travis's motor build

update

So I found out the fuse to the ignition coil just blew, the old computer still works. I just got my money back from O'Reily's for the Made in China cam sensor and got one from Auto Zone, which says made in USA hope that makes a difference. On top of that the IAC started sounding like a turbo waste gate so I'm getting another one of those too...
 
head scratcher

Starting to run out of ideas... The car rarely starts now. I replaced the crank sensor and cam sensor, neither of them throw codes anymore. I replaced the coil pack since the old one was getting weak, pulled all of the plugs and put new or cleaned ones back in. The car started right after I did all this , ran choppy( the computer still hasn't learned idle yet) and finally died while I checked out things in the engine bay. It hasn't started since and doesn't have any codes for me to check into.... I checked the ground cables , made sure there's fuel pressure at the rail, tried starting it without the SCT chip and still nothing.
 
The ground from the block to battery keeps getting really hot when I crank the motor, so I pulled the ground cable bolt out , cleaned the block and bolt up, and hooked it back up. It's a brand new cable and still gets hot, and the starter binds up when I crank the motor, so I pulled it out and had it tested, and it shows that it's still good... Anyone have some ideas?
 
Did you also replace the ground from the pass. side motor mount over to the body?

Any of the components involved power coated and/or painted where they should be naked to help the ground path?

Both battery clamps clean/tight?

How many volts in the battery with key off?

If you try to start with the headlights on, do them dim when cranking?
 
I checked the passenger ground, it looked fine. The battery is new and checked out, the connections are clean/tight. Tomorrow I will take the passenger side ground off and make sure it's perfectly clean. Thanks for the vacuum link Jim.
 
Last edited:
If you take the pass. side ground off, you might as well replace it. Remember, corrosion can hide under the sheath, so only way to know it is good is to use new, I think, especially if it is original. Don't forget to scrape clean the spot where it bolts to the body.
 
I checked the passenger ground, it looked fine. The battery is new and checked out, the connections are clean/tight. Tomorrow I will take the passenger side ground off and make sure it's perfectly clean. Thanks for the vacuum link Jim.

Are you quite sure the battery is fully charged?
 
The battery was until I started cranking on it, I think it's about 80% now. The starter seems to hang up or drag, and it pulls all of the interior lights down. I cleaned up both grounds now, so those should be good. I might get a multi meter to check the resistance on the cables.
 
Charged the battery back to full and still nothing. I'm wondering about the starter even though it checked out on the test bench. It binds up to where it won't spin sometimes and all the lights dim or go out. Sometimes it'll free spin for a few seconds but no longer than that.
 
There was only 1/2 a bushing left on the nose of the starter which explains why it would crank OK sometimes and drag others. I'll put it in tonight and cross my fingers.
 
Yep, that would bind alright...great way to damage the windings if it still manages to rotate, otherwise it would just side load, try to climb the ring gear and lock.

Time for replacement, I think.
 
Replaced that starter. Am I right to assume that if it starts without the can sensor hooked up but not with it hooked up, that the timing is off?
 
It just throws one for the unplugged cam sensor now. It ran perfectly and learned idle. It finally stopped running super rich after it ran for a few minutes. I called Dalke and he thinks it's 180* out of time too.
 
Back
Top