Crank No Start

[SuspiciousPizza]

Prepare your thinking caps.

I've recently done a full rebuild (minus bottom end) of an SPFI EA82 and full reconditioning of the engine bay. 

The engine and manifold are a bit of a Frankenstein but both the engine ran, and all of the electronics (dizzy, throttle body, ECU, maf sensor, etc) came from a running engine.

Air: I just redid the head gaskets (that's why I'm trying to start this thing up and clearly failing) the heads were fully reconditioned (valves and seats ground, new valve seals, new guides, new lifters, head resurfaced). Deck was meticulously cleaned. All new seals on the throttle body. All new hoses everywhere of the proper metric sizes. It definitely has compression.

Fuel: Pump is noisy but it ran the engine previously. Injector is firing and spray pattern from what I can tell looks okay. I did have an issue of coolant leaking from the throttle body into the intake but I removed the plugs and cranked it over for a few seconds a couple of times to hopefully blow all that into the exhaust or out the spark plug holes. Coolant leak looks to be resolved (looking past the throttle plate with WOT and injector disconnect while cranking). Fuel has been sitting for about 10 months with a stabilizer added while I've been gathering parts and meticulously working on this thing by the book. But even when I spray ether into the intake, it doesn't fire. It sounds more promising with the ether. I let it air out with spark plugs removed, disconnected the injector and tried to run it off ether. It sounded like it really wanted to kick over (*faint* whomp-whomp-whomp-whomp). TPS is set up properly and tests okay. 

Spark: It has spark on all 4 plugs, proper gaps, tested body & engine grounds for resistance (0.3-0.4 ohm from the ground to the battery). No codes from ECU. Dizzy is properly phased with the cams, it should be in a good enough range to at least kick over, maybe not run perfectly but it's in the proper range to run.

I'm at a bit of a loss here, anything stand out to anyone or any thoughts or opinions? I have an FSM and I can go through everything in the troubleshooting diagram. I'm just confused, I have all the ingredients for fire but success evades me currently.

Thanks :]

Edited Monday at 11:54 PM by SuspiciousPizza

[bushytails]

If you have fuel and you have spark, that means you might have a timing problem, either ignition or valve, or a compression problem.  Check both timing belts are installed correctly.  Check for top dead center compression stroke on #1 (feel for compression in the spark plug hole, then probe it to find the top of the stroke) and verify the rotor in the dist is pointing at your #1 spark plug wire at that time.  Check compression, which will also find valve problems, like being adjusted too tight, not seating, etc.

[el_freddo]

I had a “problem” with my first and last EA82 rebuild - turns out we missed the bit where you fit one cam belt then rotate the crank one revolution and fit the second cam belt. 

When the crank is lined up one cam will be at 12 o’clock and the other will be at 6 o’clock. 

This is the key to EA82 timing belt alignment - don’t miss that crank rotation between fitting belts!

[SuspiciousPizza]

Timing belts were put on by the book. Driver side, rotate 180, passenger side. Check at 0 BDC if the pulley markings are facing "outwards" and dizzy is set to #1. It is. Plug wires are in the proper firing order to the proper cylinders.

Belts were torqued with a homemade version of the factory tool and a beam torque wrench. Granted the belts were used for about 2-3k miles so I had to tighten to 18ftlb rather than 2ftlb if the belts were new. But I followed the chart in the FSM. 

If I had to guess it to be anything it'd either be a timing issue or a compression issue, somehow, but I'm more inclined to believe the former rather than the latter. Could also be bad gas, but it doesn't run off ether which is why I think it's a timing/spark issue. Even though I have spark. I seriously doubt a coil or dizzy issue.

:]

[SuspiciousPizza]

After doing some thinking, a few things of note.

This is a carbed EA82 that I've converted to SPFI. I know the cams between the two are different but I've always heard they're interchangeable, just the engine may prefer different ignition timing than a factory SPFI setup.

Is it best to connect the test connectors to put the ECU into "learn" mode as I'm trying to start the engine for the first time?

I'm really thinking it's just a timing issue since as I've mentioned it doesn't run off ether.

[SuspiciousPizza]

Well I got it to run. Dizzy was a tooth off. But now I have a coolant leak I have to track down. The cars been sitting a few weeks between when the head gaskets went on and the first start so maybe the head gaskets need a retorque? 

EDIT: yes it 100% is a head gasket. Now the question is do I take off the head (only 1 side is leaking, driver side) to inspect the head gasket and replace it? Damn this really sucks.

Edited 13 hours ago by SuspiciousPizza

[bushytails]

I've never heard of a new head gasket with resurfaced heads and clean deck leaking, unless you completely forgot to tighten the bolts.  You may have gotten a defective gasket, your block may be badly warped, you may have a cracked head or block, your leak may be coming from somewhere else and only looking like the head gasket, or you may have forgotten a step...

[SuspiciousPizza]

My guess as to what happened are either of the two scenarios:

1: I installed the head gaskets by the book but the time between when I installed the head gaskets and when I actually started the engine was about 3 weeks. I work 6 days a week and I had to wait on parts I thought I had but I didn't. In that time the heads, head bolts, and gasket creeped at different rates. So when I started the engine, the heads weren't torqued to spec (because everything had relaxed before the retorque) and this caused it to leak. After removing the heads, I noticed a few of the bolts didn't make a "snap" when loosening. The gaskets weren't blown through anywhere. I measured the deck with a straight edge and a feeler gauge, within spec. The heads were resurfaced and tested and passed okay.

2nd: I used a non-oem cam carrier o-ring. This could have caused coolant to leak into the oil. But the engine was also burning coolant and a cylinder wasn't firing properly so I'm not sure what to believe happened. Could be a combo of the two.

I have a spare set of OEM head gaskets and OEM o-rings so those will go in tomorrow. Actually today, it's getting late. 

Can I reuse the cork oil pan gasket after I drop the pan to clean it out? Or are they prone to stick to the block and split? I didn't use any sealant on it. 

Also the cam tower sealant was still wet in some parts. I used OEM sealant and the temps when I applied it was in the 70°F range so I'm not sure what happened there. 

This is really turning out to be a learning experience but I sure am getting more comfortable working on this thing. Only took me 3 hours to get it stripped down to the short block with the engine in the car. That's lightning fast for my pace.

:]

[moosens]

These guys and maybe Emily too, they’ll know more and be more than myself but a few items mentioned I can’t help but comment on.

Bolt holes should have been super cleaned and same for bolts. I seem to recall you did use a thread chaser. But it’s not going to get easier going forward. If your heart is going to let your wallet solve problems on an EA82 in 2025/2026 it’ll get pricey and limited with who will take on such work. I’d give it another try but only after each and every bolt and its hole are cleaned and inspected for fit. 
 

Also my opinion - you likely started it up when you shouldn’t have. And i would take the heads off and be sure coolant isn’t where it shouldn’t be. Take a breath, you’ll have it back in action. 
 

You have to assess that O ring fitment. I know sometimes they look off but consider the sqaush down. 
 

FujiBond or equiv. should cure of course. You’ll need to see what that happened. Maybe had a solvent wipe-down that seeped in? 
 

Oil pan, i would try to reuse it if it came off like i expect it would having not been roasted. If not then they should be available or use sealant. Lots of is have used sealant only. Or a light smear behind the cork gasket. 
 

You’re still at a good age so enjoy that exercise, learning, and building speed and proficiency. 
 

And should you find yourself defeated after your efforts - find yourself and EJ22 - last resort, i know. I’m of the same skull density cult. Cheers !