1989 TPI, has ESC, ECM controlled distributor

rebuilt the engine and ive been trying to get it to run for many months. it did run at one time, and i drove it to get gas and back no problems. after the trip, i decided to hook the heater back up so i can use defrost as it gets cold around here. man, i put the heater core hose to the wrong port on the intake. started the car, saw tons of white smoke, so i shut it off and fixed the problem a few days later. go to start it up again, starter went out on me (solenoid was going on and off during cranking). so i put a LT1 starter in.

The car cranked but wouldn't start. Re-did timing, still didnt start. I got impatient, figured the ignition was old, and that didn't help. so i might as well replace it all. put in a new - distributor, wires, plugs, coil. on top of this, i put in a new o2 sensor and fuel filter.

Still didn't start.

I have comfirmed:
Fuel:
- at rails by pushing valve and seeing fuel spray.
- spark plugs have fuel on them
- fuel smell after cranking the car and no start

Spark:
Aside from all new parts -
- Spark coming from wires (tested with screwdriver and plug sitting on exhaust with 2 different spark plugs)

Compression:
Unless i literally lost compression overnight due to that coolant mishap... i still have it.
-turning engine over seems to have same resistance as always
-hand under headers reveal compression bursts
-thought cat might have plugged up (coolant drying on it), pulled y pipe - prev. owner had it gutted.. new catco cat in the mail.

Timing:
- confirmed timing multiple times by putting pen in spark plug hole and matching TDC on balancer with the piston hitting its peak... on the compression stroke. both valves closed.
-spark plug wires all in correct sequence, ignition is something i've checked about 5 times completely redoing timing from scratch. using old and new distributor/coil.

i'm going to buy a compression gauge tommorow and test the cylinders just for kicks. if compression is low i'll strip the engine down relentlessly. if compression is normal... as it should be, i don't know what could be the problem. i noticed that my TDC has changed and is about 2 degrees off (retarded, not adv) on the balancer mark. this is probably irrelevant because i've sit and had someone crank the engine while i turned the distributor many times.

OH. i thought it might be the cat clogged, because i took the o2 sensor out and unbolted the drivers side, cranked, and saw smoke! i was stoaked, but it turns out the cat is gutted, so idk whats up with that.

 

When you're setting the timing, you're unplugging the ESC from the distributor, right?

 

i never did that, only unplugged the EST wire while setting timing. Even when plugged in, it won't start, only backfires.

the knock sensor is connected, i didnt know i should unplug the ESC from distributor, is it the bigger or smaller prong going to the dist?

 

cylinders

1 = 185
2 = 185
3 = 180
4 = 162
5 = 150
6 = 165
7 = 170
8 = 170

 

ESC and EST are the same thing. They get called both around here. Plugged in, yea backfire. What happens when you try it with it unplugged?

 

I think your timing is still off if it's backfiring, but let's go back to all the white smoke you had from putting the heater hose on the wrong port. I can't see how that would happen no matter what port you put it on. If you somehow managed to get lots of coolant into the engine you might have bent a few pushrods and valves by hydraulically locking the cylinders.

 

Ahhh, thanks. With it unplugged it would just crank normally but nothing would come from it. No popping, backfiring, or firing at all. sorry for the misunderstanding.

Well, i ran the car before this and well.. it ran. my setup has the heater control valve (vac operated), 2 hoses from the heater core and another hose going to the intake (upper TB i believe). I tried to do the coolant bypass (article on this site) but i hooked up the heater hose from the heater control valve to the lower TB port... which seems to have holes that lead to the intake manifold.

I once again did a compression test today but did it cold, dry, wet, and throttle open and closed, on 4 cylinders. Readings were different. Dry, cylinder 1 and 5 were the same compression - 125. Wet, cylinder 1 was 150, last night it was 185. Can i attribute the variation in compression readings from a rebuild with less than 5 miles on it, and the rings not fully seating? Loosening the valves on cylinder 1 did not change compression, so i hope that is the issue.

It may be possible that coolant rusted up the cylinder bores and royally screwed my rebuild up, but my experience is limited and so is my knowledge.

Anyways, I decided to plug my VC breather and EGR valve hoses up and hook everything back up again. After all the compression tests my battery is dead. At 13v it had 390 CCA, it's at 12.3 volts now.

Cranked the engine, and ... quite a bit of smoke. Didn't start, but it def. had combustion. Some popping, but probably just a timing issue, at any rate, problem fixed.

Chalk this one up to EGR valve stuck open

(incase someone has a similar problem, GOTTA end the thread with the solution!)