rian Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 (edited) Hey RC, So my 4AGE KE70 has been having some issues lately. The last time I drove it the engine would splutter and pop and the car couldn't exceed ~40km/h. It has been sitting for about 3 weeks and now it won't start. It cranks fine but just doesn't fire up. The engine is out of an '87 Corolla (7 rib Bigport if it makes any difference). The things I've checked so far: Spark: - The distributor lead will create an orange spark about a 1/2 inch long when cranking. - The spark plugs will create a reasonably strong spark, but the spark is still orange and not blue. - I have replaced the coil with a brand new unit. The old coil had pretty high resistance when it was installed, but has since been bench tested and the resistance was OK but still not great. The new one was 0.75 ohms on the primary coil, 11K ohms on the secondary coil. - The ignitor/coil combo have been "bench" tested by running 3 volts through the ignitor with the coil positive hooked directly to a battery, and it created a solid 1/2 inch spark out of the coil lead. The spark was still orange. - The coil has 12.2 volts at the positive terminal when installed in the car. Fuel: - The pumps will prime and I'm assuming it's creating pressure. - When I checked the plugs after cranking they were wet and smelled of fuel. - I have not tested the injectors - I don't have an injector tester/LED test light. - The fuel is probably 2 months old. - Aerostart/Start Ya Bastard doesn't help. Here's how the plugs looked: Timing: - I haven't touched the timing since initially setting it when I installed the engine. I checked it today and it was at 10* at cranking. Other: - In diagnostic mode, only Code 1 comes up - which means there is no fault. - Engine earth strap is secure. - Battery is kind of shit, has low capacity but volts are ok: 12.4 to 12.6 when charged. - The engine seems to crank well, isn't slow or anything. - I don't think the head gasket is blown, there is no milky goo under the oil cap and compression was around 150PSi last time I had it checked - I have no idea what cams are in it, probably stock. Can anyone think of any other issues that might cause a "no start" condition? I'm pretty sick of fiddling with it. My next step is to borrow a battery and chuck in my spare ECU. If that does nothing I might punch it. Edited April 28, 2015 by rian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.L.Z.BUB Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 MAP sensor vacuum hose blocked or split? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rian Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 MAP sensor vacuum hose blocked or split? Will check this tomorrow when there's light. I had another go at it this afternoon. There is a good spark, like 20mm long, if I earth the coil lead while cranking. The plugs have good spark when earthed. Then I did a compression test with my cheapo compression tester... From 4th to 1st cylinder: 100, 120, 150, 100 respectively. And this is with a decent battery that I borrowed. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Is that enough to stop it from running though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezzaclub Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 They are pretty crappy compression figures... You'll hav eto do something about it soon. Tow-start it, that is the final test. I've had cars that would never start, or maybe cough but never run on a starter motor but fired up and ran fine when towed. Storing cars for a long time can be a problem. Once you've got it running do another compression test. Maybe valves are stuck open a tad, or leaky but OK when running. The plugs shouldn't be wet and smelling of petrol if the spark is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz_Rx Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 (edited) Did you have all of the plugs out and at w.o.t. when you did the comp test? Edited April 28, 2015 by Taz_Rx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickn5k Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 (edited) Let us know how you go. My old mans FJ20t was 150psi when healthy Edited April 28, 2015 by kickn5k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rian Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 (edited) The plugs shouldn't be wet and smelling of petrol if the spark is good. This is what I was thinking. I can't see why it won't run if there is spark, correct timing and fuel, unless there isn't enough fuel pressure or something? The timing light will work when I crank it, which means the engine must be sparking. Did you have all of the plugs out and at w.o.t. when you did the comp test? I just realised this a little while ago. I had the plugs out but forgot to open the throttle haha :hammer: I'll try it again tomorrow! Edited April 28, 2015 by rian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Lugg Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 No one suggested swearing at it... You swear at it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rian Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 (edited) No one suggested swearing at it... You swear at it? That's my go-to technique. Rarely works :pirate: Edited April 28, 2015 by rian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ke70dave Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Disconnect the tps and see if it starts. Similarly diaconnect the map sensor and see if it starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleRedSpirit Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 When you say you say a large spark on the main lead, do you mean terminal to temrinal or its escaping the insulation? Crank it at night and see if you see any sparks jumping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rian Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Disconnect the tps and see if it starts. Similarly diaconnect the map sensor and see if it starts. I have tried to start it without the TPS connected but it still wouldn't start and Code 7 (TPS) and Code 11 (Air-con switch in TPS) came up in diagnostic mode. I will try it without the MAP sensor and see how it goes. Thanks Dave. When you say you say a large spark on the main lead, do you mean terminal to temrinal or its escaping the insulation? Crank it at night and see if you see any sparks jumping Hey Matt, what I mean about the large spark is that when I pull the main lead off the distributor and hold it close to an earth point and crank the engine it will spark from the end of the main lead to the earth point, up to about a 20mm gap. With the main lead connected to the distributor and the engine cranking I couldn't see or hear any spark shorting or leaking out from any of the lead insulators. I've been using dielectric grease or all the lead boots to prevent leaking any spark. But I will check this again tonight in the dark to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rian Posted April 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 (edited) I had another dig at this this afternoon. MAP Sensor: - I checked the map sensor vacuum line and it was fine. I disconnected it and tried to start the engine - still won't go. Even when I disconnect the EFI main relay and try to run it on Aerostart/Start Ya Bastard it still won't fire. Spark: - I didn't get to check for any spark leaks around the insulators because there was no one here to help me crank the engine. - I noticed that every time I pulled the spark plugs out they were covered in fuel. Compression Test: - This time I did it properly: plugs out and W.O.T. The battery is pretty much toast and I keep having to recharge it - it goes flat by the end of the compression test, so the results are pretty inconsistent. Anyway the results were, from 1st to 4th cylinder this time: Dry: 120, 120, 100, 90 Wet: 190, 190, 100, 80 (battery was flat by the end of it) I then chucked some more oil in each cylinder, put the plugs and leads back on and it fired up and ran really rough for about 5 seconds then died. I then kept cranking it and it would splutter and cough but wouldn't start. It started to crank really fast too - definitely has low compression. This all seems really weird to me: The engine ran perfectly not that long ago, it's mostly been sitting for the last few months - hardly driven, it never burnt any oil or blew any smoke and now it's suddenly died. It ran rough one day and would misfire and struggle to get over 40km/h, then the next time I try to start it it won't start. I'm going to check the cam timing/timing belt and if that's fine I might pull the engine. Anyone got any other ideas? Edited April 29, 2015 by rian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's_AUDM_Yo Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Could be worth borrowing someones ecu to try? Have heard of ecu's giving up the ghost in Nissan land. Sell me your car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rian Posted April 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Could be worth borrowing someones ecu to try? Have heard of ecu's giving up the ghost in Nissan land. I have a spare ECU, I'll give it a try tomorrrow :y: Sell me your car Get outta here you sellout. But really you should hang around, not near my car though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.