engine dosent start after rebuild

[s13rb25det]

hey, I just got done installing my rebuild 96 ka engine into my 91 240. I used the 96 block and head and every thing else is from the 91 ka.I set my cam timing to instructions on the JWT website and set my dist, at #1tdc. it still will not start I know I am getting fuel because my plugs are fuel soaked and I am getting spark also. does my dist,need to be set with the #1 cyl,cam lobes facing away from the engine or torwards the engine? I have been setting it away from the engine. also I am using the s13 cams does that make a diffence and do they need to be timed diffently than what is shown on the jwt web site? it will crank fine it just will not start at all. any info would be great thanks

[s13rb25det]

I was reading that the intake cam on the single chain ka needs to be moved 4 teeth ccw does this apply to s13 engines or not? my cams are the duel chain.

[kpc_0721]

I just recently got done swapping my rebuilt 95 ka24de into my 91 also. The motor is at least cranking over right? Check all your fuel lines and make sure your starter is good. I believe the ka24de's are supposed to be set at 20btdc. Mine wouldnt start at first so I tried pouring a little gas into my throttle body and into the intake manifold and it started right up but died after a few seconds and I figured out that one of my fuel lines was backwards so check to see you have your lines run right. If you are cranking over, and are getting fuel and spark then my guess would be you have your distributor set wrong so get that straightened out and hopefully it will fire up for you. Let us know if you have any luck with it, later

[s13rb25det]

yeah my fuel lines are hooked up correctly I took pictures before I removed the engine. ka24de are supposed to be set at 20btdc? would I set it to 20btdc when doing my cam timing or just when doing my dist,timing? so should I set my cams at tdc and my dist, at 20btdc? please let me know and thank you for the fast response.

[s13rb25det]

yeah, it is cranking fine and is getting fuel because I can see and feel the fuel on the plugs and it is geeting spark at least on the #1 cyl, because I checked it by putting it close to the header and cranking the engine. what did you set you cam timing at? was it tdc or 20btdc?

[s13rb25det]

also, I couldnt of bent any valves could I? I placed the just the way they were from my s13 to the s14 engine green is on intake side and orange is on exhaust side. I set them with the #1 cam lobes facing out at tdc. it spins pretty freely with the plugs removed. just wondering how far off the cams would have to be to bend valves and what would be the symptoms? thanks

[s13rb25det]

anyone know what my dist, should be det at? is it tdc or 20btdc? and my cam timing should be at tdc right? thanks

[s13rb25det]

all right I went and set my timing and dist, perfectly and it would still not start. so I went to the fuel system and removed the fuel pump fuse and got my engine to run for about a 1 second. what does this mean? bad mafs or fpr? I will be checking those in a little bit if anyone has info about this let me know please!!!!!

[s13rb25det]

I found that my pressure regulator control solenoid valve was broken I can not find one at any autoparts store I think it is a dealer only part. what doe this valve do? does it have anything to do with the fuel system?

[wa-chiss]

no you didn't bend/break a valve. The KA's are non-interferance running engines.

[s13rb25det]

yeah, I know I didnt break a valve or anything I will be testing the fuel system tonight to see if there is anything going on with that and also a compession check

[jeffwubze]

check the fuel pressure regulator

[s13rb25det]

yeah, I checked my few pressure regulator and it looks good. I did notice that my PAIR valve is broken could this cause a no start concern? the pair valve is the little sensor on the back of the head.

[DjPantsSpecR]

UH, no, the KA24DE is not a no interference motor, you most certainly can bend a valve.

s13, i know this might sound trivial, but are you sure you have teh plug wires on teh right dizzy cap posts?

[s13rb25det]

yeah I am pretty sure they are on the right posts. #1 is closest to the front of the engine #2 is closest to the top of the engine #3 is farthest down onthe engine and #4 is closest to the cab of the car. and then I just put them in line from the front of the engine to the back like starting at the front of the engine it would be 1,2,3,4, this is correct isnt it? I am runnig out of ideas of what this could be!! one of my buddys will be looking at it probably tommorow I hope he will see something that I may have over looked. its just good to get a different set of eyes sometimes you know.

[s13rb25det]

all right!! I finaly got it started! what I did was reset the cam timimg by setting it to true tdc, I did this by putting a screwdriver in the #1 cyl, and then bringing it up as high as it will go. I then set my cams and cleaned the heck out of my cylinders and spark plugs. and then it just started right up. it still runs a little rough so I have not driven it yet but I got it up to operating temp and it seems to sound good. there is still a fueling problem though because it takes a few seconds of cranking the engine to get is started I am pretty sure that is is because my PAIR valve is broken I will be getting a new one soon to see if that helps with the problem. any way thank you all for the help and if you have any ideas of what could help the idle and roughness of the engine let me know. thanks

[DjPantsSpecR]

dead injector, i dont know why it happens, but it does.

check em all with a multimeter, youre looking for 10-12 ohms across the terminals

[s13rb25det]

yeah I will give that a try thanks.

[s13rb25det]

what should the compression be on a rebuilt engine? I checked mine and they are all at around 150psi. it should be a little bit higher shouldnt it? I am using stock pistons and new rings cyl, are honed and new valves with new grinds. is it possible for the engine to start with it beibg out of timed?

[s13rb25det]

I forgot to mention this was done on a cold engine. I will retest it soon when it is fully warmed up the numbers whould be a little higher. I will let you know

[s13rb25det]

o.k I checked the comrression when it was fully heated up and it is good they were at like 170-180psi the engine runs good except for the idle still runs pretty bad. I cant find any vaccum leaks and I put a vaccum gauge on the intake mani, and it read at 12hg with no movement. I have not quite set my ignition timing so I will do that soon I hope that this is what it is. the engine sounds great at any other speed but at idle. I will probably install a new CTS tommorow also because mine is pretty old.

[s13rb25det]

o.k I installed new plugs,CTS, and set my ignition timing, and it is still running rough I took it out for a test drive for the first time since the rebuild and it drove great, EXCEPT when I would come to a stop it would stall out. what could this be??? I have spark and fuel and all my sensors are hooked up. my vaccum looks good and does not shift around. my grounds look o.k. and I am getting power to my dist,maf,etc, when running the engine at idle for a while it smells like unburnt fuel so I think it must be running rich or something. could the fuel pressure regulator do something like this? and how do I test one of those? also the engine stalls out if I move the dist, any were away from 20btdc or towards the front of the engine. could it possibly be a MAF problem? and how would one of those be tested? I am sorry for all the stupid questions but I really need to get my car running!! once again my car runs good except for idle where it smells of unburnt fuel and shakes and sounds like a harley.

[s13rb25det]

also could this bad idle be because my cam timing could be off? would the engine even start if timing was off? thanks

[s13rb25det]

hey, thought I would update you guys about this. so I got the engine running perfectly today what I did was reset my cam timing and it sounded a little bit better and drove a little smoother,but it still idled pretty bad. so I took a look at my egr valve and saw that it was bent and the diafram was torn. so I replaced it with one that I had sitting around and it sounded much better. it still stalled out when I would let off the gas coming to a stop so I reset my computer and adjusted my tps and ign, timing and now it drives great! it pulls really well and has a lot more power than my old worn out engine. its pretty nice with the 12lb flywheel also. anyway just want to say thanks to everyone for the help and I hope this thread will help other people with the same problems. thanks