Changed Head Gasket Clutch Won't start
 

99 Miata. I changed Head Gasket and Clutch. Put erverything back together and it will not start. It turns over and sounds like it is trying to backfire.
I have checked the timing about a dozen times. Crank sproket set, Intake Pulley I up, Exhaust Pulley E up. right on the marks. front cam lobes out.
sparks are firing and fuel is flowing. I have done similar work on miatas before, but this one has me stumped!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1330895268
Go off of the marks above the stat housing.
If yours is correct, check the gap on the crank position sensor.

odd.

that pic sure helps though!

My timing is right on. just like the pic. The CPS was not moved and it was running fine before I started the work.

Did you remember to torque the head bolts? :dunno: How about firing order? Got the injectors plugged in correctly?

Torqued at 60 lbs. and checked firing order about 10 times!

Everything plugged back in? Vacuum hose off? You didn't accidently swap in/ex cams did ya?

Provide pictures of cam gears lined up plz.

Everything is back where it is supposed to be. I've gone over everything several times. grounds are good. put a timing light on it and it flashes right on mark. I have done this many times but something is definitley not right with this one.

Give me a little bit and I will get pic

Did you hit the cam sensor when you installed the valve cover? Did you leave the cams attached to the head when it was removed? Maybe when you set it down you bent a valve(s)?:party: Compression test that bitc h.

Cam gears in that position should have the pins in the 12 o'clock position. Front intake and exhaust lobes on cylinder #1 should be pointing toward the outside of the motor on both sides. Maybe you relocated the cam gears in the wrong position?

cams were not attached. Did a leak test on valves. All good.

[IMG]C:\Temp\pics\IMG_1175.JPG[/IMG]

Main block to chassis ground strap?

I always seem to fail to install these when I pull engines/head(s) :facepalm:

^that wont work.

You need to attach it using the "manage attachments" thing.

There is a ground by the exhaust that is attached. Is that what your talking bout?
Having trouble with loading pic. Quick instructions on getting a pic in?

cam gears are correct.

Hopefully this is a better pic

That's the one, just figured I'd ask.

If by chance you do this again and you are NOT replacing the timing belt, put a dot of white out on the timing belt and the lower pulley so you can get it back in place, and ZIP TIE the cam gears to the belt in 2-3 places, then take pics before you disassemble. It's full of win and awesome, trust me.

I replaced timing belt and front/rear oil seals. Compression cold is around 160 in all cylinders. I did notice that 1 and 4th cylinder is firing correctly on 2 revolutions of crank, but 2 and 3 are firing on every revolution. That seems odd. I tested this with 2 good ignition modules.

Did you have the cam sprockets off?
Did you switch the connectors for the coil packs?
The firing order is 4 1 2 3 from passenger to driver.

Ok throwing this out there cause I did this when swapping my head...cranked cranked cranked tried to backfire I had the correct firing order for the 1.8 but when i reinstalled the coils I got the actual coil plug connectors installed backwards thus changing my firing order to the order of a 1.6 so i swapped the order and it fired right up.

So instead of being 4123 its now 3214

To much of a pain in the ass to try and flip the connectors back to where they were than to flip the plug wires themselves

I have the firing order correct (4123). coil connectors are correct also. I am going to check the clutch this evening. I'm thinking maybe the clutch is not disengaging. I will make sure the slave cylinder is working properly. The crank is real slow.

put in gear.... crank lol

Just for reference, the coil connector with the blue tape goes toward the passenger side.

Correct. I double-checked the coil pack connections. The only thing else I can think of to check is the clutch slave and make sure it is working properly. The clutch I replaced wad worn significantly. I also replaced the flywheel and pressure plate. I am going to bleed the clutch slave and make sure it is working at peak performance to rule the transmission out.

You need a good strong battery to start a miata. I like to keep a charger on it the whole time I am doing compression tests, etc.

As long as it's cranking, the clutch is probably fine.

I noticed something in your pics that look different than mine. When mine is set at tdc the white marks on the cams point up and are on the I for intake and the E for exhaust. The only thing I can think of is the sprockets were switched accidently and you have the ex on the in? I'm not sure if that would be close enough to let you build 160psi compression though?

Cam gears are identical and can be put on either cam as long as they are oriented correctly.

Right. The pin on the intake cam should line up with the I mark on the sprocket and the pin on the exhaust cam should line up with the E mark on the sprocket. It appears like the lobes look correct so they probably are installed correctly, but it seems as if everything else is right too, so why no start? :confused:

I'm intrigued!:brain:

Are you sure you checked the injector connectors and they are indeed orientated right and are plugged all the way in?

When I am trying to start the car, it will have a loud bang like gunfire sometimes. It try's to start and then bang. It never starts. Just to confirm. 99 miata head bolt torque 60 ft/lbs. Correct?

Is the cas plug pushed in fully?

My thoughts are check to make sure you are getting fuel into the cyls
and check for compression (think you have and also think its been mentioned)

Make sure fuel lines aren't switched. Will cause the exact same symptom. Pressure line goes to the front of the fuel rail.

Maf plugged in? Air intake tract all in place? Car can't run without knowing how much air is there.

Fuel lines are correct and MAF plugged in. I know fuel pressure build up to the fuel injectors, but not sure they are firing.
What is the best way to tell if fuel is getting to the cylinders?

After cranking, pull the sparkplugs to see if they are wet with fuel. If not, put a noid light on the injectors.

Looks like they are getting fuel. I am at a loss. The car ran before I did the work. It turns over and sometimes sounds like it wants to start, an ocassional loud pop/bang. My first thought was timing off, but it is not.

Do you think I could get any codes using an odb ii while trying to crank it?

The timing wheel on the front of the crank is on backwards.

Remove accessory pulley, flip timing wheel over, replace and enjoy.

Classis cps misalignment. Loosen up the CPS, and move it slowly backwords and forwards while someone cranks. I had this problem all the time when doing SR20 swaps.

This could very much do it. Below is a picture of how it should be.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1331060306

Never even thought about that. I will check as soon as I get home!
I sure as hell hope it is on backwards so I can get it fixed and be done with this one!
I will update later!

I don't think that's possible on the 99's? Plus, he said he's getting spark.

It is possible to put them on backwards and you will still probably get spark. It would just be sparking at the wrong times since it does not know the correct spot that the crank is at.

You mea install the pulley/balancer backwards? If you look at the op's pics, it looks to be correct? There is only the crank sprocket and the pulley.

Its not the pulley/balancer, on the 96+ miata there is the crank sensor timing plate that goes between the pulley boss and the big pulley. The timing plate will go on either way.

I did this on my engine install, it's a stupid move, but I did it because I didn't think about it. Silly 99+ using a VR sensor. Turn that plate around and I'll bet it starts on the first try.

It would crank, and then bog HARD and not fire off. Sometimes it would sputter a little bit, but not start. Takes 10min to fix.

Is that what those 4 bolts are for? :eek: I always just spin off the crank bolt and remove it as one unit. So if you remove the four 10mm bolts the wheel will come off the back?

yes.

Scott, you are a genius!
Had it on backwards. Fliipped it and put everything back together and started right up!
Thanks to everyone who posted trying to help! Great Forum!

No problem man, glad it was a quick fix. Took me a month to figure it out when I did the exact same thing. :facepalm:

Now that I have converted to 99+ cam/crank sensors, whenever I have to put on the timing plate I refer to picture to make sure it is on right. It is one of those little things that can cause annoying problems.

Absolutely! I have a picture in my repair manual now!

I wrote "front - stupid" on mine with a yellow paint pen when I first took mine apart to do the timing belt. So glad to see this ended well!