ka24de won't start

[garlendrix]

i have a 1991 240sx with the ka24de. i got it from a guy who said the timing was way off. i started tooling with it and i set it exactly as the chilton book says. when i start it, it will crank forevever but won't start. it has never started for me. the plugs get spark and it gets gas up to the fuel filter anyway. it seems to still be outta time i guess? how do i use a timing light if i can't get it to run? could this be due to some other problem? help!

[tero404]

hmmm... u have air, fuel, and spark all correctly timedcan u bump start it?

to use a timing light.... connect the positive and negitive clampsto the battery and hook the clamp from the timing light on to thefirst spark plug wire. DO NOT START DA CAR YET! losen da 2 bolts onthe distributer, just so u can turn it when its time to adjust it.now u can start it.

when its running (if u get it running) point the flashing lightto the crankshaft pulley. as the light flashes u should seelittle numbers and notches and a pointer that tells u where the timingis set currently (unless its that dirty). i believe the correct timing for a ka24de is -20 which in this case is closes to the driver side

let me know how it turns out

[sniperbill3]

the same thing happened to me with the same results on my ka24e but what you have to do if your car is standard get someone to drag you down the road and pull start because after a teardown like that i guess the engine doesnt get enough compression and after we pulled mine it started right up

[DubsSuck]

mine is not starting either and it sounds like we have close to the same problem. can you get any codes to flash on your ecu/engine light?

[garlendrix]

haven't checked the codes yet, where is the ecu when i do get to it? has yours been throwin any codes? and i tried to bump start it but it was slow and i'm not convinced that it woulda started even if it was running strong. i will have to try that again. are there any sensors that could do this?

[DubsSuck]

the ECU is in the kick panel on the passenger side

[DubsSuck]

also you may have flooded your engine.. take the spark plugs and wires out and trun the key.. you may even want to pull the fule pump relay aswell so i doesn't shoot any extra gas in the engine.you also might want to do a compression test.

[tero404]

the O2 sensor could cause ur car to run like *** but still run and fire the check engine light(usually), the car could start with or with out a MAF sensor reading (at least mine does anyway)

what do u mean when u say u tried to bump start it and it was running slow. did u get it to start? did it run all on its own? like dubsSuck said,it may just be flooded... keep us posted

[garlendrix]

it's definately not flooded. i could let it sit for days and try to start it and nothing. no, it hasn't been started. what i mean by it was slow was the guy that was helpin me had no clue how to bump start. he drove incredibly slow (i could have pushed it faster) so i don't think it was moving fast enough to start. one thing, and i dont' know if this helps: when i turn the key, all you hear is the starter motor, no real engine noise but, i know for a fact that the engine is at least turning. the other thing: i had it set 180 degrees off and it backfired thru the intake, could it have done that without good compression?

[garlendrix]

also when the guy parked it initially the only problem was the timing, it ran decently (i've seen it run years ago). the only things that were touched were the timing components. once it was taken apart though, it never started again. on the upper chain, there are three marks, two are 7 links apart and the third is like 9 links apart. which side should the 9 links be on when the motor is in tdc?

[tero404]

not sure about the links but i can look it up on mitchell on demand for u and yea if its off like dat it could cause ur car to run really bad, if worst comes to worst, maybe ur valves did get bent =/ (contridicts what i said about it being a non-interference engine )

[garlendrix]

if they were bent would i hear them when i try to start it? i also turned the engine by hand at one point and i didn't really feel any resistance. does any body know how to do static timing? and how is the easiest way to check and clean the fuel injectors? i know i have gas up to right after the fuel filter but i still don't smell as much gas as i think i should for as much as i was trying to turn the engine over.