Search is down at the moment. Car is an '89 240sx, KA24E.
I just finished replacing the timing chain, guides, tensioner, etc. Everything is back together now but the car won't start. I have yet to check spark but I'm assuming this is due to me somehow screwing up the timing, as everything worked great beforehand. I know that the crank is in the same position relative to the cam sprocket - I marked and lined up the chain with each gear. What other timing mistakes could I have made, or possible causes for it not starting?
89 240sx : Timing problems after timing chain replacement.
I made a mark on the distributor when I took it off. When I put it back on, the mark was about 3/4" off. I tried it anyway, didn't work. So I took the distributor off and rotated the engine by hand until the marks lined up, then tried it again, no go. So would I need to put the first cylinder at TDC, then make sure the marks line up?
No, I didn't. Tomorrow I'm going to try setting the engine at TDC and then line up the distributor, and see if that works. If that doesn't work, and it probably won't, then I guess out comes the oil again:ofaceNISTECH wrote:did you line up the shaft in the oil pump before you reinstalled it? there is a mark on the pump/dist drive shaft that matches one on the pump so when your drop it in the distributor will line up correctly.
your oil pump hangs off the front of the timing cover You should be able to just drop the pump down, pull out the shaft,yank the distributor, line up the marks on the shaft with the mark on the pump slide them both back up into the front cover bolt them in then set your distributor in place. Make sure you set the engine to top dead center #1 first before you start taking it apart.
So there's no mark on the timing cover or the block anywhere that I need to be aware of? The distributor will only fit in one way with the shaft (semicircular fitting I think), so if I understand you correctly, all I need to do is line up the oil pump shaft with the oil pump, reinstall the oil pump, and then the distributor should line right up. Let me know if I'm making a bad assumption, otherwise I'm going go ahead and do this today after work.
Update: I realigned my oil pump with the pump shaft, reinstalled it, and put the distributor back on (all at TDC of course). The engine still turns over and doesn't catch. I now know my oil pump is aligned correctly with my distributor, and my cam is aligned correctly with my crank. Is there any other aligning I'm missing? Other possible reasons it won't start?
not mechanically if you had all your marks lined up correctly. You are correct about the dist only going in one way with the pump shaft. You have something else going on. what dont your have? fuel,spark,or compression? [when I say fuel I mean both pressure as mesured with a gauge and pulse at the injector tested with a noid light.]
fuel pressure is checked by teeing in a fuel pressure gauge between the fuel filter and the fuel rail. when you turn the key from off to on it should pump up to about 36 psi. You can get a GM noid light from autozone for $6.99 It will work on a nissan. you just plug it into one of your injector conectors and crank the engine. It should pulse while cranking the engine.
Update: Tested injector pulse, all injectors pulsed about the same, a fairly quick series of flashes. They seem fine. While I was at it I ran a compression test, all cylinders except #2 were 145-150 psi, and #2 was 50-60 psi. I put about a teaspoon of oil in the cylinder and pressures jumped up to where they should've been. This indicates a bad ring seating, but I don't think that one bad cylinder would be enough to keep it from starting.
I didn't check fuel pressure as I wanted to check everything else before spending $35 on a gauge, but I can hear the pump come on when I turn the key, and before I did the timing job everything worked great. I also rechecked the firing order, even tried doing it a few other ways, and I'm convinced I had it correctly the first time. I checked spark, all cylinders are firing.
The car sounds just as it should, only it doesn't catch. Tonight the car briefly started to sputter (hope sprang eternal), but only once and nothing after that. I have a feeling that it is either something really simple or really bad. Can you think of anything very dumb I may be missing here? If nothing comes up, I'll go get the fuel pressure tester tomorrow and try that.
Big Red: What type of manual was this? I am using a Chilton.
I didn't check fuel pressure as I wanted to check everything else before spending $35 on a gauge, but I can hear the pump come on when I turn the key, and before I did the timing job everything worked great. I also rechecked the firing order, even tried doing it a few other ways, and I'm convinced I had it correctly the first time. I checked spark, all cylinders are firing.
The car sounds just as it should, only it doesn't catch. Tonight the car briefly started to sputter (hope sprang eternal), but only once and nothing after that. I have a feeling that it is either something really simple or really bad. Can you think of anything very dumb I may be missing here? If nothing comes up, I'll go get the fuel pressure tester tomorrow and try that.
Big Red: What type of manual was this? I am using a Chilton.
IT'S ALIVE! I had only tried 3 different firing orders, I went back and tried the fourth and it turned right over. 
But I don't think I'm out of the woods yet. I hear a tapping/knocking at idle, coming from (you guessed it) around the #2 cylinder. I'm guessing this is because the timing is slightly off. I took a short video of it which I will upload later so you can see what I'm talking about.
Edit: NM all better now
But I don't think I'm out of the woods yet. I hear a tapping/knocking at idle, coming from (you guessed it) around the #2 cylinder. I'm guessing this is because the timing is slightly off. I took a short video of it which I will upload later so you can see what I'm talking about.
Edit: NM all better now
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