cam swap = no start???

[DurbElites]

89 xj 2dr 4.0l
recently i flat lobed a comp cam and my buddy gave me his stock cam out of his 95 4.0. my question is does it work? i have read alot online about 87-95 being the same cam is this true i have heard yes and no. and now the problem, after reading all this i installed the cam and matching timing set with chain (all stock) and now when i try to start the jeep the motor sounds like its dragging real bad on the starter doesnt even spin fast enough to start even hooked up to a 200amp jumper box. checked the timing on the distributor and it was correct. next i pulled the plugs to see how fast it would turn the motor and nothing changed came to a hault like a dead battery. is it possible that the cam/crank timing is off? i also noticed that i was getting suction out of the spark plug holes with my finger over them not sure if its cam/crank timing thats out.

 

[Dr. Dyno]

The '87-'95 cams ARE the same.
You may have your distributor ~180* out of phase so check it again. This link will help you:

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

 

[Talyn]

You may have your distributor ~180* out of phase so check it again.

x2.

Also, how did you line the timing set up? Dot to dot?

 

[DurbElites]

yes it was dot to dot on the timing set. and cylinder one was tdc.

 

[DurbElites]

also all the spark plugs were out with no compression why would it matter about the distributor being 180 out? its dragging with and without plugs?

 

[DanMan2k06]

Any chance it could be a freak coincidence? Your starter going bad or the battery(s) dead? I went through this at work once. Realllllllly funky readings on THREE compression gauges. Turns out all 3 were busted lol.

 

[DurbElites]

i wish they are both new and i tried two different batterys

 

[yossarian19]

Make sure the dizzy is in phase proper, that would be my #1 advice.

 

[gradon]

You had the head off-->grounds?

 

[Talyn]

You had the head off-->grounds?

That was my next thought. There is a ground on the last driver's side bolt and one on the dipstick. At least on the newer Jeeps there is. Not sure about your 89 though.

 

[DurbElites]

already checked all the grounds they are all on and clean and checked the distributor again all is good there its indexed correctly and i even 180'ed it to make sure.

 

[Talyn]

Hrm.... even if the timing chain is off a tooth or two you shouldn't have the drag you are experiencing. Especially with the plugs pulled. A few basic questions here.
Did you examine the cam bearings before you put the cam in?
Did you use assembly lube on the lobes and journals?
Did you spin the cam over by hand with out any lifters on it to see how freely it spun?
Did you use new or uses lifters? If used, where did they come from?
Did the cam go in easy or did you need to force it a bit?

 

[DurbElites]

cam bearings have less than 5000 miles and looked new, yes we used assembly lube, spun the cam it moved freely no forcing upon install, and new lifters. but i keep getting suction out of the spark plug holes not a little bit but enough you can hear it from in the car on more than one cylinder.

 

[gradon]

It'll suck on the intake stroke and blow on the compression stroke

 

[Dr. Dyno]

yes it was dot to dot on the timing set. and cylinder one was tdc.

Yeah but are you sure it was TDC at the end of the compression stroke and not at the end of the exhaust stroke?

 

[DieselSJ]

Dot-to-Dot will put you 180 out on the dizzy. We just went through the same thing.

 

[DurbElites]

yes i am sure it was on the correct tdc for number 1 the intake valve was the last to close and dizzy is on one. i also put the dizzy out 180 and tried to fire it and it wont.

 

[Talyn]

It looks like you did everything correctly unless something some how came lose. Maybe look for an electrical issue?

 

[gradon]

Try this: Take the plugs out and hand turn the crank(clockwise) with a ratchet and report back how easy/hard it was to spin it. If still hard, try removing the belt and see if anything changes.

 

[DurbElites]

it still spins freely i can move it with a box wrench with the plugs in it doesnt sould like anything is bound up. checked electrical it is ok. i am gunna try and bump start it see what it does.