place and your intake cam is out of sync. If you simply try to rotate the intake cam to get it in the correct place when one of the pistons is at TDC you will probably be in the situation where one of the intake valves is fully extended and the piston is at TDC. That's when valves get bent and why I am suggesting you rotate the crank backwards away from TDC so that you can move the intake cam without risking contact with a piston. Then when you are somewhere near you can move both cams and crank together until everything is lined up.

I hope that makes some sense

If you've already sealed the cam carrier on and didn't time up the sprockets first, you'll have a 25 per cent chance for each cam to be in the right position!

Obviously you have to bolt the head on without the cams but otherwise, if your cams are in one of the other three positions and you need to rotate them to line them up, then I agree with the above that you must pull the pistons down to give clearance. Give the crank pulley a quarter turn so all the pistons are half way, then rotate the cams to their position, then put the crank pulley back to TDC.

The cams will only want to sit in four positions, one for each cylinder overlap point, and one of those positions is at the timing mark.

This is why I time the cams before even placing the carrier onto the head - so you don't have to duck the pistons to set the cams. Also, it's easier to lay the belted cams onto the tensioner, instead of fkn about trying to fit the tensioner under the cams.

Again awesome info there. I have taken a half day at work to try and get this sorted. Will update soon [emoji106]

IT IS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!! [emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]

Fantastic, thanks for letting us all know.

Did you notice that in the timing belt document I uploaded the allowed time for a timing belt change is 1.6 hours, eeek

You should be very pleased with yourself

I'm absolutely chuffed!

If I took a bit more time in the first place and didn't let the weather conditions get to me I'm sure I would have got it first time.

The mistake I made was timing the engine up to the diagram on the right of the documentation and not the left.

Luckily it was 180 degree out and I didn't damage any valves.

I can't thank you guys enough for all the input, I couldn't of done it without you.

There are a couple of other little issues with the car that I will get to as soon as we have some better weather but for now I'm happy I have my little GTI back.

must say I've enjoyed reading this thread, congratulations, most folks would have binned it!

Cheers, total cost of getting it back on the road was £158 so much for a £700 estimate from the garage.

I was hoping to do it for less but the new head gasket broke my budget a bit haha

It's a great feeling when you get it going.

Good job.

PoloD.

Cheers, total cost of getting it back on the road was £158 so much for a £700 estimate from the garage.

I was hoping to do it for less but the new head gasket broke my budget a bit haha

Its also better knowing that you did it, and feel you know the car a bit better.

So after driving around for the past couple of days I sorted another little issue.

There was a single knock when pulling away from the drivers side wishbone.

Turned out that the link between the anti roll bar and the new wishbones I installed when changing the clutch needed nipping up [emoji106]

The main issue I have with the car now and it has been a persistent problem is when I jump in the car and start driving there is a lack of power when accelerating hard around 5k revs.

Turn the engine on and off and it's back to normal and rather pokey!

It's quite intermittent and doesn't always happen first thing in the morning.

In the past to solve this issue I have:

- changed camshaft sensor

- changed crankshaft breather hose and cleaned housing

- repaired a broken wire on the lambda sensor

- full service

- upgraded air filter

- new fuel filter

The only thing I haven't tried is a new crankshaft sensor but I have been putting it off as its in a bloody awkward spot and I was hoping the new head gasket/cylinder head might to sorted the issues.

Any ideas?

Will read codes at lunch it happen this morning

Did you get your codes ?

I can assure you that replacing the flywheel sensor can be a pig of a job. I had a spare engine out of the car to practice on and I still couldn't undo the shallow head allen bolt using a bit and ended up resorting to chisel and hammer to release the bolt

Haven't read the codes yet as it hasn't played up at all this weekend and have done loads of driving.