I'm trying to get the newly overhauled 2.0L Type IV engine started for the first time. I know I have fuel pressure and spark. I have not pulled a spark plug yet to see if I have fuel in the cylinders, but I suspect that the FI system is not powered so the injectors aren't firing.

I won't be able to work on this again until Monday and I'll be spending some time with the wiring diagrams between now and then, but I figured it was worth asking here for some pointers of things to check.

I've got a brand new Bowlsby ignition wiring harness. Besides the engine cranking, but never even coughing (much less firing), the only other indication I have is that I have no oil pressure indicator light. I've checked all the ignition and FI harness connections, including the trigger points and the grounds under the air filter.

Anyone got any ideas?

This post has been edited by ThinAir914: May 26 2005, 11:16 PM

Pull the injectors out of one side and crank the engine. See if fuel comes out. WARNING: THIS IS DANGEROUS. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/dry.gif)

If there's no fuel, something is hooked up wrong. If everything is hooked up correctly, check the main power relay or the fuel pump relay. If the relay on the board closest to the firewall is #1 (there's often not a relay in this socket), main power is #2 and fuel is #3. If you don't have spares, swap #2 & #4 or #3 & #4 to test. Check the sockets for corrosion.

IMHO. Start up should go something like this.
Without spark plugs crankover till you get oil pressure.
Get fuel pressure. (you can hear or feel the injectors click).
Install the plugs and try to start.
9 times out of 10 its timing.
If you are haveing troubel with your oil pressure light check it by grounding the wire at the sending unite, should light up with the key on.
If you hook up the fuel pressure regulator backwards it may start and flood the engine and still run through start-up (happened at Headrages start-up).
Look for lose conectors and check the timing.
:PERMAGRIN:Joe

Well it still won't start and it looks like the injectors are not firing. Here's what I've done or that I know for sure at this point:

1) The fuel system is pressurized. I can hear the pump run and I've disconnected the hose just before the pressure regulator and gotten sprayed with fuel as the pressure in the line was released.

2) When I crank the engine, no fuel comes out of the injectors into the little glass jars that I put under them.

3) I used my test light to test the electical at the #1 injector. When the ignition is first turned to the "on" position I get a brief light on my test light at one of the injectors. When the engine is cranking I get no further lights. I expected to see the light flash to indicate pulsing of the charge to the injector.

4) I've used a foam-backed emory pad to clean every single fuse and connection on the fuse block and the relay board. I've also cleaned all the relay pins & sockets as well as spreading the relay pins slightly to ensure that they get a good connection.

5) I tested the 4-pin connector on the relay board that goes to the brain. When I turn on the ignition, I get a bright white test bulb light when connected to connector "I" on the relay board, and a not-so-bright light when connected to connector "III" right next to it. I get no lights on the other connectors.

6) The Oil Pressure light works now thanks to changing out the pressure sender unit. I've cranked the engine enough to get the light to go out so I know I have oil pressure.

At this point I suspect that the injector points are not telling the injectors to fire. This is strange since this this is the same distributor, injector points, relay board, ECU that were working when the engine froze up. Even though it's strange, I'm not one to argue with reality. So where do I go next with this? Any ideas?

Update -

To check the trigger points, I've swapped my distributor for the known-good distro in Mike's '73. This also allowed me to confirm that my timing is correct. I've still got no fuel being delivered by the injectors and I can't detect any clicking of the injectors when they should be opening & closing.

I'm begining to think that something must have broken in the FI wiring harness during the teardown & reassembly. I know it's in need of replacement, but I was hoping to put that off a little while yet. I guess I'll go check & see how quickly I can get one.

If its a fuel issue you can spray starter fulid down the throttel body and it will tell you.
Joe

Yup - it fires just fine with Starter Fluid. For the 1/2 second that it ran, it sounded REALLY GOOD! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

Hang in there.. you are doing the right stuff..


M

what is resistance of cht sensor? - should be atleast 1000 ohm cold from lead to ground. If infinite or zero or not connected the engine will not start/run.

It can be hard to hear injector clicking while cranking engine so turning ign key on and either
1. lift off distrib and twist rotor, or
2.put in 5th gear and push forward a couple feet or so, or
3.simulate triggers by disconnecting trigger harness from distrib and touch a wire between ctr and either outter terminal on harness.
if no clicking then power or efi problem.

when you turn key to "on" do you hear fuel pump come on a couple seconds? if so, ecu is getting power. if no, then atleast one of: (pump, ecu) is not getting power (assuming ecu is good - it is rare for ecu to go bad - 300k mile on mine)

With the key on you can hear the injectors dlick whe you use the throttle. They should click 3 or 4 times each time you open up the throttel(enrich the mixture for WOT) like an accelerator pump on a carb. Nothing to do with the injector points.
Joe

I just went out to my 2L and tried this, with the key on let the fuel pump stop and pull on the throttel cable and listen for the click, I heard 3 clicks and they are not related to the triger points.
Joe

throttle will actuate injectors due to tps, but engine will run decently w/o tps, but cannot run solely on tps (unless you're like the Eddie van halen of tap dancers).

zero is weird. had 'em go infinite intermittent. if you can get one tomorrow fine, otherwise might try 2k ohm resistor as test. hope it works (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beerchug.gif)

What a crappy day - the CHT arrived as expected, and was surprisingly easy to change out, but nothing changed after I swapped it out. On top of that, the Suns are out of the playoffs so the NBA finals won't be worth watching because it will just be the same old slow & grind it out style bball. Oh well... next year!

I've read through Brad Anders D-Jet web page and the only thing he mentions that will prevent injectors from firing is if your MPS is bad or has a connection problem. Tomorrow I'm going to use his chart of FI harness voltages & resistances to check the FI wiring harness, then I'm going to put the fuel pressure gauge on the system and make sure just what my fuel pressure is at the fuel rail.

At least I'm sure that the CHT really needed replacing. I tested it outside of the car, compared to the new one, and it definitely had 0 resistance. The new one also measures the same after installation as it did outside the car.

I posted some questions about Brad's stuff over at The ShopTalk Forums in case you'd like to look and make any comments.

I really appreciate all the help offered here and will be grateful for any other suggestions that you might have. Right now I'm really depressed abou the whole thing! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif)

Well it turned out to be something really stupid - fuel lines switched so the supply went to the wrong side of the fuel pressure regulator.

Now it idles at almost 4,000 rpm - it's just one thing after another. I'm begining to wonder if I'll ever get to drive it!