Could it be the pulleys??

[rubjonny]

take out the plug on the top of the gearbox housing next to the block, its got a large hex key fitting. unscrew this and check the flywheel punch mark is lined up with the arrow on the gearbox.  I found on an AGG I worked on recent the crank pulley mark was nearly 90 degrees off!

also once its lined up to TDC on the bottom end, shine a torch down spark plug hole #1 and check the piston is at the top of its travel

these are the marks you are looking for, ignore the big diamond its not required on the AGG, just line up the smaller punch mark up with the arrow:

[sharki786]

whats the chances of the engine messing up? if the top and bottom ends have not been turned just the distriputor pulley? as it tries to start but the backfires. also what is the compression test ment to be on these engines? as looking at the engine from the lft on the 1st spark plug it had just about 100, 2nd was just about 150 then 3rd was just over 100 & 4th was just about 100, its an AGG engine 8v gti mk3, the guy said it ment to be 150 as soon as you ment to crank it?? is that true?

[rubjonny]

should be fine, its a non-interference engine.  if the belt lets go at high revs or it has a lairy cam there's a chance of valve damage,, but otherwise you should be alright.

make sure the timing is 100% spot on before you do a compy test on it, as if valve timing is off its not gonna get up to full compo

[sharki786]

does it mean that theres a clearence between the valves and pistons if the belt goes??

[rubjonny]

yeah thats what it means
with a 16v engine its an interferance, so if the belt snaps = bent valves

[sharki786]

oh wicked i was sat right here waiting nervous. your a life saver im going to get it checked.

[sharki786]

just rang up mechanic and he checked on his laptop and said its an interference engine. engine code is AGG

[rubjonny]

pretty sure it isnt, unless the agg is different somehow to earlier 2.0 8v, which i dont think it is. either way, unless you got it miles out you should be alright?

[sharki786]

i just checked on autodata and it said that its an interference engine. i hope its ok as that engine was strong as anything, i put it through so much crap and it still went. now i dont know im so stressed out, the guy is going to have a look at the timming belt again tommorrow and see as im sure it is out by a quater and he said it shouldnt have done any damage at all. he said that his mate has the same engine with 50k on it, im not sure what to believe. its an 1996 AGG. i know my engine was reliable and all that, its a shame. i pray that its ok!! when you have something for so long you start to rely on it but then before you know it, its gone. i looked after it well aswell.

 

[sharki786]

right people, bit of an update. guys at the garage said that they have lined the bottom end and all that but the car will still not start. he also said that the engine is ok and the valves have not bent. and also has over 100 compression on 3 cylinders and the 4th is just over 100, now im thinking that the ECU has gone into safe mode as the crank sensor sensed that the timming was out??? so took battery off and its on charge. what do i do from here? any info will be helpful.

Tahnk you

Sharki