So I bought an '86 with a blown motor and then purchased an engine that came out of an '87. I know the engine I bought works (long story short, put it into an '89 GTU, worked, but pulled it out).

My problem now is my car won't start! It won't even turn over. I know the engine isn't froze up, the starter is fine, fuses seem good.. so I'm stuck..

Any advice?

 

86, 87, 89? im so lost one more time?

 

Where are you at in Wisconsin?

Did you check for power @ the starter? Check'd for power @ the spade connector when the ignition switch is turned to 'Start'?

 

I have an '86 shell with a motor from an '87. The motor in the '86 was once in an '89 but taken out shortly after my friend and I put it in.

 

check out your wiring harness, and make sure all the grounds are good and secure, also check to see id the ignition switch is pluged into the starter, or jump it to the battery to see if it works.

 

I'm in Southern WI. And yes, I'm quite certain there is power at the starter. Thank you though.

 

So much for being in driving range, lol. Nobody's up here in the sticks.

If you've got power @ the spade connector that just clips onto the starter when turning the key to 'START' then the problem is either the starter itself, bad/missing grounds, or the motor refusing to turn. Or poor positive power feed, but you usually will hear a noise or something if this is the case (and typically see some burning wire).

 

Thanks for the suggestions but, again, I almost positive all wires are connected and grounds are grounded. Starter is good too, tested that.

 

so an 89 engine swapped in a 86, is the harness modded? or have the s5 harness, and ecu? like whats the basic layout you have?

 

'87 engine into an '86. Sorry for the confusion! The '87 engine just was in an '89 at one point, that's how I know the motor does run.

 

oh okay, try to bump start it, yeah i know ghetto, but if the wirings is perfect but not turning over you could try that, also when you turn the ignition to on do the idiot light turn on?

 

Yeah, I have power to everything. It's just when I go to start the car the engine will not turn over or do anything.

 

The only thing to check at that point if you know you've got power to the starter and the starter is good is that spade connector which is just the trigger for the starters solenoid. You can't have all of these things without it turning over. One of the things below has to be wrong.

Good Starter (wired right? kind of hard to mess up though)
Good Wiring to starter (12V battery, grounds)
Good ignition 'Start' trigger (the spade connector wire, should have battery voltage when key is held to START position)
Good engine?

 

that has to be a wiring issue, or bad starter, or dead battery, cause nothing else would cause it not to turn over, unless something is preventing it from rotating, so check if the engine rotates, use a breaker bar and spin the underdrive pulley and if it moves freely, you have nothing to worry about something being caught in there, then id look into wiring again, and see if the starter is bad,

 

Alright, I'll double check these things and then get back to you. I hope you are right 'cause I want to get this car running!

 

good luck, keep updated

 

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When you put the key to ON, do your wipers work if you turn them on and do your turn signals work when they are turned left/right?

If they don't, then you've lost power to the ignition switch from the engine bay fuse box and that means no starter action also. Easy fix if that's the case.

 

Alright, alright. Most ridiculous thing I missed, a bad ground.. but it's good now. My new problem is the engine turns over, but that's all it'll do. Help please?

 

I am curious on how it came from an 87, then ran in an 89, and is now going into an 86? How did it run in the 89? Was the harness swapped from the original 89 motor onto the 87 when it was put into the 89? What year harness/ecu combo?

 

It ran in the '89 with the '89's harness and ECU, I believe. Now it's in my '86 with the '86's harness and ECU. I haven't done anything since yesterday.. so it's still cranking but nothing else.

 

So a few thousand worth of wiring labor to get it to work in the 89 S5 only to take it right back out and put it back into an S4??? WOW

 

I, myself, wasn't there for the entire time the engine was swapped into the '89 but I didn't think the labor was terrible. To be honest though, the '87 engine in the '89 body didn't running completely fine. You'd have to hold the gas pedal to keep it going, so that's why we swapped it back out. We just figured too many differences from the '86-'88 models to the '89-'91 models. That is why the '87 engine is in an '86 now, just still not running...

 

Ok, to do the swap right "terribly hard" is an understatement.... that makes more sense now.

Onto your problem so your using the 86 harness that was in the car...right?

 

I hate to jump dirrectly to this... but have you tried the ATF trick?

 

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar, ATF trick? And yes, the '86's harness is on the engine and in the car right now.