RB20 won't crank

[wga240]

I've got my RB20 installed and with the help of rbswaps.com completed the wiring that should allow me to crank the engine. I followed the directions exactly, and feel very confident in my wiring. I tested the ones I could easily test, and they checked out fine.

My blinkers, brake lights, headlights, etc are all working so I know the KA harness is getting power. I also hear my fuel pump come on as I rotate the key so I know it's working fine.

The problem is when I try to start the motor all I hear is a clicking from one of the relays on the driver side fuse box in the engine bay. The starter doesn't even try to turn the motor over. Does anyone have any insight as to what may be causing this?

The car used to be an automatic but has since been converted to a manual, so I'm wondering if there's some kind of interlock I need to jumper or something to get the car to start. Just in case I connected the sensors to my A/T shifter and made sure it was in park (which btw I couldn't ever shift it out of park....dunno if this is related or even matters though since the car is now a manual) and still the same clicking from one of those relays.

Anyway, any advice someone may have would really help me out.

[-HyJynX-]

battery problem

[wga240]

battery problem

Well I suspected that too at first, so I got out my voltmeter and the battery's showing an output of 12.6 volts which I thought means it's still good. I know this battery worked fine when I cranked the engine before removing it from the clip, and the battery hasn't been used since so it should still be good. Just in case I'm gonna hook it up to a charger for a few hours but I don't think that's it

[HotWIRED]

It's your park and neutral interlock by the fuse box in the engine bay. Without that jumpered you can't start the car.

[wga240]

Hmm this is the connector by the fuse box with only 2 wires coming out of it right? So to jumper it I just need to connect these 2 wires? Sounds easy enough.

For some reason I was thinking that since I switched to a manual ECU from the RB20 the neutral/park indicator wouldn't matter, but I'll give this a shot and see how it goes

[RubHamuSan]

yup thats it just jump the 2 wires. and all should fire.

[wga240]

Cool, thanks for the help guys. I'm too tired to go out and try this now but first thing in the morning I'll give it a shot. I'm confident now this is where the problem is.

Now to just find a way to ghetto-rig the stock sidemount intercooler and piping long enough to fire the engine. Mounting this thing is the last major part of the swap I have left to do. It looks like it's going to be a tight squeeze, but hopefully I can figure something out.

Most of today was spent making the swaybar from the R32 fit on my car. This required cutting a few inches off the R32 sway bar, heating the bar up and pounding the ends flat, and drilling holes to mount the endlinks. After all this it only moved my swaybar about 1/4 inch away from the oil pan but at least it's not hitting like the stock one was.

Maybe tomorrow I'll also flatten out the sway bar a bit where it comes close to the oil pan for a bit more clearance, but I'm afraid doing so may make the bar loose part of its springiness. I don't want it to get too rigid and have to worry about ripping endlinks out.

[wga240]

Well I jumpered that interlock and now the motor turns over but won't fire I took a spark plug out and grounded it while turning the engine over, and didn't see any spark. I also pulled the 6 pin connection going into the ignitor and touched one lead to one of the pins and another to a ground and only got a reading of about 1.25 volts. Should this be reading 12 volts?

[HotWIRED]

I would check all the Ignition relays once over, and check the Cam angle sensor. Do you hear the injectors opening? Do you hear the fuel pump prime? As for the SIC I put mine on the driver side and used all of the stock piping to make it fit. You'll have to make custom brackets but thats the easy part. Is your RB in the S13 or S14???

[wga240]

I can hear the injectors opening, and the fuel pump is working correctly. I haven't checked the CAS, but since the engine fired fine when in the skyline clip I figured it'd still be ok. Where are these ignition relays you mentioned? I heard there was a main ignition relay down by the ECU but have yet to find that one.

Also, on the CAS, if I were to check it what am I actually checking for?

[wga240]

WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Muhahahaha idiot me disconnected the relays when I was pulling the harness out of the R32. I can't find the other half of those 2 ignition relays right now, but I was able to get the car to start using 2 other relays from the R32 fuse box.

All I have to say is DAMN! As soon as this thing cranked up all the cuts, bruises, frustration, heat exhaustion, etc were all worth it. This engine sounds sooo freakin mean. It grumbles like a big V8. I revved the gas a few times after making sure everything was ok and it feels like a monster. My car came with an aftermarket ECU and I'm not sure what's been changed, so I'm not gonna play too much until I can get to a dyno and monitor a/f ratios

Thanks for the help everyone!!!

[Nismo241]

Hey, how was that wiring info on rbswaps.com? Was it easy to follow?

[wga240]

Yeah it was pretty easy. I just read over it a few times while locating each wire in each step and didn't have any problems.

Good job on the writeup

[RubHamuSan]

i would never crank up a swa without, boost, A/F,and oil psi gauges. just crazy going blind.

[Nismo241]

Well the A/F doesn't really matter when you are just going to crank it over or start it. Boost isn't a thing you'd have to worry about when just firing, but oil pressure would be a good thing to have. I still only have 2 of those 3, A/F and boost. But the autometer A/F meter kinda sucks anyways.

[wga240]

Yeah I'm going to get some gauges soon. I've just got to decide where I want to put them. I don't really want anything on the A-pillar, or really anywhere else that'd be easy for a cop to spot.

Because it's an aftermarket ECU I really have no clue what kind of boost the car is pushing or what the A/F looks like, so I'm gonna have to take it easy.