Popping metering head.

Now i have the engine turning on the starter at a decent rate, i've now got another prob. As said, starters turning over the engine nicely, but it doesn't fire at all. All im getting is an occasional backfire pop through the metering head!. I've got fuel pressure (more on that in a mo..) and i have sparks at the plugs. The timing was pre-set by Racepower when they built it, so i'm assuming thay thats all in order. Any ideas?

As a side note, the fuel pump wont run unless i run a direct feed and bypass the ignition etc. Should the pump run continually, or does it just  run when it needs to pressurize the sysytem?
I'm fairly new to Golfs, so excuse my nubbin questions  :?

Timing is wrong.

the timing will be wrong causing the spark to ignite fuel and go back up the inlet.

also the fuel pump should really be run off the relay as this way it only runs when the engines turning over.(it runs all teh time and any unused fuel is returned to the tank)

this may sound daft , but are your plug leads on in the right order??

i had same prob with mine, turned out that the timing was 180 degrees out.  when crank is at TDC the pulley on the cam had the mark on the outer side matched with the cam cover.  what it should be is a mark on the inner side (the rocker cover side) matching with the top of the cam cover.

if that makes sense! basically when you remove the outer cam belt cover you are left with a half of the cover between the pulleys and the actual engine. on the top pulley there are two marks, one 'dot' on the outside and one 'dot' on the inside closest to the engine.  when number 1 piston is at the top of its combustion stroke the dot on the inside must be level with the top of this inner cover right next to the top edge of the head.  theres a guide at the top of this section of the forum to setting it with photos.