mk1 cold start lever

[lawny]

hey just curious about the cold start lever in my mk1 gld. so its not a choke right? so what does it actually do? sometimes i forget to push it back in once the car has reached normal driving temp, is this a bad thing and will it wreck anything?

cheers

[Jarred]

i believe it advances(or retards?) the inj. pump timing a bit to make it easier to start when it's cold.

i havn't used mine for a couple months now to start up though.

Also curious to find out more though.

[gldgti]

the cable operates a cam on the timing advance piston inside the injector pump. what this does is advance the timing by a given amount (however much the cam moves the piston). the timing advance mechanism inside the injector pump runs on internal pump pressure and is balanced by a spring, so operates linearly (theres a straight dynamic timing advance curve, so to speak. when you pull out the lever, all you do is advance the bottom end of this advance curve.

basically, in laymans terms, the cable advances the timing at low rpm, and once the engine is going more than 2000rpm it has no effect (the normal advance mechanism has taken over).

it is a foolproof system, and cant be mishandled - so no, you cant hurt anything by driving with it out all hte time - but the diesel rattle at idle will be a little louder, and nitrous emissions increase a tiny bit.

[lawny]

thanks for that, i always thought i would stuff something up if i left it on. great piece of info. cheers