Please help, unknown prob ka24de-t

[Yuraska]

Hey guys, i'm writing here the second time, first one wasn't posted because my phone died and text deleted itself. That's why long story short. I'm 20, i'm a general mechanic working in the shop near miami fl.
Alright, story of 5 mon 2 days
3 aug bought 1996 240 ka24de-t with leaking turbo and bad engine, mafs and ecu previos owner swapped from sr20det. Ecu chipped. The car wasn't holding idle but it was because the adjustment screw on throttle body wasn't secured. After that it idled fine, but still needed an engine rebuild.
Later:
Rebuilt head. Changed the turbo The car started with idle 5000 rpm
Noticed antifreeze leak between head and block
Replaced engine from 1991 240. Used only long block as everything else was different.
Didn't start. Put a rebuilt head.
Started. Idle 3000 rpm, air to fuel 10.3:1; after 5 sec ar ratio flies to 17.8 and the car stalls. Turbo started leaking.
Bought a new turbo. Gt28 ball bearing disco potato.
31 dec started replacing turbo after work. Took off the oil feed line, smelled the gasoline in the oil.
Left the exhaust mani w old turbo and downpipe assy in the engine bay w vacuum and o2 sens connected. Took off the fuel rail with injectors. A-fpr reads 30 psi with key in on pos. air fuel ratio reads 14.3 when i crank, but the car stopped starting. Took off fuel rail. Injectors spray fine. Compression min 140 max 155. My brain bowls. I work 11-12 h per day, then stay after work until 11pm- 1am few times a week for last 1.5 month. There's also a lot of interior/exterior defects, so i have a lot of work beside the engine. But it's the only and the most important thing i can't fix. I'm close to giving up. Please, help me solve that problem! I'll do whatever you ask to do with the car, i'll check every option, every chance for a solution, just please give me at least ideas of what could be wrong no matter how crazy they are! I am very very tired! I've pit SO MUCH EFFORT in this car, as well as money, my shoes look like i stole them from hobos, i can't afford new ones because all my money flows in the car! I have ran out of ideas! Please help me! And sorry for my language if i write something not correctly, i'm half russian half latvian and i moved here less than 1 year ago

[blkvrtswp]

Sorry to hear all the problems - first thing I would look into is the gas smell in the oil. This means you probably flooded the cyls, and the fuel dripped past the piston rings and got into the bottom end. Also, flooding makes a 4 cyl engine really hard to start sometimes. Perhaps some of your "not starting" was a result of this. Change the oil (fuel in oil causes spun bearings), make sure the fuel injector o-rings are not allowing fuel to drip out (pull fuel rail, key on to pressurize fuel rail, you should see no fuel dripping) and then dry the cyls out with a hair dryer. This flooding can be extremely frustrating - you have to keep at it to eliminate it as a reason the engine won't start.

The next thing I would look at is cam timing - again, DOHC engines can be a pain to get the timing right. Coupled with a potential flooding issue, you can go in circles and drive yourself crazy. Sounds like where you are at right now!

1) Eliminate 100% the cause of the flooding, and dry out cyls / change oil
2) Redo cam timing exactly using factory service manual (available online here on NICO - check stickies)

Then you have a stable base to hopefully get the engine running and idling right.

Good luck!

[Yuraska]

Thanks, i'll do it tonight!

[Yuraska]

Hey guys, i checked the injectors, they are fine, no leaks. I wasn't able to check the timing yet, crazy amounts of work, hopefully tomorrow will be able to correct the timing if it's wrong, and i hope really really strong that this is the thing i messed up. Also, i know it sounds very stupid, but i can't stop asking myself a question: is a-fpr supposed to sit on fuel return line or it's also messed up and has to sit on inlet hose? Yeah, it's pretty obvious that the only thing to regulate the pressure is on return line, as it's basically regulates the pressure on a fuel rail by controlling the fuel flow going through the fpr, and the only possible way to regulate it is to stay after the fuel rail so the fuel pump builds the pressure and fpr corrects it... But anyway i have to check timing first! And btw a-fpr stays at 30 psi with key ON

[Yuraska]

I've set timing 180• wrong. What i was thinking about? Well, anyway, now i finally have some time to work on it, and hopefully i will fix it!

[Yuraska]

Nope, i'm too fast with my words. Turned out timing is correct, i spinned the engine 1 more turn and the cams got onto the good position.

[blkvrtswp]

FPR is on return - yup.

Don't go by the chain marks for setting CAS timing - they are for the initial chain install when the chain is off the cams. It takes a bunch of rotations for them to come back around and line up again.

Set 1st cyl to top dead center - cams 1st lobes pointing out towards 10 O'clock and 2 O'clock - that's TDC. Now spin CAS to line up the initial dimple mark on the shaft with the reference notch on CAS. Then insert CAS into engine, it will rotate a little when the gears line up. Now the OTHER dimple mark on the shaft should be lined up with the reference notch on CAS. If not, pull it out and do it again.

Keep this in mind while looking at the FSM pictures and steps. It is real easy to get this wrong.

Good luck!

[Yuraska]

Turned out the head, that was rebuilt by machine shop, had a crack. This is how the oil came into cylinders and how fuel came into oil pan. So, this is what was drilling my head since september. Now, as i have another car, i'll keep driving it, while ordering skme stuff to reinforce engine and make some cool build. The shop got robbed and the turbo got stolen, this is why i didn't post for a while and didn't do anything with a car. So, the block will be sent to machine shop for a rebuild with clevite bearings, cp 9.0.1 89mm forged pistons, forged eagle rods, cometic full engine gasket kit, brian crower valves, springs, etc, some stage 2 brian crower camshafts. Walbro 255 lph f pump, meganracing aluminum radiator, gt28 turbo, arp head bolts, 550cc injectors, i think that's it. And as i already got to buy another engine, while thinking head is ok, but the block is bad, so i am gonna use new and now cracked head for this build and my old block as i know it was good, only crooked a bit on top. Well, hopefully in 1-2 months i will be able to write back here with some good news! Thanks for ideas and support, guys! Thank you very much!