RawDoggin
Probationary Member
- 3
- 1
- Feb 27, 2019
-
Chicago,
Illinois
I picked up a “mildly restored” stock GVR4 (my 2nd) about a year ago in Texas and the waterpump belt busted in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night while driving the car back. The road I was on didn’t have a good shoulder to stop and the car overheated pretty badly and I brought it back on a trailer and threw it in my rented garage. Fast forward to a month ago and the owner of the garage I was storing it in said he sold the house and I had a month to move my car. I had originally planned on swapping the engine but couldn’t source a longblock in time and decided to just swap the head instead. When I pulled the head, the block looked OK, however I didn’t pull the oil pan so I wasn’t sure about the internals. Anyway, I finished putting everything back together and the car would start but die quickly. Opening the throttle would leave it running longer (around 6-8 seconds) , but after a few tries to get it started that would no longer keep it running either. I had no time to pull the oil pan or timing cover and now it’s on the street so that’s not going to happen.
I’m wondering if any of the experts here have any advice on why the car won’t run and if any of the following would be the culprit.
1) Bent valves? This was my first timing belt job (reusing the < 1000 mile belt+ pullys that came on the car). I followed the VFAQ, used all the 4g63 tools and even the beam style torque wrench, turned the engine over at least 20 times and checked the marks, and cranked it with the MPI fuse out before startup. I didn’t bleed the lifters when I moved them over to the new head, but they were installed for at least a week before I attempting startup. I understand this should allow them enough time to bleed themselves. There was also no balance shaft belt installed and I didn’t put one in. I doubt it has a BSE.
2) The thermostat housing wires were all cracked and brittle so some wires broke when disassembling. I soldered them together so I think they should be working. The connection on the front of the thermo housing that accepts the wire from the fan is missing a pin. From what I understand the one underneath to the left of this one is the one that talks to the ECU, but would the one with the broken pin possibly cause a no-start?
3) Bad injector? When first cranking the engine and attempting to start the car there was fuel leaking from one injector by the mid-top between the two steel pieces that mate together. The leak cleared itself up after a couple startup attempts.
4) One of the spark plug wires (#4) didn’t click in to the coil pack snug like the rest of them. I also vaguely remember dropping the coil pack.
5) There is also a fuel smell coming from the upper IC pipe
Any help would be greatly appreciated
I’m wondering if any of the experts here have any advice on why the car won’t run and if any of the following would be the culprit.
1) Bent valves? This was my first timing belt job (reusing the < 1000 mile belt+ pullys that came on the car). I followed the VFAQ, used all the 4g63 tools and even the beam style torque wrench, turned the engine over at least 20 times and checked the marks, and cranked it with the MPI fuse out before startup. I didn’t bleed the lifters when I moved them over to the new head, but they were installed for at least a week before I attempting startup. I understand this should allow them enough time to bleed themselves. There was also no balance shaft belt installed and I didn’t put one in. I doubt it has a BSE.
2) The thermostat housing wires were all cracked and brittle so some wires broke when disassembling. I soldered them together so I think they should be working. The connection on the front of the thermo housing that accepts the wire from the fan is missing a pin. From what I understand the one underneath to the left of this one is the one that talks to the ECU, but would the one with the broken pin possibly cause a no-start?
3) Bad injector? When first cranking the engine and attempting to start the car there was fuel leaking from one injector by the mid-top between the two steel pieces that mate together. The leak cleared itself up after a couple startup attempts.
4) One of the spark plug wires (#4) didn’t click in to the coil pack snug like the rest of them. I also vaguely remember dropping the coil pack.
5) There is also a fuel smell coming from the upper IC pipe
Any help would be greatly appreciated
