finally got my RB20 started

[home13oy75]

I had a perfectly running RB20DET in a S13 about 1.5 years years ago. I had a leaking coolant line which I decided to pulled the entire intake manifold off. After finishing the repair I just couldn't get the car to run right. It kept dying - so I figured maybe I have short somewhere since I had also repainted the engine bay with the motor in. The gauges in the car weren't working correctly so I started by pulling all the gauges off. Then the car wouldn't start. So I thought perhaps it was the alarm that was preinstalled on the car. I took a break from the car.

After about 6 months I decided to tackle the problem again. I was starting but Idling sporadically. I cleaned the Iacv and followed all the recommendations on the sites. Recently - the car started and while bleeding the coolant system - the car suddenly died after the fans kicked on. It just wouldn't start again.

I was checking for spark. No spark. So I figured that it must be the ignitor. I tested the CAS by spinning it and noticed that it was the injectors were clicking at first and then stopped. The ecu light was out. Messing around for a while I realized that there is a blue relay with two plugs going into it by the passenger headlamp area. I tapped it a few times and the CAS was making the injectors click again. I held my breath and the car started - it even drove around the block without dying on me.

Question. Since I had some problems putting the cAS back on - trying to line it up with the key - I think I moved the key a little to align it to the CAS. Will my timing be off now?

[mello88]

Glad you got it going again... Turned out to be a bad relay?

I take it your CAS key on the camshaft isn't broken off yet? The CAS will only go on one way if that key is intact. If it's broken off you have to line it up as best you can to where it should be. Then use your timing light and re-time the engine.. You don't want the CAS to be off a tooth... Not sure if you can adjust the CAS to compensate for it being off a tooth, I'd just get it right so you don't have to worry about it...

[home13oy75]

The CAS key is fine. What happened was that I couldn't align it correctly and end up moving the key from the original position to line it up with the CAS when re-inserting it. I was just wondering if my timing would be off since I rotated the key a littlefrom the original position I had it when removing the CAS.

[mello88]

Not sure how you could move the key, it's jammed in the cam pretty good. My (and lot of other dudes) key broke off a while ago, so it's kind of a pain to reinstall the CAS correctly. Just take your time and you can line it up perfectly...

Anyway... Any time that you remove the CAS without first marking its original position you need to re-time the engine. I'm sure your timing is off unless you carefully marked & reinstalled the CAS. All you need to do is use a timing gun to double check your timing, it takes less time than writing this post/response!

[home13oy75]

Thanks for the help. I know it's faster to check the timing but since I don't have a gun I wanted to make sure before buying one.