new engine and will not start>?

Ok I droped in a remenufactured engine after mine had seized, I have everything hooked up and the timeing set corectly but when I turn the key it just turns over and won't fire. We took a spark plug out and there was fuel on it, so I know the engine was getting fuel, also we tryed starting it with a spark plug out and wire still connected and it had a strong spark. My buddy thinks it was the distributer because the shaft is loose, but could this be the CPS? I know the distributer will need to be replaced just because it was damaged but could the CPS be the real problem? Oh and just a double check, it does plug in with the injector wireing harness right?

afjeep2082 said:

Ok I droped in a remenufactured engine after mine had seized, I have everything hooked up and the timeing set corectly but when I turn the key it just turns over and won't fire. We took a spark plug out and there was fuel on it, so I know the engine was getting fuel, also we tryed starting it with a spark plug out and wire still connected and it had a strong spark. My buddy thinks it was the distributer because the shaft is loose, but could this be the CPS? I know the distributer will need to be replaced just because it was damaged but could the CPS be the real problem? Oh and just a double check, it does plug in with the injector wireing harness right?

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lots of variables here- it could be the cps, but a bad cps wont let the engine have spark. Therein lies the weird part-you got spark, and gas, but no fire? thats unheard of- even if it was out of time, there should be a backfire or two if anything. Most times the problem lies in the indexing of the distributor when removeing/replaceing one. recheck for timing issues, reverify that theres gas and spark-good spark,lots of gas- and pressure on the fuel rail itself. Verify the map sensor is hooked up to the vacuum, and plugged in to the harness.
If theres gas an spark, it should do something other than turn over....

It would help to know what year your Jeep is, but in general the most common reason for this problem is the distributor is 180 degrees out of phase. Remember it's a four-cycle engine. Each cylinder comes to TDC twice, once for the compression stroke and once for the exhaust stroke. You need to be sure that the distributor rotor is pointed at the number one contact in the cap when the number one piston is at TDC on the compression stroke.

Eagle said:

It would help to know what year your Jeep is, but in general the most common reason for this problem is the distributor is 180 degrees out of phase. Remember it's a four-cycle engine. Each cylinder comes to TDC twice, once for the compression stroke and once for the exhaust stroke. You need to be sure that the distributor rotor is pointed at the number one contact in the cap when the number one piston is at TDC on the compression stroke.

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If you're getting fuel and spark but no fire, it usually means that the two are occurring out of synch i.e. the distributor isn't properly indexed. Like Eagle said, it's probably almost 180* out of phase (it can never be exactly 180* off because the distributor has an odd no. of teeth). To index it correctly, follow the instructions in my article:

http://www.angelfire.com/my/fan/dist_index.html

Follow them to the letter and you should have your engine running like a Rolex watch.

Sure sounds like either the distributor is 180 degrees out or the cam position sensor in the distributor is out to lunch.

The problem you need to watch out for is that if the plugs get wet with gasoline, you will have to pull them, wash them off with carb cleaner or something of the same sort and put them back. Wet plugs just will not fire under compression. If the cylinders are wet, take an airhose and blow air in through the spark plug holes and dry out the cylinders. I've seen this too many times. You fix the problem but it still doesn't start so you start changing other things that are not bad.

thanks for all the help guys, we found out it was 180 out before and it did the same thing. I'm pretty sure it's the distributor now, I'm just waiting for a reply back from the junk yeard to get one. Thabks again guys

sorry guys, I have a 1993 Jeep automatic 4WD 4.0L I6

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the only thing in the distributor that will keep you from starting is the cam position sensor. I have never seen a distributor so worn out that the cam sensor would not work. The shaft can rattle a ton and the thing will still work.

I say this only to say that if you can score a cam sensor to try from a friend or somewhere, you can verify it before you sink any more $$$. I guess if you get a whole distributor, it will have one in it. Lots of luck. New engines can be a pain. I guess by cranking it as much as you have, you don't need to prime the oil pump now :eyes:

yeah, I figured it would be the CPS in the distributor...the distributor shaft its self was damaged and that's why I am getting a new one....not too bad only $71...on a second note does anyone have any good engine brake-in tecniques? I am planning on driving home to Oregon (about a 1600 mile drive) to brake it in, I have free road side assistance and a month of leave so I'm not that worried about breaking down or what ever "might" happen. What about suggestions about inital start-up? for how long? RPMS? any help would be great!

New cam? Keep the RPMs over 2000 for the first 15 minutes of run time.

A long road trip is one of the worst ways to break in an engine. Break-in should be under light loads and varying speeds, preferably not to exceed 50 MPH for the first 500 or 1000 miles. I also like to change the oil after 500 and again at 1000.

why is a road trip bad? I can't vary the speeds and keep it slow for the first 500 miles on my road trip? The first 3/4 of it is all flat land (north dakota and montana) heavy loads will not be a problem, once I reached the hills it would be plenty past the 500-1000 mark.......thanks for the start up tip though

Eagle said:

Break-in should be under light loads and varying speeds, preferably not to exceed 50 MPH for the first 500 or 1000 miles. I also like to change the oil after 500 and again at 1000.

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What's wrong with exceeding 50mph? That arbitrary speed was used back in the old days (up to the 1970's) when most cars were geared to be running close to 3000rpm in top gear at that speed. That doesn't apply nowadays.
If you're only breaking in a new engine and not a whole new vehicle, just don't exceed 3000rpm for the first 600 miles or 1000km. That means that you can still go up to 100mph if you're in 5th gear of an AX15 or 90mph in overdrive of an AW4.
A long road trip won't do any harm either as long as you vary the engine's rpm between 1000-3000rpm. You can even do a few full throttle runs to help break in the piston rings as long as you remain within that rpm range.
Change the oil and filter after the first 600 miles (1000km) and again at 3000 miles (5000km). You can start using synthetic oil after 6000 miles (10,000km).

I grew up in the old days

But the factory still recommended staying under 50 for the first 500 miles when I bought my 2000 XJ.

The problem with long trips is mostly constant speed, coupled with heat if it's in hot weather. Yeah, if you can discipline yourself to vary the speeds and avoid heavy loads (which can mean full-throttle acceleration as well as towing a 10,000 pound trailor) you should be okay. Just drive like there's an egg between your foot and the accelerator peddle. What you want to vary is engine speed, so you can also accomplish that by jumping back and forth between third and 4th gear (autio) or 4th and 5th (5-speed).

I would still want to get that first load of oil out at 500 miles, though.