Interesting non-start after 15g install

Quick recap: $200 car, replaced harmonic balancer, drove back home, pulled DP to find exhaust turbine sitting in the downpipe. Bought a 15g, ported it, installed. Here's where it gets odd.

Pulled low voltage to coil, fuel pump fuse, turned it over several times to get oil flowing, then hooked up coil and fuel pump.

Car struggled to start, then ran smooth for about 3 seconds and stalled. It did this twice.

Next start, it runs rough, gave it some gas and it would run (sounded like on 3) if I kept it above 1500.

If figured the computer just needed to get used to everything, so I let it run for a couple minutes at 1500 but it still stalled out when I let off the gas.

Now, it won't catch and start. Tach does not jump as it cranks, nor does it move at all. I haven't checked diddly yet - too frustrated/disappointed/tired to troubleshoot at 1:00AM.

So, tomorrow I need to rig up a remote start and check for spark on each cyl. Pull the plugs, check for fouling, turn it over and see if I can get some fuel to spray out of the plug hole.

I'll laugh, hard, if it just ate a timing belt. If the cam turns I will also have to check timing and make sure it didn't skip a few teeth.

Can't think of much more that it could be, given the sudden onset. Would a bad crank sensor cause the tach to not jump and kill the spark?

yes a bad CAS will cause no spark and fuel. But it sound like you have either vacuum or a big leak. When i bypassed the turbo on the old mans car, i just hooked the AMM up to the intercooler. It did the exact same thing. Except for the tacho thing.

Make sure you have power to the coil. If you have power to the coil, pull the plug, place on rocker cover and crank. See if it has spark. Make sure you can hear the pump prime when you turn on terminal 15. Make sure you have everything plugged in and hooked up properly.

Sounds like possibly a RPM sensor or ignition module, or perhaps something in the inlet tract. Check all your amm-turbo and turbo-IC hoses to make sure there's nothing soft, gooey, split or partially on lines. Also double-check your firing order on the cap. Stupid, I know, but I've seen it before actually. The cap should be marked with cylinder numbering.

Given the 1am 'quit due to frustration' it's probably something stupidly simple ya missed.

gsellstr said:

Given the 1am 'quit due to frustration' it's probably something stupidly simple ya missed.

Click to expand...

Yup. Turns out it runs better with gas in the tank.

Gauge reads half full no matter how much gas is in the tank, apparently.

Hmm, yeah, that could indeed cause an issue...

I wonder if your float lost the ball in the tank somewhere....

I think it's the solder on the back of the cluster, as I also have no temp gauge or speedo. That's a problem for another day though, for now I"m happy to have her up and running in tip top shape.

Full boost at 1/4 throttle can slip the tires... wheeee!