Rotor Arm

[ASR81]

Is it possible to throw out the timing or mess anything up by changing the rotor arm?

[Crasher]

Can you explain a little more?

[ASR81]

I took off the old rotor arm, and placed the new one... Seemed simple as it will only fit onto one place.

But I wondered if its possible to accidently move the metal rod (Excuse me Im not too technical) onto which the rotor arm actually slides onto.

Im getting this slight misfire when the engines idle. I know the engine should have a bit of vibration, but this has the odd sound of a misfire in there and I thought I might have done something here.

Also, Im not sure if I could have knocked a sensor out whilst taking out the air filter. There is a small one plugged into the air box?

Sorry if my description is a bit vague.

Thanks

[kenney]

It is not possible to disturb the timing when replacing the rotor.I take it you have checked the new rotor to make sure it is indeed in place,did you replace the rotor because the engine was missing,or did the misfire,occur after replacing the rotor.Not to sure when you mention the sensor on the air filter,need the engine code to see what you are talking about.The only thing i can think of is the vacuum unit for intake air preheating.

[ASR81]

The old rotor was full in pretty bad shape and had oil on in which had been leaking through the years, but wasnt misfiring. Then again, the HT leads were bad so I dont know if the misfiring was there before anyway and the car sounded pretty rough anyway.

I'll check the rotor arm again to make sure it sitting on there properly. Also, the rotor was quite rusty, is it a good idea to sand it off or leave if it works?

I'm gonna get it on a computer and check the fault codes and will let you know what it brings up.

[Crasher]

So you changed the rotor and leads but not the cap? From you saying it had oil in the cap we can assume this is a 1.4 or small block 1.6 with the distributor on the head. Stating the year and type of engine is often quite helpful, that is what I meant by my previous post.

[ASR81]

Ohhh sorry, okay engine code is ABF. I dont know if its oil, or just loads of dirt. I changed the cap aswell.

I bought a set of leads from Eurocarparts for about £50. I dont know if cheaper leads would cause such a problem? Is cleaning the MAF risky also?

[ASR81]

Engine code ABF

2.0 GTI 16V '96

[Crasher]

I didn’t expect it to be a 16v. You can clean the MAF with an angle grinder if you like as it hasn’t got one. A slight misfire on an ABF is often down to a split crankcase ventilation hose or a faulty ECU relay.

[ASR81]

OOpps... shows how much I know then. That clears that one up. Ive changed the ECU relay, so I'll check the cracnkcase ventialtion hose.... Which would be where?

[Crasher]

It comes off the front of the block to a junction under the front of the inlet manifold and is very prone to splitting.

[ASR81]

Thanks for that Crasher. Had a quick look and the hose seems okay. Went to get the ECU checked and I been told its faulty! The VAG COM could not even connect. Bloke tried another machine, same problem.

If this is not working the whole car would grind to a halt yes?

If I do get a cheap ECU form somewhere he said I hve to go dealer to get it re-programmed?

[kenney]

Hi Before you change the ECU i would remove the radio connecter and see then, if you can get a reading from the ECU.The fact that you can not gain access does not mean the ECU is defective.It is normaly a last resort,to replace the ECU,after checking that everything else is ok