Thanks for all the advice guys. I am going to check the distributor this weekend and take a closer look at the timing belt.
When I cranked the car on the side of the highway it cranked at normal speed. Hopefully this is a good sign. The timing belt has been replaced twice. Once at 70K and again around 100K when the head was changed for a new factory VW head. The head was changed about 4 years ago and the car is driven less than 10K a year. The head swap was done by R+A Applied Arts in NJ and I have to say the car has run almost perfect engine-wise ever since. Larry 91 GTI 16V -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Adam Frank Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 2:48 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [a2-16v-list] Backfire then Dead I had this same problem once. Turned out to be the distributor/rotor. The distribtor seal wore out and slowly leaked small amounts of hot oil into the distributor while the engine would run. Eventually, it melted/dissolved some of the softer components inside and actually slightly warped my rotor. Same type of thing happened. One day it was running great, then the next min, dead as a doornail. Replaced the dist and rotor, problems solved. On the topic of your timing belt, as said, take off the upper timing belt cover. If you dont see a belt wrapped around the pulley, theres a good chance it broke. How many miles do you have on the car? have you ever had the timing belt replaced before? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Simon" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 7:29 AM Subject: Re: [a2-16v-list] Backfire then Dead > Larry, > > Take off the top cover for the timing belt (couple screws or > clips) and have a look. If it has broken, it won't be on the pulley > but down inside the lower section of the cover. I, too, have heard > of the rotor buttons breaking up. They are supposed to be glued onto > the distributor shaft so if it has been broken, it will require > something to break up the rest of it and clean up the shaft. A > decent pair of RoBo grips, etc. will take care of it but be careful > to not pry up on the shaft.......Jack > > >Easiest way (for me) is pop off the dizzy cap, and turn the engine > >over by hand (ratchet on the crank pulley) and watch for rotation in > >the rotor. > >When you tried to crank it, did it crank at normal speed, or sound > >really fast cranking, faster than normal? This is usually an > >indication of a broken belt (read: bent valves).. Also, you may find > >that popping off the dizzy cap that the rotor button may have broken > >apart. I've seen this a couple of times before, and a simple $5 > >button fixed the problem. Not to say that it is your case, but > >hopefully so! > > > >A backfire indicates a timing error, so I would not suspect a fuel > >pump, but more on the timing/ignition side of things.. > >Keep us informed! > >Ricky in Winchester, VA > >
