Cylinder Id

[mogster]

bought a bus plug wires were all off
i know the firing order is 1432 and the distributor turns clock wise
how are the cylinders numbered ?
manual say right  side of car front clinder is #1
is that lookin at it from the exhaust or headlights
would be clearer driver side ,passenger side,closest,farest from tranny
what is considered the front of the engine on a vw?

[Bruce]

would be clearer driver side ,passenger side,

No it wouldn't.  What if you were in England reading the instructions?  What if you had a RHD car over here?

The international automotive convention is that front is towards the front of the car, even when you are standing at the rear bumper looking at the engine.  Thus the front of a VW engine is nearest the transmission.

Also, the convention is that the right side is the right side if you are sitting in the car.  So if you are standing at the front bumper with the front hood open, the brake fluid resevoir is on the left side of the car, even though it is to your right.

Wipe away the dirt on the flat part of the cylinder covers near where the spark plugs screw in.  You will see the cylinder numbers stamped into the sheet metal.

[silas]

The international automotive convention is that front is towards the front of the car, even when you are standing at the rear bumper looking at the engine.  Thus the front of a VW engine is nearest the transmission.

here is where it can get confusing.

the sae standard is that the flywheel end is the principal end and the pully & belt end is the non-principal end. in most applications the non principal end is known as the front of the engine.

 

[mogster]

thanks for the info!