New Engine Start Help

[The Wave]

Hey guys,
Finally got my rebuilt engine into the car. 2.3L new pistons, rods, ect. Head and block have been decked. ARP studs torqued correctly and cometic head gasket. Anyways, the I went to start the thing up, and it turned over fine but it wouldn't fire. I pulled the sparkies and the threads and tip were covered in oil. I looked down in the cylinder, and there was oil there too, as well as some little bits of stuff (as specific as I can be, looked like small bits of dirt or something) on the pistons. Any idea what is wrong and what I can do to get it fixed?

 

[theSicKness]

new engines you need to change the oil after a brief run id try new plugs and fire it up agian and see what happens

Jesse

 

[fourreGsixty3]

Pull the plugs, replace them, and make sure the gapping is correct. Then do a motoman break in. It works wonders, I havn't done it yet but my buddy Andy has and it was broken in around 200 miles for him, and Ill be doing it soon as I get my strocker.

Dustin

 

[drewvr4]

check for fuel, fire, compression and timing.

if you did the motor yourself did you take the oil squirters out of the block? if you didnt they hit the pistons...just an fyi to maybe what the stuff on your pistons are .

 

[toybreaker]

Did you clean the intake manifold?

A lot of times the intake will have a gooey spurve (blow by and etc...) in it from the previous engine it was bolted to. I've seen this spooge catch dirt and stuff from the air as it sat in the corner while the motor was being machined/built, and then it was just slapped on in the rush to get things done. When the motor is cranked over, that stuff is drawn into the motor. Not saying that happened here, just something to consider.

I don't think anything from inside the motor could get on to the tops of the pistons. It's a pretty tight fit between the pistons/rings and the cylinder walls.....if'n you whacked something in the bottom end, I would expect it to be in the pan.....

Oil on the piston tops may be left over from the cylinder wall preoiling during assembly.

Excessive amounts of oil will make it hard to get the mix lit, as it will coat the plug tip, (as you have found), and leak your spark away down the electrode instead of across the gap. I would clean the plugs you already have with brake clean, gap them to .028", and then check them for spark. If you've got spark, I'd re-install them and try again.

If you have to, you can get new ones, but if you've got lot's of oil floating around the chamber it'll just coat them too.

Definately check the basics. Spark, fuel, timing belt marks, and then try again.

If need be, sacrifice a beer or two, look at everything five times, and then try again.

 

[95talon_in_ma]

Also the Intercooler could have had a bunch of stuff in it too. I did an engine swap in the car and founds that out........

I'm not sure how much "Dirt" was in there, but it can't be good. If it's a considerable amount, I'd consider taking that head back off....I know it sucks, but it won't be any fun when your walls get all marr'd up 100 miles from now.

Good luck...

 

[The Wave]

So I cleaned off the top of the pistons and the sparkies and no more oil seems to have gotten in. The intake mani was cleaned, intercooler was cleaned, and the squirters are gone (did the engine myself). Can't seem to figure out how the oil got in, but it doesn't seem to be getting in any more. Im gonna leave it for another day and make sure nothing else drains into the cylinders, (besides, I'm not at home to try it again right now), and then Im gonna try to start it up. Thanks for the help. Not really sure what went wrong but it seemed to fix itself, as DSM's are wont to do.