Well, I recently posted that we got my rebuild started after sorting out an injector problem. With a little starting fluid in the intake, it cranked and started right up. It ran for about 5-10 minutes and then my brother freaked out when he saw steam coming out from the rad fill neck(turns out it was a leaky oring on the rad) and he told me to kill it. Well, after turning it off we cant seem to get it to start again. It will crank and almost catch but wont stay running. We'll pull the plugs and sure enough, they are fouled from flooding. Pull the EGI fuse, crank it over to clear the fuel, inject oil and reinstall the plugs. We have done this countless times now and it won't quite start. I guess my question is what is the next step? I cant really pull/push start the car yet, so thats not an option. Im going to install a fuel pump kill before we try again. What is the best method to use the fuel pump kill the next time we start the car? Should I crank it with the pump off and then turn it on as it tries to catch? Also, does oil or ATF seem to work better to build compression or does it really matter? Sorry for all the questions but its beginning to get a bit frustrating. Thanks for any advice you may be able to give.

 

iv found that oil works fine check your spark and fuel check your fuel pump voltage

 

When you do the egi trick do you crank it let it stop then put it in then crank again? If you do, do it this way- crank it, as soon as you feel it somewhat catching put it in while still cranking and it should live, doing that has helped me a few times

 

did you try holding the accelerator wide open while cranking? this sometimes helps to prevent flooding and for lower compression engines to catch and fire. a fuel cut switch is almost a necessity for a rebuild it will aid you a bit in getting it started.

 

well I'm no expert but I heard after you rebuild the s4 it will do that several times till the engine is broke in

 

Yeah, thats what he had been doing, I will try putting in while cranking next time.

We tried various combinations of holding the throttle open, not open and partially open. They all seemed to have similar results. Im going to install a fuel cut switch tomorrow before we try and start it again. Thanks for the advice.

 

Well, I installed a fuel pump cut switch and got ready to start the car again. Freind sprayed some more starting fluid into the intake and cranked it. Nothing, it wanted to catch but wouldn't. It was at that point we noticed that the starting fluid was leaking out around the upper intercooler connection. I pulled it off and had a look. To my surprise, there was a whole lot of liquid starting fluid draining down into the turbo. (Didnt realize my freind had sprayed so much in over the period where it wouldnt start. It had enough in it that it was probably impeding airflow. There was a puddle! We dried out the turbo, dumped out the liquid in the IC and got ready to fire it again. With the fuel kill off I cranked it, and when it sounded like it was going to catch I turned on the pump and it caught. Cleared out and it smoked for about 15 minutes. Oil pressure is great and coolant temp stabilized at 185*. We let it run for about 2 hours and monitored everything. We turned it off to eat dinner, came back out and fired it right back up again to let it run some more. Im so happy. Idle is at 1500 and its becoming progressively more smooth. I need to get the clutch and the brakes bled tomorrow so I can take it for a spin! Thanks for all those who helped.

 

Good job BD. I finally got my exhaust put back together and I want to see if mine will start, BUT I don't want to go through what you went through. I think I should wait until the morning and see if starts and if so.....let it run for a few hours.