no such userThats pretty much the same with an 8 Valve.
Things to note are when all the timing marks are lined up, with the dizzy cap off you should see a line on the surface of the distributor body, the rotor arm should be pointing to that if not loosen the dizzy and turn it so it does, that is where the igniton lead for cyl 1 goes, this is all good in theory and is normally close enuff to get it running so you can fine tune the timing. but sometimes it lies because quite often the intermediate shaft jumps a tooth when your putting the belt on and there is nothing to say that if the dizzy has been replaced the new one was put in lined up with the engine at TDC.
if that appears to be the case just turn the dizzy, turning it in direction the rotor arm rotates retards the ignition timeing, the opposite way advances it. random poping out the carb says to me that sparks are arriveign on the intake stroke, thins makes me think your timeing is 180 out so it maybe worth moveing all the plug leads round 2 places on the dizzy.
if the enigne then starts to hesitate durign crankign it meas it’s tryign to fire durign the compression stroke it may even kick backwards 1/2 revolution. turn dizzy in direction of rotor arm rotation.
if it’s choughing or poping in the exhaust turn the dizzy the opposite way
dirtrider212002hey ive tried starting the car again today while twisting the distributor. she is trying to fire but still wont actually start. i am going to see if i can take it to some m8s i no at a garage in the next couple of days and see what they can sort out.
ld50fair enough – i seem to recall endless charging of batteries stopped being fun pretty quickly and the repeated “nernernernernernerner…ner…nnnnottoday” didn’t do much for my popularity with neighbours either so garage maybe not a bad idea 
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dirtrider212002right garage had a look today. they noticed that i had timed the dizzy up to go clockwise and not anticlockwise so that was a problem and they have put the leads around the correct way. other than that they cant see any other reason why it will not start. my cambelt is timed correctly etc. they said it is obviursly getting petrol as it stinks of it but without it running they cant check if the carb is set up correctly. the only thing they can think of that could be the problem is the silly 276 cam. do you think this could be the problem and by swaping the cam to the old gti cam do you think it would run? seriosly tho everyone thanks for your help so far.
Chris SIt should start & run with the 276 cam, btw did you put some neat petrol down the inlet an try starting it? it sounds like its your sparks if it smells of petrol that bad, have you taken a spark plug out to see if it is wet with unburnt petrol?
dirtrider212002hey there chris onl just got your email you sent about phoning me it came through as junk for some reason. dont wory i dont want to waste your money by phoning from abroad thanks for the offer tho. when you earth the plug out to the head you can see it sparks but yes when u pull the plugs they are very wet im pretty sure there is enough petrol is there a base setting you can put the weber to. like turn the mixture screw all the way in and then 3 turns back out for example? if you guys recon it should definatly run on the 276 cam it has to be fuel/ air because i no it is sparking now and its sparking at the right time.
Chris SThe mixture screw should be one & a half to one & three quarter turns out, set that then make sure the choke is OFF and put the gas pedal to the floor & hold it there while you turn the motor over on the key, keep turning for 30 seconds or so if its flooded that should clear it and hopefully it will start.
no such useri very much dought air fuel mixture is stopping it from starting, a petrol enigne will run on an incredible range of mixtures, it’ll go tho it may not be pritty. out of intrest whereabouts are you based ?
dirtrider212002hey there i am based in ivybridge. it is in devon between plymouth and exeter. im guna see if i can get a compression tester tonight make sure i have compression in every cylinder
mk2_syncroa local syncro! im in torquay, good luck with getting it running
dirtrider212002hi ive cum 2 my last tether with it now i just wana scrap it. i have compression on all cylinders 6 bar on every cylinder apart from cylinder 4 which is 4 and a half bar. this shuldnt stop it starting tho. ive been told fireing order is 1342 but lookin at my m8s gu engined jetta syncro its 1243. so im duno which firing order i am ment to have. the closest thing i have got to fireing is a large fireball out the carb. we have had it stuttering and trying to start but it still wont run. no one nows now why it wont start. i think the hydraulic tappets are holding the valves open slightly on cylinder 4. has anyone got any idea what it could be before i go mad.
Chris SI now KNOW why your engine wont start
http://www.vwsyncro.co.uk/data/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1890
Your motor code is GU,
My VW manual says that with a new a GU, 1P or PF motor the compression should be between 10 & 13 bar, the minimum pressure for a used motor is 7.5 bar, with a maximum difference of 3 bar between the cylinders
And Dannyp reckons
for a motor with a fair few miles on it, cr to miles seem to go a bit like this
6-7 bar = ( mega miles + abuse ) it’s dead on it’s feet gonna drink fuel and make no power and be a sod to start.
8-9 bar = (150,000 + miles) it’s done lots of work and would like it’s valves regrinding.
10- 11 = (100 – 150 ,0000 miles ) resonably healthy.
12- 13 = ( sub 100,000 miles ) very healthy.
Chris SNow presuming that it was running ok before you swapped the head out, then the fault is with either the new head or the 276 cam, do you know what make the cam is?
If the head has been lying around for a while there could be corrosion on the valves/seats, this is normal and just meants the valves need regrinding in to seal properley, with a bit of effort you can do this for yourself at home.
dirtrider212002hey i reground the valves in myself before the head went on and gave it new stem seals. it looks like its guna be the cam thats the problem then. if i remember rightly its a newman cam.
dirtrider212002hi there im guna put the gti cam back in see if i can boost the compresion by allowing the valves to shut can someone please confirm the firing order on the gu engine. is it definatly 1342. thanks and lets see if itl run