swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

I swapped my tpi to an hsr and now my motor wont turn over, just a single click and then nothing.
Purged the fuel lines so I dont know what else it could be. The motor sat with the heads off for a few months because it initially needed a new head gasket. So my alternator has been sitting on the shelf for some time also. Im not too sure why it wont turn over, the battery is vrand new.
With the motor just sitting in the same position for months, does anyone think that could be the cause of it not starting?

Re: swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

Remove the spark plugs & try to turn the engine over by hand. It might have rusted in place. Its not the end of the world though, blast each cylinder with lube to help it out.

Re: swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

Nooo theres something else to it. Well today I found out that the negative battery wire hanging and I had been trying to start it. Well I hooked it up to a bolt on the accessory bracket and tried again. Nothing happened. I checked the fuse panel and I found out I blew the CRK 3 fuse. I replaced the fuse and tried again and it blew the new fuse. I have no idea what can cause this and im getting frustrated.

ill also add that this was originally a 305 tbi motor that had a 350 tpi swapped into it. It ran good before i took it all apart so idk if it has to do with wiring or what, but this is where it stands; a holley stealth ram intake, new injectors and won't crank at all.

Re: swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

I dont want to discourage or scare you but having that main ground lead not hooked up can cause a lot of bad.

Ask me how I know...
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/dfi-...l-me-what.html

I have read threads where nothing has happened at all. That negative wire should be hooked to the very front bolt on your exhaust manifold, but the bracket would probably be fine.

I assume you reconnected the ground wires to the back of the head as well? There's a good 3 or 4 of them that I can remember.

If you haven't already, give the engine a very good "once over" to make sure you got everything. Look at the starter real good and make sure connections are solid and hooked up correctly.

Try another battery for kicks?

You dont need to remove spark plugs to turn engine over with a socket and ratchet on the crank pulley, done it many times. Make sure you can move it clockwise. Starter may have gotten stuck on a tooth hence the "click" you hear when you go to start it.

Re: swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

My car sat for over a year with the engine apart and when I put it all back together the starter had gone bad and all it would do was click.

Re: swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

Already bought a new battery, however, when i went to start the motor the first time with the new battery, i held the key in position for a brief sec and i noticed a small puff of smoke. I went to inspect and noticed there is another smaller ground wire attached to the negative wire. this wire connects to the car frame. well, the outside of that wire started to melt the protective coating, not a whole lot, but just a noticeable bit.

This was when i realized the negative wire was not connected. it was sitting out of sight down by the tie rods, so i couldn't see it until i traced it out.
The engine turns over fine when i hand rotated it to set valve lash and #1 TDC to set timing.

As for the ground wires on the heads, yes, i did reconnect them i think there were 2 on each side. I just connected them together because IIRC thats how they were before i took the heads off.

Do you think since the starter is stuck , thats why the CRK 3 fuse keeps blowing?

This is what occurred with my motor as well, the whole process took about a year. I'm a full time college student AND i work full time so funds, along with finding wrench time is the culprit of it sitting for a long time half apart.


I appreciate all the replies! thank you guys..

Re: swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

I noticed that your details say you have a 350 TPI and a WC T5. I also assume you know the starters between the T5 and the 700r4 are different and have the correct starter. (this seems obvious because the 700r4 starter will not physically fit into the t5 bell housing)

From what I remember there are two solenoid actuation posts on the starter, are you absolutely posative you hooked it up right? If its blowing the fuse and not working, my bet is the connection is on the wrong post. Seems like everythig else is fine.
If it were me, I would take the starter out completely, check it over and recconect it, sometimes just doing that makes things work for some reason.
Could be a bad starter also, it's possible.

Re: swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

I didn't know that. The thing is, after the swap from 305 tbi to 350 tpi, I was driving it around almost daily. Then I had overheating problems and discovered the 350 had a head gasket leak. Everything worked fine up until I parked it to fix the head gasket. This is when i decided to go ahead and redo the top end. I never messed with the starter during the whole operation. I have class all day today but hopefully tomorrow, i will be able to go tinker with the motor to see if i can get it started. Thanks again for the help!

Re: swapped intakes and motor wont start.
 

Got it to start, thanks everyone for your input.

I took the starter to an auto shop and it worked fine. i cleaned all the terminals up, hooked up the negative ground wire and it started up. I also think it had to do with the starter. when i jacked up the car i noticed water trickling off what seemed to be the starter. Im guessing when i put the sensor (into block, Coolant temp sensor i think) back in above the starter, I didn't tighten all the way and water possibly got on some of the terminals. It could even be a combination of all the factors, but, she starts now.