Firing up my first rebuilt motor... KA PICS!

[Nikeboy355]

I got the motor back together and installed it back in the car...

New fuel filter, oil filter, filled it up with oil, checked all the connections, and bought a bunch of vaccuum plugs to plug up what I didn't use...

Then I disconnected the distributor and the injectors and cranked the engine about 20-30 revolutions... I heard you need to do this to get the oil pump pumping...

Next I reconnected the distributor and injectors and tried to crank the motor over... nothing happened...

Pulled out the distributor and rotated it 180* and tried cranking the motor again... this time there was fire!...

right click and save
http://nitinj.com/Images/240SX2/Engine%20assembly/NitinJ%20fire%20crank.AVI

or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q85BYn6rCo4

Pulled out the distributor again and advanced the timing a little more and smaller flames came out...

Did the same thing again and the then the engine fired up for a second... went up to 2K and then died out...

I sense that something is up between the mechanical and ignition timing...

I'm afraid to keep f'ing with this as I am... any input on how to correctly turn on the motor for the first time?

I'm going to edit this post in a couple of hours with what I suspect... cam timing...

http://photos.freshalloy.com/gallery/d/23703-1/IMG_5698.JPG

http://photos.freshalloy.com/gallery/d/23689-1/IMG_5672.JPG

http://photos.freshalloy.com/gallery/d/23697-1/IMG_5682.JPG

http://photos.freshalloy.com/gallery/d/23699-1/IMG_5683.JPG

This last pic is after turning the crank... When I set it, the dots on the cam gears were inline with the discolored links...

[s13gold]

its an oem rebuild???

[corey240]

well there isnt to much to say about the first fire up but make shore the timing bs is right, and if all the sensors and wires and what not are hooked up it should be fine but just take it easy and dont drive the shit out of it for a good long whil, ps: get a magnetic drain plug

[projectRDM]

Cam timing. The FSM's illustration is incorrect. Reset and try again.

[ch1873857]

oh so thats what would happen if i started a ka with no exhaust manifold...i wanna see it run like that haha

[kandyflip445]

That was a cool ass video. lol

[kevtrinh]

ohh so thats how it works!

[eastcoastS14]

fuck this thread makes me nervous...im gonna replace my headgasket this week and dont wanna fuck anything up with the timing etc...R240NA whats the deal with the FSM timing...whats the proper way to do it?

[aznpoopy]

Cam timing. The FSM's illustration is incorrect. Reset and try again.

whoa what?

so what is proper positioning?

[benefitx]

nikeboy your making me nervous...im putting my engine back together today

[Nikeboy355]

Cam timing. The FSM's illustration is incorrect. Reset and try again.

Is the JWT guide correct?

http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/wolfpdf/CAM%20INSTALL%20INST%20FOR%20KA24DE.PDF

[Jung918]

The markings on your cams are not lined up the same as the jwt write up. You can see on the JWT that the indentation on the cam gear is in the middle of the chain (step 5 & 7). Yours are inbetween 2 chains.

[myriad]

those flames and the sound were so cool :D

[projectRDM]

Is the JWT guide correct?

http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/wolfpdf/CAM%20INSTALL%20INST%20FOR%20KA24DE.PDF

Yes, that looks right. We noticed the FSM error way back in 97 rebuilding a KA and a local guy at the time who later opened Unstable Hybrids (now closed) printed out a nice diagram and sent it out to numerous sites to post up. Sadly over time it's been lost from most places. I've got a copy of it somewhere at the shop, I'll try and scan it in when I get back in town next week.

The easiest way to set it is to have cylinder #1's cam lobes pointed out nearly dead flat at TDC, the exhaust side will sit just a hair higher than the intake. On a clock it'd be 9:00 and 2:30.

[nka203]

lol man thats tyte

[contranication]

When you turned your distributor 180* degrees and fire shot out is b/c you were completely backwards you should turn it back to what it was before...

When you didn't get anything the first time(if it just cranked and cranked) you were probably one tooth off on the distributor

The Jwt cam install instructions worked perfect for me, if you match the the all the markings on your top timing chain correctly and as long as you did your crankshaft to lower chain timing correctly, then just mess with the distributor... check that your idle screw on the intake is not all the way in nor all the way out, that way you have an allright idle at start

[Nikeboy355]

Does this look any better?

http://nitinj.com/Images/240SX2/Engine%20assembly/2IMG_6020.JPG

http://nitinj.com/Images/240SX2/Engine%20assembly/2IMG_6022.JPG

I found the distributor position picture on EM-14 and EM-19 where it shows where the rotor should be pointing when the motor is set to TDC...

I pulled the plugs out and they are soaked with fuel so I am going to let everything dry out before cranking it up again...

[projectRDM]

That's closer to it, yes.

[Nikeboy355]

It won't turn on... and it doesn't even fire up for one turn...

I ran down to Autozone and picked up some new plugs and some starting fluid... Still nothing...

I'm going to do a thorough anaylsis in the next two days ....

It has spark... I pulled out a plug, grounded the threaded section, cranked the motor and saw spark...

It has fuel... When I pulled out the plugs, you could see and smell it... And I can smell it come out of the exhaust manifold...

It's gotta be somewhere in the world of timing...

[Nikeboy355]

I might have made a mistake... knock sensor not connected...

I know the MAFS doesn't have to be connected to idle but does the knock sensor need to be?

http://nitinj.com/Images/240SX2/Engine%20assembly/3IMG_6024.JPG

[Anto]

negative. i'm pretty sure you can run with a knock sensor unplugged, it'll just run rough & jerk.

make sure your dist. and cam timing are on spot. I just did a cam swap & that shit was the largest pain in the ass ever (timing)

[steve shadows]

dont fire the motor without headers, its very bad for the valve seats and valves themselves, your going to hurt your motor.

[DRFT180]

In the last picture you posted the cams are off. It doesn't matter if they are lined up in between a link or not. It looks like you are retarded 1/2 a link, you would need to turn both cams clockwise 1/2 a link.

[Nikeboy355]

Still won't turn on but I found something interesting in the FSMs...

The S13 and S14 KA distributors have different positions for where they are supposed to be set at TDC... I was working off the S14 FSM, let me try the S13 one one... The engine is wired up as an S13 and is using all S13 electronics including distributor...

Here is where the distributor TDC info is in the FSMs:
S13 - EM-13
S14 - EM-14 and EM-19

Alright, let me try the S13 way now...

[Nikeboy355]

It's alive!... and thank all of you for your help...

I rotated the cams half a link, followed the S13 FSM for setting the distributor timing and it fired up perfectly... On a side note, it is much easier to work on the cam timing with the upper front cover off...

Now, I'm going to fill it up with the rest of the fluids, put all the nuts and bolts where they need to go, and break the motor in...

right click and save...
http://nitinj.com/Images/240SX2/Engine assembly/NitinJ startup.AVI

http://nitinj.com/Images/240SX2/Engine%20assembly/4IMG_6029.JPG

http://nitinj.com/Images/240SX2/Engine%20assembly/4IMG_6030.JPG

http://nitinj.com/Images/240SX2/Engine%20assembly/4IMG_6031.JPG

I plan to break the motor in like this:
5-10 miles under 3000RPM gently
5-10 miles under 5000RPM gently
5-10 miles under redline gently
then run it hard on the dyno in 4th gear

[rb13ski]

what did the rebuild cost??

[locodrftr]

Very nice, gives me inspiration to rebuild mine, but im with the dude above me...what did it cost?? And u took some stuff to steve's machine shop in azusa? im like two blocks away from them and have gotten flywheels lightened and balanced they do great work glad to know they helped u out too..congrats

[benefitx]

nice man , im real glad you got it started...ill be firing up my first build friday...so it was only a timing issue?

[dopeassjackson]

30 miles is not going to seat your rings. also i wouldnt run it at redline at all until about 250+ miles later. to break in your rings you need to accell then decell, acell then decell, there both just as important.
i like the first vid lol