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Budd Stanley
Chasing Gremlins
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Budd Stanley
Chasing Gremlins
A cloud of smoke lingers in the air as the Samurai refuses to fire.
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Budd Stanley
Chasing Gremlins
The emergency kit we hope will get her running.
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Budd Stanley
Chasing Gremlins
The in-line fuel pump should provide needed down-line pressure.
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Budd Stanley
Chasing Gremlins
The problem turned out to be the injector pump.
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Budd Stanley
Chasing Gremlins
Diesel was spewing from the throttle shaft.
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Budd Stanley
Chasing Gremlins
Freshly rebuilt, the diesel engine should finally come to life.
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Budd Stanley
Chasing Gremlins
The first shakedown run proved successful.
Words & photos by Budd Stanley
The final push to get Project Zuk running under its own power
There is no getting away from it. When you dive elbows deep into project like this, there are almost certainly going to be some gremlins interfering on the way to getting a full engine swapped rig up and running. Lets just say that when it came to Project Zuk, someone took a fire hose to Gizmo.
When we last left the Samurai, we had test fitted the Aqualu body, fitted the all the old steel body panels we needed to keep, rebuilt the gearbox and fitted a freshly rebuilt VW 1.6L turbo diesel into the engine bay thanks to an Axis swap kit from Rocky Road Outfitters. However, the story ended with editor Irons and I in a smoke filled shop, cranking the diesel engine over relentlessly in an futile bid to find compression ignition. We finally brought the cranky VW diesel to life, but it had a bad miss and finally gave us the middle finger.
Taking a couple days off from the shop to gather our thoughts and allow the toxic smog to clear, we prepared for another attack on the Zuk. Same thing, it would spark to life with a lot of complaining but would never run on all four cylinders. Basic back woods mechanics says start working back, checking for fuel and spark… luckily this is a freshly rebuilt diesel and doesn’t have any spark and the compression is tiptop. Which leaves us with fuel.
We had a hell of a time bleeding the injection pump and fuel lines to the injectors, and to be totally honest, once fuel finally did make it to the injectors, it wasn’t spraying out with the vigor we were hoping for. The easy answer to this, toss an inline fuel pump into the system close to the fuel tank. This should help suck the diesel out of the tank and push it up to the fuel filter in the engine compartment. From there, the injection pump only has to pull fuel across the engine bay. The extra pump will also help bleed the system without the need of pushing the starter to its limits.
We picked up a cheap as Borsht Mr. Gasket micro electric inline diesel fuel pump, along with other odds and sods needed sort out some electrical faults. Running a positive wire from the ignition switch, the fuel pump fit perfectly into the rubber line between the tank and the frame rail hard lines. After a couple tests, we were ready to finally breathe life into the Zuk.
With the ignition on, the inline pump started filling the injection pump and priming the lines to the injectors - excellent. With editor Irons cranking down all the injector lines, I gave the starter an assertive swing of the key, confident that we were now going to hear the VW in all its 1.6-litres of glory.
Cough… cough… sputter… sputter. The engine choked and coughed and once again filled editor Irons shop full of noxious fumes. Time to abandon ship and put our thinking capes on again.
Once the smoke cleared, we ventured back into the shop and decided to let the pump run for a couple minutes before turning the engine over, thinking there must still be air in the lines. With the pump humming away, we retired to the beer fridge for a diet root beer (yeah, I’m not even joking), and our usual daily debate over the gold standard and Azerbaijan’s place in today’s global economic hierarchy. Our battle of the minds was rudely interrupted by the sound of dripping fluids. Upon investigation, our worst worries were confirmed, not only was it diesel fuel spilling on editor Iron’s immaculate shop floor, the diesel was spewing from the top of the diesel injection pump. Bad news.
So, the injection pump is pooched, just like the engine and the gearbox were. After some additional head scratching and world political debating, a call was made to our good buddy Colin, who just happens to be a VW nut. “Do you have an injection pump?” “Yup.” “Come on over, and don’t come alone.”
With a used replacement injection pump in hand, the annoying task of stripping out the old one and bolting the new one on, hoping you get the ignition timing right without the proper tools, ensued. With the new pump all buttoned up; we loosened off the injector lines for the umpteenth time and let the inline pump do its thing. With fuel starting to spew from the injector lines, we buttoned them down and let the inline pump build up pressure once again.
Back to our highly intelligent debate, our new member brought up the always-controversial subject of the duality of man. As I was countering Colin’s views, the familiar sound of fluid hitting the floor echoed loudly through the shop, changing my intelligent rebuttal into a constant series of tried and true curse words, new curse words, never before heard curse words followed by some primordial moans and grunts.
Injection pump number two was pooched.
At this point, I was done messing around and knew what had to be done. The old injection pump that was already pulled from the engine was wrapped up in several rags along with the injectors and I jumped on the road. West Coast Fuel Injection & Turbo in Richmond, BC, was my destination, and within a week, they had the pump and the injectors all rebuilt, polished up and looking like the day they came off the line in Wolfsburg.
Back at Casa di Irons, we bolted up the shiny new injector pump and slotted the injectors back into their homes in the head. Once again, we primed the system with the inline pump until diesel spewed from the injector lines. Iron’s cranks them down and we let the pump hum away for another minute. With the swing of the key and a look of desperation on my face, the VW cranks over. With a mighty bellowing of smoke, a surge of life shoots into the Samurai. The Zuk is running, and purring away smooth as silk on all four. The cloud of smoke clears and I can finally drive it out of the shop. A couple of shakedown laps around the neighbourhood confirmed the Samurai was good to go. Just in time for a late snow run, the Zuk’s maiden voyage.
During the first drive, I was watching all the gauges like a hawk and listening for any strange noises, this was after all the first time I’d ever driven it. The diesel ran beautifully, it really was quite happy in the engine bay of a Samurai. The fuel was flowing well, no misses and the temperature holding steady. The engine swap so far has been a success. As for the rest of the Samurai…
The suspension is horrendous; the previous owner must have put Ford Super Duty white can shocks on it. The steering is in major need of tightening, the alignment seems a little off, the wheel bearings are toast, the wipers are all but useless, the transfer case is a bit sticky, the fuel tank has a bit of a leak and we’re going to need to tidy up the interior and undercarriage. So, with the first major step in Project Zuk coming to completion, we now look forward to the rest of the Sami’s restoration. Lots to come.