KA24DET Starting Problems
 

Hey how are you guys doing? I recently bought a s13 from a private seller. The s13 itself has a rebuilt KA with a t3/t4 hybrid turbo. This is my first 240 of any kind and when i had first tried to start up nothing had happened. what I believe I had a bad starter so I replaced it. After that the same problem had occurred. Further into some more research on multiple forums, I had came to another conclusion that my battery was dead. Went to Auto zone and got it charged up and now im at another point in where it wants to start but wont actually do it. The fuel pump sounds like its priming fuel so im not sure if its a fuel issue. You can hear it in the "In cabin" video. Im looking through multiple forums right now and most of them point to the relays in the engine bay towards the front passenger side. I checked them and there seem to be no corrosion or anything. Ive also included to videos to try and help show you guys whats happening. I Hope yall can help. Cant wait to hear what you guys have to say.
:picardfp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7I8XN1H95E (Outside View)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsybFS8CQqc (In Cabin)

Things ive done so far:
Replaced starter
Replaced spark plugs
Charged Battery
Looked at Relays
Put a little gas in.

Sounds like timing is off.

How would the timing be possibly fixed if the engine won't even fully turn on? Isn't the engine needed to be on in order to use one of those timing kits?

What you would do is manual set it back to stock then get it running first and adjust from there with a timing light.

Couple things you need to do first.


Don't pump the gas pedal
Check to make sure you're getting spark to the plugs

is a messed up maf ruled out of this? Like is there any possible way that the maf could be messed up? Im most likely sure it has a z32 maf on it.

Update: I had checked the spark plugs for spark and noticed that i was getting a weak spark. The spark was orange in color. Could that possibly mean the distributor is bad?

Pull the cap and rotor, look for burned contacts. They're cheap to replace. Could also be the ignition coil.

I'll definitely try that later on today and get back to you.

Make sure your engine grounds are stout I think there are three, two out back, one out front on the manifold.

Sent from mTalk

Update: set the engine timing to tdc and timed the distributor as well, but still the car wont seem to be fully turning on. I also thing my battery keeps losing charge so that sucks as well. Checked the cap and rotor of my distributor and found no burned or worn contacts. Any other ideas?

Get a compression tester from the parts store. You bought a ka-t without test driving it? Dude probably nuked the engine tried throwing a gasket on it and gave up.

Spray some starting fluid in it and see if you even get a pop

Make 100% sure you're getting fuel, pull your fuel rail and see if the injectors are spraying

What color are the plugs? The spark plugs could be bad, or something else in the ignition system is messed up.

So I changed the spark plugs again to some NGK's and charged up my battery overnight. It seems to be cranking at a much faster rate now so that seems kind of good. But I checked spark plugs for spark and noticed I'm still getting a orange spark from which I heard that a strong spark is a nice blue/whiteish color if I'm not mistaken. I pulled the ignition coil noticed some corrosion so I might replace it soon along with the spark plug leads. After that, I'm pretty stumped on what it could be.

If the spark plugs smell like fuel after cranking , that is a indicator that the fuel injectors are working right?

Soon I'm going to be replacing the ignition coil to the msd blaster 2 coil with a ngk wire set so hopefully that clears up my problem. Was also possibly looking into changing my ignition switch as well Bc those are know to cause many problems as well If im not mistaken.

If you have a fuel pressure gauge you can check to see if the fuel pump is priming. I think it should be around 43 psi during priming. You should be able to hear the fuel pump slightly. Try the starting fluid suggestion also. Spray directly into the throttle body while the engine is cranking. If it runs on starting fluid, then you know the fuel system is broken.

Okay so update! :) we got the car to actually start but under a certain condition. We lifted up the fuel rail and tried turning the car over . To our surprise it actually did . But once all the fuel that was in the chamber burned up the car died. So it seems as if when we lift the fuel rail it starts but when the fuel rail is seated it doesn't want to start. I don't know if the fuel rail is dumping fuel or if it isn't sparking fast enough . I have a new ignition coil, new cap and rotor on the dizzy but still. Any ideas ?

Check to see if the plugs are wet. You said earlier that they smell like fuel, so it could be getting way too much. When i bought my ka-t it was unfinished and had been sitting for years. The injector o rings were bad and the pump was just forcing as much fuel into the cylinder as it could. This killed my pump and got gas in the oil. So, a few things you can do: check to see if the plugs are wet / blackened, (there could even be steam coming out of the plug hole when you remove them if there is a lot of fuel in there), open the oil cap on the valve cover and see if your oil smells like fuel, and see if there is fuel leaking into the cylinder during priming. You can get replacement injector o rings on this page from deatschwerks.

Your injector o rings are fucked.

Pull fuel rail. set on paper towel, turn key to prime pump, watch fuel leak out

so if i got a new injector o-ring kit and installed it, would that prevent the injectors from leaking when i turn the key to prime the pump?

Should, as long as an injector isn't stuck open, pissing fuel into the cylinder.

once and injector is stuck open, does the essentially mean its completely useless?

Not sure, never messed with one. I've always just replaced them.

Yea. If it's stuck you could try "unsticking" it by tapping it lightly on the tip with a mallet. Your best option right now is to replace the o rings and see what happens. It's $20 and you should probably replace them anyway. Make sure to wet the o rings with gas before you seat them, and try not to rotate them once they are seated. Pop the injectors in before you put the caps on with the screws.

i was gonna coat the o-rings with some vaseline before i pop them in. im just a tad bit scared to pull the fuel injectors because ive heard it can be a PITA. Also, theres a couple of screws that had been stripped so i dont know exactly how im gonna get those out lol. ive been spraying liquid wrench on it over the past couple of days hoping once i try one more time it loosened up.

Taking the injectors out is very easy. As for the stripped screws, I had the same issue. What I did was I vice gripped a screwdriver and had my brother push on the screwdriver while I turned the vice grip. Screws cracked loose easily. Then you can pry the injectors out with a flat head screwdriver. Make sure not to damage the injector doing this tho.

Vice grips, WD, twist the injectors before trying to pull them out. If theyve been in the rail for a while theyll probably be combative.
Unless the coil is bad almost any injectors is repairable. However the service is not always cheap and it is more expensive for side feeds than top feeds.
I use Jim at Injector Repair LLC, spent a lot of time talking to him on the phone and he is extremely knowledgeable.