Zokus

Hello,

I just had my 88' N/A rebuilt on a budget, so no streetporting or anything. The core is now in decent condition, with good compression on both rotors.

Now, on Sunday I finished dropping the engine into the car with the following:

- cleaned and flow tested stock injectors
- new clutch and pilot bearing (OEM spec)
- removed ACV and blocked it off
- removed start assist fluid and blocked it off
- removed OMP and oil injectors and am running premix. 50:1 right now, will switch to 100:1 once the engine is broken in
- removed EGR and blocked it off (I didn't have a gasket so I put copious amounts of gasket maker on instead)
- removed PD and replaced with a Banjo bolt.
- replaced the fuel lines
- replaced all Vac hoses on the rats nest with silicone except for one (i ran out).
- I put Vac caps on every nipple that wasn't listed under the emissions control system vac line diagram in my Haynes manual. (the EGR one, two on either side of the start assist, the 6mm nipple on the dynamic chamber that went to the oil injectors, the 6mm and 2 4mm nipples that were on the firewall side of the UIM, and the plastic one on the throttle body beside the check valved one that goes to the fast idle? Sorry for the confusion lol. Thats all I can remember. In any case, there was no nipple left open.)
- removed the airpump, duel Alternator pully is on it's way.
- Assembled the intake and got ready to start it.

Now, I had one problem that I know of. I accidentally cross threaded one of the bolts I was using to block off the oil injector holes, and it cracked off part of the LIM while trying to unthread it. You know how the mount protrudes away from the main body of the intake, well that broke off. There wasn't any crack or damage to the main part of the LIM, so I just filled the stripped hole with Gasket maker and then sealed it off with JB weld. I do have another LIM but I didn't want to strip it, clean it and mount it because I didn't have the time.

Moving on, I put the car together, and tried to start it. It flooded. I took out the plugs, dry cranked it, put it back together. It coughed and then just cranked over. Nothing happening. After repeating this process a few times and making sure I had the CAS in properly I got a pull start. It started up right away and ran fine for a new engine. It definately needs to be broken in a bit. I had the throttle cable too tight, so it stayed at 2k RPM when I let off the pedal. I drove it back to the shop, and when I tried loosening the throttle cable it died.

I had to pull start it again and this time I loosened the throttle just enough to keep it at 1k rpm, and brough the timing to where its supposed to be, and then advanced it just a fraction to compensate for the higher rpm.

Now my problem:

The car will not start cold. It coughs and then just cranks over, not catching at all. It floods right away. The plugs are soaked when I take them out, but they are dry before I crank it over.
It will not idle at all. I have adjusted the set screw on the top of the dynamic chamber every way imaginable and nothing. As soon as I losen the throttle cable it dies.

Vacuum leak? I don't know where it would be. Where are some common places for that? Are there any other suggestions? Stuck MAF sensor mabe? What is the proper procedure for setting the idle upon starting after a rebuild?

Very sorry for the long post, I hope someone take the time to read it.

Zokus

Bump: Someone has got to be able to tell me something about something. Sorry for the long read but I wanted an informative answer, which requires information!

Short: Can only pull start. Once started it won't idle but otherwise runs great. Sometimes you can start it warm, but mostly you can't. How do you set the idle. I need a step by step process that people use right after a rebuild. Thank you.

longsword

hows your battery? also, could it be a problem with your premix... i dont know much about premix but im good with chemestry and physics. maby too much oil and thats causeing you to not have enough spark to cause your oil/gas mixture to combust at the lower tempratures

Zokus

Battery is good. I can run the starter all day, and I think it'd go before the battery would lose charge. Plus, I charged it overnight. I don't think it's too much oil, it barely smokes when it's running. That wouldn't explain the no idle situation though.

Carzy Driver

wait, you actually pull start your motor? how and where?


did you try ajdusting the TPS? maybe your BAC took a dive during the rebuild time.

Zokus

Yes, I've pull started it 6 times over saturday and sunday. I hooked the car with a tow rope to a truck, put it in gear with the ignition on, and got someone to pull me progressively faster until I had enough RPM for the engine to start. And I left it running @ 3k RPM for 4 hours on Sunday to break it in while I tried to figure out the idle problem. ( I had an industrial fan blowing in the front.) Still no luck, I hope I can get this fixed soon. I'm driving a POS VW that won't pass inpection and I'm pushing the envelope before the insurance company realizes that I haven't had an inspection and pulls my insurance. I tested my BAC when I took it off, I'll test it again. The TPS is the Throttle Position Sensor right? So it might be reading slightly open when really the butterflies are closed? How do I adjust it?

Edit: I guess you were thinking I pull start it by hand lol?