tundrabrat Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 (edited) Can't get my freshly built motor to start. 1. New Rotor, cap and wires. 2. Set the motor and distributor to TDC 3. New Weber 4. Using the distributor and coil from previous motor (that was running when I pulled the motor) Engine cranks, I have confirmed that there is spark and fuel. Car won't start even with starter fluid. Any ideas of what I'm missing... weak coil, did I miss a wire/ground, etc.??? Thanks for your help. Edited December 23, 2013 by tundrabrat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 distributor 180 off, perhaps? or off a tooth. try turning it one way or the other. you may have to re-clock it. is your firing order correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tundrabrat Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 1,3,2,4. Tried moving it by a tooth and clocking it... nothing. I figured that if timing was off it would still try to fire but nothing. I was wondering if the spark is weak if my coil could be bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbosubarubrat Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Could be a weak coil i had one on one of my wagons that wouldn't start because it wasn't hot enough then i put on another one and it fired right up. You check compression? One of mine wouldn't start since the hydraulic lifters stiffened up but the adjustment were not screwed tight enough to get compression high enough to start. It only had like 60 psi in each cylinder when it needs to be 120-160 to run if you get 2 of your cylinder in that compression range it will fire and run just rough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86 Wonder Wedge Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Check the compression. Thought i had a dead EA82 after a fresh rebuild, but the HLAs hadn't pumped up yet to open the valves. Upon the rebuild, were the heads cleaned/rebuilt? Did the HLAs and/or valves move freely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 here's a long shot:: Depending on the cross reference for your distributor cap, the numbers on the cap may be out of orientation as some nissan stanza can cross-reference. rotation is counter clockwise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tundrabrat Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 I've got an old cap, I'll check this first, then I'll do a valve adjustments again tomorrow and then compression check... If none of those look like the issue I'll try the coil. Thanks for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 #1 needs to be at TDC of the COMPRESSSION stroke w/installing disty. Easy to confuse compression stroke TDC w/exhaust stroke TDC. I like to leave the valve cover off and watch the intake valve close while rotating the engine to confirm I`m on the compression stroke. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 (edited) assuming it is EA81 for starters , #1, #3 are LHD passenger side head, #2 & #4 are LHD drivers side. Looking at dizzy from the bumper bar, dizzy on your left, #1 lead comes from cap about top left quadrant of cap, #3 bottom left continues anti clock #2 , #4... Have you done the finger in spark hole to feel the compression on #1 come to a stop, see timing mark on flywheel about TDC 8 DBTDC and rotor is pointing towards top left quadrant and #1s lead post position? As far as weak spark - found a really poor spark once - feint yellow and google searches confirmed this would be the problem - when we found the real problem, still had weak yellow spark on cranking and she ran like a dream ! Edited December 23, 2013 by jono Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprjohn Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 if it's got fuel and spark, the only thing left is compression. i'm betting the valves are a little tight, not sealing, and therefore no compression. john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tundrabrat Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 (edited) Compression is all between 135-150 per cylinder. Would this thing have compression if the timing gears (crank and cam gears) were not aligned properly. I don't believe this is the issue but I'm running through everything I can think of to check. Very frustrating... Edited December 24, 2013 by tundrabrat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djellum Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 does it actually get fuel to the combustion chamber? are the plugs wet with gas after cranking, or is it just getting fuel to the carb? maybe a very bad vacuum leak? double check all your bolts and hoses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 With the numbers you posted, valve timing can't be off by much. Compression would be real low if cam was off enough to be cause of "no start". The engine in my Wagon did the same after I resealed it, crank but no start. Checked and rechecked everything, swapped disty, nada. Starting fluid didn't do anything either. I know it's not good on the starter, but I just held key in the crank position. It finally started to hit on a cylinder or two, then fired up. Been starting fine ever since. No idea as to what/why it did that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford'ssubaru's Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 There is alot of input here. If it is still not starting go back to absolutes. Recheck Timing belt installation. This can be confusing if you have not done a few of them. Like suggested above leave the timing covers off. Leave the plugs out. Remember the timing marks are the three lines and line the mark to the center one. Also mentioned above if you observe the intake valve close and exhaust valve open then that should be TDC compression only if you stick the screw driver in the cylinder and the piston is at the top of the stroke. This is an absolute. This will tell you if the belt is installed correctly on that side. Similarly you can do the same to the other side checking the other belt. I had this on my first rebuild and reset every thing step by step and realized I had 1 belt off. This difference between a fuel injected EA82 and a carb unit I found that a Fuel Injected unit will actuallly try to start and may even run. A carb unit won't. Merry Christmas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg454 Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 try to spray some starting fluid down the carb just to be completely sure its not a fuel issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tundrabrat Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 Going back to basics... Clean/regap plugs, pull carb, look for any issues and reinstall, check for vacuum leaks (I pulled all emissions), recheck all timing and wires. If this doesn't work, I'll pull the engine and take a look at the timing gears. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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