I just got done building my l98 miniram 350.
The cam (linginfelter 219 219 560 560 112) was degreed in by my machine shop. I bolted the heads down to 60lbs with the arp thread sealer.

The grounds are connected behind both heads and made sure to coat them with dialectic grease. The engine is grounded correctly. The electrical connections to the sensors are all properly plugged in.

The vacuum lines are all routed or plugged up.

I checked the fuel pressure and its at 48psi.

The spark plug wires are new and so is the coil wire. I have another coil which I plugged in just to test to see if it was the coil but no such luck. I do have a 6a box which I have been using since my last rebuild. I took a screw driver and tested for spark at the first plug and finding out the hard way that my screwdriver was not insulated but none the less it did have spark.

I thought it could be the dissy not properly installed at tdc. So I placed the engine at tdc and checked to make sure that both #1 valves where closed then spiked the dissy in with the rotor pointing towards the #1 cylinder.

Upon spiking the dissy in this way it wanted to fire up but would not. It would start to grab but then does not.

I drained my battery trying to fire this thing up. I poured more oil over the valvetrain just to make sure they are properly coated since its been a while since I finished the rebuild and primed the engine. I purchased a high torque starter from gm but did not make a diffrence.

The only thing i am left with is maybe it could be the module. But im not sure how to test it. Dont want to just buy parts and guess.

If anyone has some suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks everyone,

Rabi C.

 

Tested the est and it was not the problem

Im going to try the module next...

 

have you tested/probed the injectors to see if they arre getting power?

 

techno101,

No I haven't checked the injectors and to be honest I don't know how to go about doing that. They are new ford 24lbs blue tops. There is about 48lbs of fuel pressure at the fuel rail so to that point there is gas.

How would I go about checking the injectors? Sorry about the novice question.

Thanks again,

Rabi C.

 

Since you seem to have spark, its time for a quick fuel check. I stick the fuel rail in a bucket then crank the engine and see if the injectors spray or not. Doesn't matter if you have fuel pressure or not when the injectors are gummed up or something.

If you have both and still doesn't fire up but does fire up if you press the throttle a bit. Adjust the stop for the throttle plate so your engine can get air.

That was the problem on a buddy of mines engine. Boy did we feel clever.

 

there are a number of ways of checking the injectors. I use a test light. Looks like a sharp ice pick with a cord and a clamp on the end of the cord. There is a light in the handle and you clamp the cord to a grounded bolt or frame or something. When you poke through the wire you are checking the light will come on if there is power to that wire.

 

Well it wasn't the module so thats that.

Matt_p , Techno101,

Im going to check my fuel injectors now. Thanks for the tips you guys. Hope I'll find the culprit soon. As for right now I have to charge my battery up again!



R--->C

 

good luck with your hunt, it seems new engines never act like they're supposed too huh !?!? You'll find it. You may still need to turn the dizzy once more and stick it back down in there. You may be one tooth off or something.

 

My problem when I had this exact problem was that I hadn't installed the timing set correctly. I used the wrong dots.

 

Viprklr,

The cam was dialed in by my machine shop.
Next is to check the injectors. Im going to test them when I get home today.
Damn work!

Rabi C.

 

Not saying that's your problem but also keep in mind that just because a "machine shop" did it does not mean it's right. Just more than likely it's fine.

 

For now I would just use some fuel in a squirt bottle that would tell if it's electrical, or mechanical, if electrical Use an injector Noid light tester it plugs into the fuel injector harness connector so you don't have to worry about piercing the wires. Not more than 10 bucks, I bought a set of 4 for the most common manufacturers for 20 bucks at O'Rielly's Auto Parts. if the light blinks brightly while cranking then the signal is good, check the resistance across the injector terminal for a total of 16 ohms, also check for continuuity from the injector terminals to a metal part of the injector body for shorts in the coil windings.
But, if the fuel rails are accessible without removing anything else, the ultimate check would be into a container so you can also verify the spray pattern.

 

it cranks but doesn't fire?
With fuel pressure at the rail, i'm putting my money on spark or spark timing. Either ECM related (I blame what I don't understand ), or my big bet is on distributor. Either 180* off, or off a tooth, or retarted too far, etc. I'd loosen the bolt and get someone to crank it while you wiggle it back and forth.

 

still sounds like you're a tooth off to me also. That dizzy has got to be juuuuuuuust right. Hopefully too much cranking won't foul your plugs out.

 

He's already tested for spark at the plug it was good.

 

You need to make sure you have the engine at #1 TDC... Both intake and exhaust valves will be closed at both #1 TDC and #6 TDC (ready to fire the cylinder)... You need to rotate the engine and watch the intake valve, once it opens, then keep turning the motor over, the intake valve will close, and then finish turning it to the 0 degree mark.. Now you will be at #1 TDC firing stroke..

 

Does it try to fire at all (even try to) or just turn and turn?

Have you tried spraying starter fluid in there yet?

Did you paint the motor? Are the grounds to bare metal?

I know...everyone knows the basics, but sometimes it helps to take a step back. Your engine needs three things to run: air/compression, fuel, and spark.

Fuel is probably the easiest to test since you can just use starter fluid and see if it fires. I like to start there.

Spark is probably the next easiest and most problamatic. Rotate the engine to TDC on #1 on the compression. The rotor on the distributor should be pointing to that wire. Check to make sure you have the correct firing order. Check the cam specs (some may switch the 4 and 7 order). It sounds like you already checked and saw that the plugs were getting fired so you can skip that, but pulling a plug and grounding it while cranking the engine is an easy way to check. Plugs fouled with fuel?

After these two checks you know you're getting fuel, and spark at close to the right time. Now check compression. Pull a plug and listen for the hiss. If you have a compression checker use it. Try backing the nuts off of the rockers a bit, if you have hydraulic lifters it's possible you tightened them too much and aren't getting compression. With the valve covers off rotate the crank to ensure the cam is set up correctly.

Narrow the problem down to one area so you can figure out what area you need to focus on.

 

I had the same problem with the rockers being too tight before too. Engine will crank over but never fire. Place your thumb over the spark plug hole; If you can't feel compression with the spark plug removed, you rockers are too tight.

 

Thanks every one for their input,

Ok so I charged up the battery till it was at 834cca 13.4amps so at least that wouldn't be problematic.

I poured gas through a small tube passed the throttle body, droped the dissy while at tdc so that the rotor is pointing towards #1 and checked to make sure that both intake and exhaust are shut for the #1 cylinder and yesturday I went through to make sure the valves are snug...

the verdict.... a whole lot of cranking! Not even any backfire or lean pops ! This is very strange.

The starter cranked fast so i know that the grounds are good. I haven't pulled the plugs to check to see if they are fouled but they are new and didnt think that they could go bad so quickly. Since it didnt fire up, they are coming out to double check and I'll do that compression test to hear for that hiss that was mentioned by jichniow.

Anyhow Im sure its something minor that i'm overlooking. Thanks for everyones help.

Rabi C.

 

It seems you have all the prequisites for starting the engine.

1. Fuel
2. Air ( a given)
3. Compression (also a gven - minimum 80psi - unless the lash is incorrect)
4. Spark - You do not need the ECM trying to take timining control, Disconnect the Set Timing Connector - this is not the EST, leave it disconnected until it fires up and the proper timing is set and locked down.
5. Distributor Timing - At this point I think timing is questionable since it still won't start, but what bothers you, me and others is that there isn't any combustion activity at all. The fact that it turns over really fast bothers me as well. The spark plugs won't fire if they are wet. I would disable the fuel pump, or injectors until it fires up, (using a squirt/spray bottle, it produces a vapor which is easier to combust.) So you won't have to worry about flooding it with all that cranking.

I assume you did these things in the order that you posted them. If so you may have compounded the problem in doing so.
First, Setting the timing to TDC on the compression stroke is critical for distributor alignment, the more exact you get the timing for installing the distributor the better the chance you have at it firing up the first time, of course these is only true if all the systems are working properly.
Scond, using the valve opening/closing events to determine compression stroke is not a problem, but you must verify that the Dampner timing mark and the Timing tab zero mark are aligned ( I think someone already mentioned it) before installing the distributor.
Third, The #1 cylinder is my preference for compression testing, whether with a tester, finger over hole, or wad of paper. The Dampner mark will most likely be somewhere before, or after the Timing Tab, if after continue rotating to the next compression stroke before aligning the marks.
For me it is a must to turn the crank by hand, actually with a 1/2" drive ratchet, and an extended handle.

The spark doesn't travel to the plug until the rotor breaks contact with the distributor cap terminal connected to the plug. So pointing the rotor at the terninal will get you close enough to TDC to fire.
Finally, Once you have aligned these components and locked down the distrbutor so it doesn't move, aqnd sprayed some fuel, you're 99.9999% gauranteed a first start, if not then that's the other .0001% that I forgot about.

The distributor pickup coil pulses are amplified and sent to the spark coil through the ignition control module whether the ECM is connected, or not. The ECM will take control of the timing if the following is true:
There is sufficient RPM
The Set Timing Connector is connected.

 

rgarcia63,

Thanks for your quick response. I'm going to pull the plugs and try to clean them up a bit and I'll try dropping the dissy in again. I'll update soon when it fires up!

Thanks again every one I greatly appreciate your help...

Rabi C.

 

So after much diagnosis and a bit of frustration I found what the problem was ...............

The pickup in my distributor went out! After many tests and tests It finaly showed itself. Though when I first tested it, it worked fine but i guess it got upset and had a fit so there it is ladies and gentlemen...

It runs now. Time for the timing and initial adjustments.

Thanks everyone for your help its nice to have possitive input from everyone.

Till next time,

Rabi C.