Andres Rodriguez

Hey guys so I recently rebuild my S4 na block and put it in my car and it's been sitting now for 2 weeks since i cannot get it started.

Some background the car is a 1988 GTU and the engine, transmission, engine harness and charging harness came from a 88 vert. I don't have the power steering or the air conditioning stuff. I had the airpump and everything emissions but I decided not to have clutter so I didn't install it.

Now some of the issues I'm facing is the leading coils are not firing but the trailings are, I've heard that I can get it to start on just the trailings.
Also I've gone through 2 starters, the one that came with the engine is completely dead, like mechanically. Went to AutoZone and bought a new one and now after cranking the engine with it it's now just clicking rapidly.
The engine is getting spark and air and i know it hasn't been getting fuel. The circuit opening relay I had to jump the fuel pump signal wire cause I had a V6 engine in it before, it ran perfectly no problems with the fuel pump but now it's not activating I reconnected the wires with bullet connectors.
​​​​I keep jumping the yellow fuel check connector and it activated once but not anymore. I know the secondary injectors don't fire on start and I can't exactly get a screwdriver to the primaries to check them.
I deleted emissions on the engine and I might have missed a connector or something but every connector that I have on the engine has been plugged in.

My main priority right now is the starter since I can't even start it with starter fluid since I can't crank it over.

Sorry for the story but I really don't want to have to sell this car and it's becoming more of a pain in my ***. I'd really like to not sell it. I'd appreciate anyone's help even if it helps me narrow down any one of these problems.

lespaul166

yank your starter and bench test it with a jump battery. I have a feeling one of your starter connections is loose, **** eyed, leading to incomplete voltage to the starter. Just had that happen on a 95 4Runner I was doing a rebuild on.

Rotary Alkymist

It sounds like you should just go over everything again. Take your time and inspect and test all components in the main systems -fuel, ignition, charging. It's always good to know where your compression is sitting, that your battery is fully charged, and eh-hem.. a good strong starter lol.

I think if you do that and double check all of your connectors you have way less things on your mind. The best thing to do is don't set a time limit for yourself. Be patient man and the car will eventually put a smile on your face... and lots of your friends too! If this car teaches you anything.. it's patience.

Lots of times too people don't torque the main teminals on the starter, they need a proper torque -lotsa juice running through that baby when you're cranking.

Andres Rodriguez

well you were right, yanked the starter re-checked all the terminal connections and voila all good starter wise.

thats for sure, this car is making me more and more patient, and I would regret selling it so gotta keep at it.

So a little update I got it stated!! Yay!
Except that it was for 10 seconds then it died even with some throttle.
I fixed the starter issue with you guys' tips then moved on and prepped the engine to start, got signs of life and proceeded to fill the water system and once so i started it for real this time and again started for 10 seconds healthy good and died. My dash buzzer came on (like the low coolant buzzer) and wouldn't stop. Pulled the dipstick and milky oil started pouring out from the dipstick. Opened the oil cap, a bit of white smoke came out and saw the oil was again milky and all the way up to the first breather tube (attached image).

So I suspect my outer coolant seals are blown or pinched cause I drained the radiator and the engine and the water is super clear. No oil in the water but definitely water in the oil. Could it be something other than coolant seals?? (Prob not but any input is welcome) I tried to search another situation like this one but I couldn't find anything.

well time to be more patient, and take out the engine and replace the water seals.

lespaul166

Oof, that sucks man. I’m gonna be building my first rotary in a bit here, and I’m sure I’m gonna have some stupid mishap to take care of too. Is yours easy to pull out at least? I’ve got mine stripped down to The bare essentials so removal is an hour or 2 of work 👍

Rotary Alkymist

Oh...no . Really sorry to see that man.

Before you even open it, familiarize yourself with the whole process. EVERY STEP. Do not skip ANY step.

CLEAN ORING GROOVES IMMACULATELY.
Those grooves are notorious for harbouring dense carbon buildup. Use an old side seal to clean it perfectly. There is no room for error when it comes to cleaning all components and to tell you the truth it's the worst part about the whole procedure. You really have to be in the right mood for it and it also has to be considered as a very necessary step. The more you memorize the overhaul procedure the less chances that you'll make a mistake.

Be sure that your o-rings are "positioned and oriented" properly.

Measure measure measure, never assume anything. Measure and compare to factory tolerances.

Try to sandwich the housings in one smooth movement. Don't angle one side down causing it to pinch or possibly drag across the coolant o-ring. Don't align the housing after you drop it... align it before you drop it.

When you install the intermediate plate it really doesn't have to be angled all that much. It can be done probably without touching anything on the way down if everything is positioned properly. I hope you did this with two people cuz doing that alone is unwise. I'm not saying it can't be done but I've never taken the chance myself.

Don't use anything accept black RTV silicone. Keep in mind too that once you put a bead down the clock starts ticking. That's why it's very important to memorize the rebuild.

Example: You start rebuilding and you put the first housing on. You start dressing your rotor and you notice a ding that needs filing. Now you have silicone drying and you have to file down a rotor but you got the filings all over the place. After enough time you say **** I'm gonna start over. You take the housing off and get silicone on your shirt and hands with orings on the floor etc.. A perfect example of the consequences of not following procedure. If the procedure was adhered to then that rotor would've been filed long ago. This is more of an anecdote lol.

Anyway, good luck with everything.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

have a really good look at the freeze plugs in the front iron, if one of those is bad it will fill the oil system with water. its also possible to have the outer coolant seal bad in the bottom of one of the housings.

Andres Rodriguez

Relatively, once I take off all the stuff and get it down to the block, yea easy to pull out. Helps i only have the water pump and alternator accessories.

Me too... Oh well It happens. Alkymist I will definitely take my time with everything once I get the motor ready to be opened. you're right the first time i rebuilt it I did it carefully but definitely not taking my sweet sweet time. I will do this now. I do not want to have to pull this motor again due to me wanting to drive the car as fast as possible.

This is what I was thinking. I started to do more research today and the front freeze plug could be a culprit, and I certainly hope so (would be much easier and no opening the engine). If a outer coolant seal is bad I cannot imagine that the water pressure from the coolant system being full just sitting would cause the oil and water mixture to fill it all the way up in less than an hour. We will see tho. I'm gonna start the engine bay cleaning tomorrow and ill probably pull the engine later in the day. I'm definitely gonna take Rotary Alkymist's advice and my friends advice as well to take my sweet time with it and double check and then triple check everything im doing.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

if you're lucky, you might pull the front cover and oil pan and find the leak there. if you do need to take the whole thing apart its a good opportunity to measure everything...

Andres Rodriguez

Well I wasn't too lucky. Pulled the drivetrain and pulled off the oil pan and saw it was leaking from the front outer coolant seal. Disassembled the motor and this is the reason why. Now just waiting on Mazda seals to reassemble it. I'm glad it wasn't anything worse than this tho.

​​​​​

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

sucks, been there too.

Andres Rodriguez

For those wondering lol. Little update. Rebuilt the engine with new Mazda water seals and definitely took my time with it, made sure nothing was pinched and that everything was in its correct place. Got the drive train in the car and filled it up with water first. No leaks into the oil pain, then filled it up with oil and no mixing so thats fixed.
I continued my quest to start the engine and it started easily the first few times but wouldn't stay running. as soon as the key was off the start position it would die. Long story short it was a blown 15 amp engine fuse, rookie mistake. Now after replacing that, the engine wouldn't start, all the vaseline from assembly was burnt and it didn't have the best compression to start. Now this from what I've researched this is normal with rebuilt engines that reuse housings (Please don't tell me I'm wrong...). I found a starting procedure on another post (hard to start rebuilt 13b from PvillKnight7 https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...s-tips-976562/) in this forum but I modified it to my needs:
1. Make sure the engine isn't flooded if so de-flood.
2. Remove the spark plugs and clean them
3. put some engine oil into the rotor housings through the spark plug holes
4. Rotate the engine by hand
5. Replace the spark plugs
6. start the engine with the pedal halfway down and wait until the engine warms up and it should hold idle.

I followed this procedure and it started and stayed on while my foot was on the pedal. I let it warm up to about 1/3 on the needle of the water gauge but no idle, at this point I blew an oil line from the oil cooler and just let off and it died. Regardless, the car now only starts if i fill the rotor housings with a little oil, again from what I've heard this is normal until the engine seals break in (No I didn't start it again with a blown oil line). Also when I pulled the spark plugs only the trailing ones had carbon on them and the leading were clean, so I probably need new trailing coils and the idle screw is set all the way counterclockwise. Anyone else have an experience like this? How long until your engine achieved idle? Am I missing something??

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

there is probably a vacuum leak or something like that.