So a buddy of mine brings his S5 FC to my shop to get running. He swapped in a S5 turbo engine from Tiger Japanese (ugh.. He ordered it before I could suggest a better vendor) and it just won't start.

So heres the situation so far:

Using the N/A ecu w/ NA harness until I can get a megasquirt put in. The engine also has emissions removed (except for the oil injection). The engine initially had bad compression on the front housing (side seal). A half bottle of Marvels Mystery Oil and that was soon fixed. Good compression on all faces. Start turning it over and it fires up for about 3 seconds and spits out a bunch of white smoke. So far so good.

Then it refuses to start again. I check for fuel. Theres pressure in the rails, fuel pump works fine. Check timing. Way off. Set it per FSM specs. Starts again for about 3 seconds and then dies. Doesn't really rev up.. Just fires and dies. From this point on though the rear rotor starts seriously flooding and loses compression on 2 faces. Front rotor floods as well but not nearly as badly.

I pulled the intake off and checked the injectors for leaking/being stuck open by zip tieing them to the fuel rails (while not attached to the LIM) and turning on the pump by jumping the yellow connector. None of them are stuck open. Don't leak a drop. I also checked the spark plugs/coils and they all fire strong.

Also when the engine is cranked over it produces a bunch of smoke that smells like burning gas (not coolant) but it won't fire up.

Anyone got any thoughts on this. I'll probably end up pulling it out early this week to figure out what happened to the rear rotor but if anyone has any ideas I'd be glad to hear them.

(I suppose I'm lucky that I didn't have all these problems with my JDM swap)

Thanks

 

Did the motor get compression tested before it was swapped in? It sounds like it has crappy compression on both rotors. Loss of compression on 2 faces means there's a damaged apex seal. Hard starting & lack of idle are common with blown motors.

 

Yea thats what I was thinking. Apparently it had 90+psi on the rear rotor and 90+ on 2 faces on the front and one was 30ish. Didn't bust out the compression tester on it yet but I'm thinking that I'll find out the front rotor is getting less than 80 and the rear is shot. Gaskets were kinda rotted too so who knows what the coolant jacket and oil seals look like so I'll probably end up rebuilding it for him. That or order a JDM short block w/ tested good compression if it will end up being cheaper (I know this project has already nickeled and dimmed the hell out of him). Then keep this short block and rebuild it for myself

 

check the turbo inlet pipe,

If there is any cracks or any holes after the Air flow meter the engine will only start and shut off immediately (3seconds or so) This can be ghetto rigged with some electric tape or something to seal the holes or cracks until you can find a replacement or just to test out the car and start up.

The white smoke is from the half bottle of marvel mystery oil you used hahahaha one you get the car running let it run at idle for 10-15 minutes and the smoke should clear up. The mystery oil has gone into the turbo and exhaust most likely so it will take awhile to completely clear up.

 

With the cranking I did on it the MMO is long gone out of the system. I have done the de-flooding procedure multiple times (which is how I found out the rear rotor is getting bad compression) and added MMO one time and regular oil another to build compression.

Also even without the AFM hooked up the engine should still start without having to crank on it. It will just die immediately afterward. This engine just won't start and floods out on Biblical proportions..

 

OH ok I was under the impression the issue was that it was starting and dying and from it starting and dying so often it was getting flooded in the process.

 

No started twice. But did not start strong and died immediately. Didn't sound like it rev'd past 800 RPM.

I'm so happy I didn't have these problems with mine..

 

Sounds like when I first swapped in my JSPEC... It turned out I had my fuel lines Reversed...

 

It kept flooding out on you? I'm pretty sure the fuel lines are hooked up right but I'll take another look at them when I go back tomorrow.

 

dump some oil in the sprk plug holes and crank it over a few times after you do the unflood procedure, heat the plugs up with a blowtorch toss them in and it should start
all the fuel would have washed the rotor housings clean they need a slight oil film to help build compression
it should fire right up after doin that but if not pull start it, that'll put some load on the seals, cuz it could just be a seal stickin a bit

 

damn im hoping this doesnt happen when i go to start my motor

 

TPS calibrated right? My TPS just went out and it now sounds like it wants to start, and sometimes starts for like 2-3 second then dies.

 

Got back to work on it today.. Pulled off the LIM and exhaust manifold to check the apex seals on the rear rotor (quick and dirty way through the exhaust port). Turns out it was just stuck. Gets 6 solid puffs now. But when I first turned the engine over with a socket wrench a good amount of fuel came out of the exhaust port (at least 100ml +/-). Front was just fine, no extra fuel.

I already checked if the injectors were stuck open by hooking them up to the fuel rails and turning on the pump but would a weird signal off the harness cause one of the injectors to stay open when trying to start it cause a ton of fuel came out of it? Should have still started off the front rotor though as that doesn't seem to flood as bad so I'm thinking there is more than one problem here. When I get this thing back together I'll try push starting it.

 

I was actually thinking about that.. I asked in another thread but didn't get any response. I'm thinking the TPS might just be bad.. Will it start without the TPS and idle on a default setting or not at all (I'm thinking not at all). If not I'll pull the TPS off my car and try starting in with mine once I get this thing back together.

 

have you tried disconnecting the injectors and used starting fluid to see if it will run off that? just to see if it's a mechanical problem with the engine or if it's a problem with the factory fuel injection system. at least after you are sure the engine can run you can diagnose the electrical system.

 

No always thought starting fluid and rotary engines were a bad mix but I suppose that could just be some myth I heard. I'll try that too and see what happens.

 

try the oil, thats the only way i could get mine to start after it would flood when i first swapped it in