it wont start new motor

i got a new motor fer my 90 aand it wont start i got spark n fuel myfather inlaw inists that i needed to index the fly wheel to the CPS at TDC i cantfind any material saying any thng about that just dont wanna pull out the trans if dt have to thanks any help would e greatfull

blindhog13 said:

i got a new motor fer my 90 aand it wont start i got spark n fuel myfather inlaw inists that i needed to index the fly wheel to the CPS at TDC i cantfind any material saying any thng about that just dont wanna pull out the trans if dt have to thanks any help would e greatfull

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did you remove the cps fefore removing/ installing engine? if not , you broke it and you need a new one now

follow the book on installing the distributor. make sure #1 is on tdc

i put the new cps in after and tested wiht ohm meter and it reads wokin 175 omsdo you have to index the fly wheel??at tdc with # 1 onthe compression stroke or is it possable to have it 90 dgrees off?

Is it a salvage yard engine? Remanufactured? When was the last time this engine ran? Does the engine even try to start when cranking?

If you have spark at the plug wires (how did you verify this?), then the problem isn't likely to be the crank sensor.

A quick and dirty fuel test is to spray some starting fluid into the intake. If the engine starts and runs for a bit, you have a fuel delivery problem. Just because you have fuel pressure at the fuel rail doesn't mean that fuel is getting TO the injectors.

Indexing the distributor is critical. Search for more information on how to do this.

There is no such thing as indexing the CPS to the flywheel. The most likely thing is that you have the timing 180 degrees out of sync. In otherwords you have the rotor in the distributor pointing to the #1 cylinder on the exhaust stroke instead of the compression stroke.

yes i hv spark just need to know IF I HAVE TO INDEX THE FLY WHEEL TO TOP DEAD CENTER thank you

ok thanks

blindhog13 said:

yes i hv spark just need to know IF I HAVE TO INDEX THE FLY WHEEL TO TOP DEAD CENTER thank you

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1 cylinder needs to be at TDC on the compression stroke to index the distributor, not the flywheel.

blindhog13 said:

yes i hv spark just need to know IF I HAVE TO INDEX THE FLY WHEEL TO TOP DEAD CENTER thank you

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No, you don't index the flywheel. You cannot change the flywheel position. IIRC, you COULD have the wrong flywheel. At some point in XJ history, I think they changed. The notches that activate the CKP (aka CPS) were in a different location. There was a thread where somebody had to track down and change the flywheel.

If you can find a timing light (like in an antique shop, or maybe Joe can loan you one), you could test that the spark is at the right time without pulling things apart.

The only thing you can "index" is the distributor.

winterbeater said:

No, you don't index the flywheel. You cannot change the flywheel position. IIRC, you COULD have the wrong flywheel. At some point in XJ history, I think they changed. The notches that activate the CKP (aka CPS) were in a different location. There was a thread where somebody had to track down and change the flywheel.

If you can find a timing light (like in an antique shop, or maybe Joe can loan you one), you could test that the spark is at the right time without pulling things apart.

The only thing you can "index" is the distributor.

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Renix 87-90 flexplate/flywheels are NOT compatible with the 91+ OBDI/OBDII.

If you are using your original flexplate/flywheel, you don't have a problem. I don't even know if you would get spark if you had the wrong piece in their.

You should check the distributor, as mentioned by many others already. Being 180 out is common.

blindhog13 said:

i got a new motor fer my 90 aand it wont start i got spark n fuel myfather inlaw inists that i needed to index the fly wheel to the CPS at TDC i cantfind any material saying any thng about that just dont wanna pull out the trans if dt have to thanks any help would e greatfull

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Just in case you can't find the punctuation keys on your keyboard, you can copy these and insert them as needed. And believe me when I tell you, you NEED them.

Hello, I'm having the same problem. I just installed a rebuilt long block in my 95' automatic and it will not start. It cranks and there is spark but it will not start. When I pull the plugs they are not wet no matter how much I crank. The fuel rail has fuel in it and is pressurized and I can hear the fuel pump come on when the key is turned. The question that I have is when the engine was out and I put the ring gear for the started on the back of the new engine I didn't "index" it to the Top Dead Center with the crank. Does it matter which way the ring gear is reattached to the crank? I have read that there are holes cut out of the edge of the ring gear so that the CPS can tell where is it in relation to the crank but there was no key way or off set bolt on the end of the crank that indicated that the ring gear should go on only one way. Any thoughts from the 4.0 experts. I really appreciate your time.

The holes in the flex plate are indexed in such a way that you should not be able to install it incorrectly. If you don't smell any gas out the tailpipe, you most likely don't have the injectors firing. Did you make sure and install the ground strap from the rear of the head to the firewall.

You need to see if you have fuel pressure at the rail and if the injectors are firing. Do a search for noid lights. They hook inline with the injectors and will tell you if the injectors are getting pulses.

old_man said:

The holes in the flex plate are indexed in such a way that you should not be able to install it incorrectly. If you don't smell any gas out the tailpipe, you most likely don't have the injectors firing. Did you make sure and install the ground strap from the rear of the head to the firewall.

You need to see if you have fuel pressure at the rail and if the injectors are firing. Do a search for noid lights. They hook inline with the injectors and will tell you if the injectors are getting pulses.

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Agree with Old Man.

You may not have the distributor indexed properly, that is very common. You will get spark, because of the crank sensor and the ECU control that, but the synch sensor in the distributor provides data to the ECU for the firing pulse of the injectors, and if you are far enough out it may not run at all.

Just for grins, spray some starting fluid into the intake while someone else cranks the engine over and see if it will run that way.

You should also confirm that you have high enough fuel pressure, 31 psi while cranking.

Is the battery up to doing its job? The Renix needs to "spin up" to 300+ rpms before it will fire.

Is the spark blue (hot) and snappy or weak and yellowish?

Thanks for the replys folks, ITS ALIVE! the distributor was out 180 degrees. Fired up after the adjustment. Now I have to track down why the valves are already making noise and the engine is only 10 minutues old. Thanks again all! :worship: