car wont start after head,intake swap?

94opalgt

Member
May 5, 2005
358
0
17
AKRON,OHIO
allright here goes.got the install done with most of the parts in my sig.dis.,inj,maf,heads,intake and ignition box.everything is plugged in hooked up ready to go.i am getting spark and fuel but the car will not start.thought the dis. was 180 out,turned it,still nothing.battery died we were tryin to get it for so long.what am i doing wrong here?anybody had this problem and what did you do to fix it?we even unplugged the ing. box and ran it like stock but still nothing.hopefully someone can help me out.thanks in advance. :bang: :fuss: :shrug: :mad:
 
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Your timing is probably too far off. It is cranking right? Just not starting? If so have a friend crank it and you slowly turn the distributor until is starts, then set the base timing. Even if you put your distributor in the same way your timing can still be very off.
 
White Devil is right on. You need to verify that number 1 piston is at TDC on the compression stroke. You can do this by hooking up a compression gauge and manually cranking until it starts to show some psi. Then take it out and feel with your finger until it's at the top. Or just look at your balancer (as long as it's good) and line up the 10* mark in the hole, this is easier, but not as accurate. Then it should fire up. Does it backfire any while cranking? Mine did, and it ended up being my timing. It was so far off that even turning the dizzy didn't do anything to help.
 
Ditto on the distributor/timing. Also, run back through all your connections one more time to make sure you got everything back in order (including the fuel shut-off connector in the trunk - and make sure it isn't tripped).

Oh, here's a real goofy one. Put some fuel in your tank. You probably already did this. But I'm guessing you ran it pretty dry so you could drop the tank and change your pump. I tried firing up after my HCI buildup, it wouldn't go, put a couple of gallons in the tank, and then I was good to go.

Good luck.
 
yeah its backfiring a little bit.crankin and not firing.and its a brand new romac balancer.turning the dis. isnt doing anything.well i'll be buying a new battery after work and tryin again tonite.i'll let u know how it went.
 
I just did my headgaskets, mine wouldn't start either. Did the timing thing then bled the fuel lines. I had the lines disconnected, figured some air go tin there, I just lossened my fuel pressure sending unit, sure enough, a$$ load of air, cranked it over till I got +fuel flow, tightned, fired right up. May not be your case, just some food for thought. Good Luck man
 
maybe im brain dead today,but what the hell is the fuel pressure sending unit and where is it?do you mean the regulator?never thought about the fuel shut off in the trunk.my pressure gauge on my fuel rail reads the correct pressure when we are cranking it,but it was acting weird.with the key on,not trying to start it,but just on,if you turned the dis. the pressure would pulse.it would drop down around 20 then if you turned the dis. it would jump up to 39 and drop to 20 jump to 39 then drop again.dont know why.never seen that before.any ideas?
 
I Had The Same Problem When Did My Swap. We Had An Exhaust Leak From The Intake. Unplug Your Mass Air Meter And Then Try Running It. That Should Get You Started. And If It Starts That Way Then You Have An Intake Leak. Went Through It All With Mine That Will Help You Out A Lil
 
94opalgt said:
maybe im brain dead today,but what the hell is the fuel pressure sending unit and where is it?do you mean the regulator?never thought about the fuel shut off in the trunk.my pressure gauge on my fuel rail reads the correct pressure when we are cranking it,but it was acting weird.with the key on,not trying to start it,but just on,if you turned the dis. the pressure would pulse.it would drop down around 20 then if you turned the dis. it would jump up to 39 and drop to 20 jump to 39 then drop again.dont know why.never seen that before.any ideas?

I have an electronic fuel press gage, hence the sending unit....but, it goes on the fuel rail, in front where the schrader valve is/was, just crack it loose, see if air hisses out, i cranked it over for a bit till fuel came out steady, then tightned it back down...makes a mess, shield your eyes...may help you a bit, did for me, good luck man
 
hey,thanks for all your help guys,i'll let you know tonite if i figured it out or not.hopefully this beast will be running tonite,i havent got to drive it for about 3 months.ive been drivin a 98 4.6,hey maybe my car knows ive been drivin it and now its paying me back for driving the mod motor.lol
 
pull plug #1 have a freind spin the motor . when air spits past your finger your on tdc. reinstall your plug n wire. take your cap off and mark it with a sharpy at #1 plug wire. take your spout out . with the distributor still lose have a freind crank it over while you move the distributor back and forth when it fires let it warm up. and time your car.

make shure you have your freind watch the temp gauge because you still might have air in your system. you dont wanna warp those heads due to over heating good luck
 
allright let me make sure im doing this right.there is a little metal box under where the stock air tube comes off the maf.is that what i am supposed to be unplugging?is that what you mean by taking the spout out?cuz if not then i dont know what you by pull the spout.then again maybe i am just burned out and not thinking right from workin on this freakin car for so long.
 
allright car still aint running.pulled spout after tdc and still nothin.but i do have a ? for you guys,why the hell does the fuel pump kick on and off when the key is on and you turn the dis.?wtf is that all about?hopefully i can figure this thing out over the weekend
 
Just a quick ? for you. Did you put stud mounted roller rockers on? If so you might have cranked them things down to far, which will not let the valves close all the way. With this happening you will not have compression. You may feel a little bit of compression, but not the full blast.