I posted this in the 1st gen forum, but I'm getting no help over there, so I'm posting this here.

After weeks of rain, I finally got a chance to finish up putting the engine back together in my SE. All I really had to do today was get the exhaust mani on, and a few misc. vac lines and make sure everything was tightened up.

I've been wondering since I got the car if the fuel pump was bad, because I've never been able to hear it when turning the key forward. Today was no different, and the car didn't start upon turning it over. I jumped the plug under the hood for the fuel pump, and heard no pump, but I did hear the relay. The car will crank over, and a slight amount of smoke will exist the exhaust, fromthe oil and tranny fluid that was in the engine to keep the seals in good shape. So I went and bought some starter fluid to see if i could at least get it to kick over, proving to me that it was getting no fuel from tank.

Rxmfn7 was there, and while he sprayed fuid in through a vac line, I cranked the car....It seemed to jump a bit,a nd several times it sort of backfired and actually blew out the vac line he was putting fuid through. It even blew off a vac line a couple times. But the car still didn't "run" on the starting fluid.

Now when I putthis engine together, I had to take the ditsy off and put it on the new block. Doing a search, I found instructions on how to get the timing right doing this,and I followed them,a nd the ditsy went right in. So I figured that the timing was ok. Is is possible that it's off, a lot, and that's why it's not running? ANd why would it back fire through the intake mani like this?

Also, Which coil is for leading, and which is for trailing. I'm pretty sure I have them right, front for leading, rear for trailer, but I wanted to verify this....

I just want to get this car running, the motor is in great shape, but I'm running into these problems to get it going.

I still suspect a faulty fuel pump, but wouldn't it still run on the starter fluid? What else can I go over to make sure that everything is where it should be? I really want this car to run, but I'm losing my patients.

 

hey, the leading coil pack is in the front of the car near the battery and the trailing coil is in the back near the driver side firewall (im not sure if u kno this but just figure id tell that the top spark plug hole is for the trailing plug and the bottom is from the leading plug).

as for bad timing, yes that will definitely throw off your starting.

but you said your finishin up our motor, did u rebuild it? if u did then do a search about reman or rebuilt motors. they never start on the first time. u usually have to push start it and let it run for as long as you can at a little above idle. thats what i had to do with mine. fresh rebuilds have very low compression. so u have to break in the seals before u can easily start up the motor.

pm or email if u got any other questions.hope it helps.

 

No, I didn't rebuild it, it's a low milage j-spec. But I got it as a bare block, and had to transfer all the stuff from my old motor to it.