Its a simple case of no starting after some work and standing. ( 1995 Calibra Turbo DTM No.12 of 22, Original C20LET engine GM head, phase 3.5, K16 Turbo )
I say advanced because I have gone over the most of the basics, including checking the no.1 piston for tdc, changing the cap, rotor arm, plugs, leads etc etc. Checked all vacuum pipes, fuel pressure, low tension leads and so on and on, hence advanced as opposed to silly things like the king leads half off, or its out of fuel etc. Though I'm not discounting the problem being something silly of course :doh:
What I have is the engine is rotating, it nearly fires, but won't catch.
I have spark confirmed, I have fuel ( in the rail ) confirmed, and air. It mostly rotates OK, but seems to hit resistance every few turns ( battery drains heavy as well at this point, but still turns ). I've turned the engine by hand and it's free and easy enough to turn ( especially without the plugs in ), this is one thing that made me think the timing was out at first, with this sudden random resistance - like its firing a plug when the pistons down not up. But there are no pops or bangs etc.
I have small concerns that after turning over for a bit, the starter motor seems to smolder a bit, guessing its a wire or pipe near it thats roasting, can't see anything major going on and moved things away from it anyway, but doesn't seem to effect anything I can think of or see, and the battery terminals get a bit hot as well after a while ( Electrical Resistance somewhere I wonder ? ) But I am thinking this could be fairly normal when you crank the engine over and over. Also, when I take the plugs back out after a load of cranking they come out coated in carbon and wet, not convinced its oil, certainly not a lot of it on the plugs, but all 4 come out the same. I'm hoping its fairly usual when turning a 100,000 mile engine over and over that the plugs will foul up because its not firing. But this worried me a bit, though it makes no sense to me when its all 4 plugs, so can't be something like a valve sticking or what have you. More on that later though perhaps when I get some feedback.
What has been done to the car. When the scabby 'mods' had been done by the previous owner it killed the turbo and flooded oil into the intercooler etc. and the exhaust manifold was leaking where it was not done up tight enough ( and was making a clacking noise under load). And the exhaust was a complete joke.
So whole lot came off, Turbo went away for rebuilding ( and never got it back ) so picked up another K16 for now, replacement intercooler pipes, new FMIC, iridium plugs, K1 leads, cap and rotor arm, complete exhaust system ( mongoose ), all new gasket's everywhere and bolt's etc etc. All fitted, new oil, coolant, oil breather tank, everything checked and rechecked, but somethings obviously not right.
I have spark, seems pretty strong, checked the timing for anti-clockwise rotation ( visually confirmed ) piston 1 ( at cam belt end ) at TDC and leads plugged in order 1-3-4-2 with lead 1 being the top right of the cap when standing directly in front of it facing the back of the car. And I have tried putting the leads in different orders just to be sure. Tried the old cap and leads and plugs, no significant changes.
I have 1/4 tank of fuel ( just topped it up with another 15 litres ) and unscrewing the cap and pressing the valve on the fuel rail and there is a healthy jet of fuel that comes out. BUT, I wondered if the injectors are firing ? Though I took a plug out, turned the engine a few times and sniffed etc and its a 99% certainty that fuels going in. Just a thought there.
Air, The pipework is as tight as a knats butt, I have tried unplugging the AFM, removed the air filter etc. But I wonder about this being a possible cause of the problem as well ? is it plausible to bypass the FMIC and go directly from the AFM to the top hat ?? So thats all I can put for now, more when some feedback comes in. As I say, it very nearly catches, but won't fire up. It seems to struggle with resistance ( and a fully charged battery will die after about a 1 minute of cranking - in total - not all at once ). So close, yet so far and its killing me ! I swear the car has some voodoo effigy on it !
Thanks for all your help ! Sorry for any typo's, nonsense and babble, I have a blinding migraine at the moment.
I say advanced because I have gone over the most of the basics, including checking the no.1 piston for tdc, changing the cap, rotor arm, plugs, leads etc etc. Checked all vacuum pipes, fuel pressure, low tension leads and so on and on, hence advanced as opposed to silly things like the king leads half off, or its out of fuel etc. Though I'm not discounting the problem being something silly of course :doh:
What I have is the engine is rotating, it nearly fires, but won't catch.
I have spark confirmed, I have fuel ( in the rail ) confirmed, and air. It mostly rotates OK, but seems to hit resistance every few turns ( battery drains heavy as well at this point, but still turns ). I've turned the engine by hand and it's free and easy enough to turn ( especially without the plugs in ), this is one thing that made me think the timing was out at first, with this sudden random resistance - like its firing a plug when the pistons down not up. But there are no pops or bangs etc.
I have small concerns that after turning over for a bit, the starter motor seems to smolder a bit, guessing its a wire or pipe near it thats roasting, can't see anything major going on and moved things away from it anyway, but doesn't seem to effect anything I can think of or see, and the battery terminals get a bit hot as well after a while ( Electrical Resistance somewhere I wonder ? ) But I am thinking this could be fairly normal when you crank the engine over and over. Also, when I take the plugs back out after a load of cranking they come out coated in carbon and wet, not convinced its oil, certainly not a lot of it on the plugs, but all 4 come out the same. I'm hoping its fairly usual when turning a 100,000 mile engine over and over that the plugs will foul up because its not firing. But this worried me a bit, though it makes no sense to me when its all 4 plugs, so can't be something like a valve sticking or what have you. More on that later though perhaps when I get some feedback.
What has been done to the car. When the scabby 'mods' had been done by the previous owner it killed the turbo and flooded oil into the intercooler etc. and the exhaust manifold was leaking where it was not done up tight enough ( and was making a clacking noise under load). And the exhaust was a complete joke.
So whole lot came off, Turbo went away for rebuilding ( and never got it back ) so picked up another K16 for now, replacement intercooler pipes, new FMIC, iridium plugs, K1 leads, cap and rotor arm, complete exhaust system ( mongoose ), all new gasket's everywhere and bolt's etc etc. All fitted, new oil, coolant, oil breather tank, everything checked and rechecked, but somethings obviously not right.
I have spark, seems pretty strong, checked the timing for anti-clockwise rotation ( visually confirmed ) piston 1 ( at cam belt end ) at TDC and leads plugged in order 1-3-4-2 with lead 1 being the top right of the cap when standing directly in front of it facing the back of the car. And I have tried putting the leads in different orders just to be sure. Tried the old cap and leads and plugs, no significant changes.
I have 1/4 tank of fuel ( just topped it up with another 15 litres ) and unscrewing the cap and pressing the valve on the fuel rail and there is a healthy jet of fuel that comes out. BUT, I wondered if the injectors are firing ? Though I took a plug out, turned the engine a few times and sniffed etc and its a 99% certainty that fuels going in. Just a thought there.
Air, The pipework is as tight as a knats butt, I have tried unplugging the AFM, removed the air filter etc. But I wonder about this being a possible cause of the problem as well ? is it plausible to bypass the FMIC and go directly from the AFM to the top hat ?? So thats all I can put for now, more when some feedback comes in. As I say, it very nearly catches, but won't fire up. It seems to struggle with resistance ( and a fully charged battery will die after about a 1 minute of cranking - in total - not all at once ). So close, yet so far and its killing me ! I swear the car has some voodoo effigy on it !
Thanks for all your help ! Sorry for any typo's, nonsense and babble, I have a blinding migraine at the moment.
