Rebuilt engine won't start...Please help!

[HttpWayne]

...also... is there oil in the engine?

 

[YosemiteJeeper]

yes there is oil. About 6 quarts 5-30 standard oil...which now reeks of fuel I did replace the Crank position sensor, and later undid the bolts in an attempt to push it closer, still no luck.
No, I didn't paint the block. While I'm swapping the TPS and coil (more on that later) I have the battery off, I'll take another go at the grounds they might have some rust, oils, dirt, whatever..something. Connectors too.
Now, the coil did have a long crack in it and 1, maybe 2 smaller others. The TPS was reading far too low this time. 29.5Mv closed and 133Mv WOT. Too high, now too low, what the hell? I'm planning on replacing it unless I read otherwise tonight. Replacing the coil too...Tested fine, but with the crack(s) if it isn't my problem NOW, I'm sure it will be later.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all of you helping me out

 

[old_man]

If the oil smells like gas, you have most likely severely flooded the engine and wet fouled the plugs. A cheap set of Champions are in order. I probably would see if it fires. Depending on how much diluted the oil has gotten I might drain it into a clean container and replace the oil with fresh. Then use one quart each oil change. The gas will evaporate when it gets warm, but until then your lubrication will be shitty. Not a good way to break in an engine. Remember to add the ZDDP.

Without rereading the whole thread, make sure the distributor isn't 180 degrees out of sync.

Put a charger on the battery. An engine can still turn over pretty fast but have low enough voltage that the computer won't work correctly.

Too bad you aren't local. Feel free to call anytime and we can brainstorm.

Tom Houston
970-391-8927

 

[HttpWayne]

I could have sworn I said if the coil has half of a hairline of a crack it's a dud. That's what my problem was. I never tested mine, but the other guy that was a 18 year veteran mechanic showed me that and told me that was our problem.
Turns out he was right.

When I say half a hairline I mean it. It was barely there. It was like being cut with a razor and it closing back up just enough to almost be invisible. I'm sure that's what your problem was.

 

[YosemiteJeeper]

New coil and TPS and changed the oil, still no start. It started firing when I put my foot to the floor, but stopped when I backed off it. Finally, I called AAA to help jumpstart it in case the battery was bad...btw, it did sit on concrete when I was rebuilding the engine. Yet another possibility! haha Anyway, no start, had a good talk about how cool mopars are, told me about the battery. He mentioned putting a scanner on it to see what the computer was doing so I'm gonna try to convince someone to let me borrow one.

 

[cruiser54]

MAP sensor failure or poor connection/vacuum line problem will cause your symptoms..........

Had it happen to me last weekend.

 

[YosemiteJeeper]

Come to think of it there were some vacc issues. I thought they were resolved but might've missed something. I'll check the MAP sensor again too. I can't reach the garage with the scan-tool till monday, so I'm kind of stuck till then I guess. I had the battery checked by a friend that works at another shop and he said its perfectly fine...Volts and CCA were great.

Thanks for all the help guys, really!

 

[cruiser54]

MAP can be checked with a multimeter. Make sure the connector is snapped in real good. As a matter of fact, unplug it, spray it out with electronics cleaner, and plug it back in.

Follow the vac lines from the map down to the throttle body. Any crack, melted area or loose fitting nipple can cause the MAP to get no vacuum signal. The MAP then tells the ECU that there's low or no vacuum and the ECU richens the mixture a bunch.

 

[lawsoncl]

MAP can be checked with a multimeter. Make sure the connector is snapped in real good. As a matter of fact, unplug it, spray it out with electronics cleaner, and plug it back in.

Follow the vac lines from the map down to the throttle body. Any crack, melted area or loose fitting nipple can cause the MAP to get no vacuum signal. The MAP then tells the ECU that there's low or no vacuum and the ECU richens the mixture a bunch.

If you have a vacumn pump, the MAP is real easy to verify. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8EVhFc5Yqw.

If you're checking a sensor used in a turbo'd or sc'd engine, the voltages will be different since it also has to read positive pressure. The color of the insert inside the electrical connector will also not be green. It'll be yellow or orange as I recall to signify how much boost it will read. I think the yellow was up to 29 psi of boost and orange 45 psi of boost.

Fun side note, I actually got a 600cc ninja engine up to 32 psi of boost. I accidentally left the timing pulled back to near zero and it was actually burning most of the charge in the exhaust pipe. The exhaust pipe was medium orange at the end of the dyno run. It only made about half the power that it did at 15 psi.

 

[XJ-ARNIE]

stupid thing to check...but really It only takes a few minutes to check, Run your ignition switch circuit through the paces. see what comes up. Perhaps the run side of the switch has a blown fusable link. wouldn't hurt to test it.

 

[90xj06]

if you turn your key on off on off on the check engine light will flash codes. that might help narrowing down a bad sensor.

 

[YosemiteJeeper]

OK, Problem was solved! Took it to a shop and the guy went through all the checks with me, did this, checked that...ended up doing only 3 things: resetting the timing (my setting was good, he said), Bending the little tab on the rotor back up, and flipping the mounting clamp over. hahaha My guess is that I was a couple teeth off or that tab wasn't touching the cap and was creating a weak spark. Now to fix the coolant leak and break it in! haha

Thanks for your help everybody!!