KA won't start.

[cpl dozier]

Ok, so I have an 89 coupe that I picked up from someone that had an SR in it. The guy pulled the SR because it "wouldn't crank." He could not figure out what was wrong with it. So anyways, I acquired a KA24DE from someone and dropped it in. Unfortunately the wire harness had a cut plug that was by the ecu that went under the dash, so we re-wired that with a plug we sourced from a single cam harness. There are four wires that are not being used I believe. There may be five, but I matched color to color and there were a few that were not being used. The guy that I bought the motor from was told by a mechanic that the timing chain was bad. He said the mechanic never looked, he just said that it was bad based on the motors problem before the guy pulled it. My buddy and I checked the timing chain before we put it in the car. It was perfectly fine. So we put the motor in the car. We got it all wired up yesterday and turned the key. It turns over extremely slow like it has a dead battery or something. However it is a brand new red top optima battery with good charge. We don't know exactly where to go with this. I know the timing is off because we did not mark the distributor before we pulled it off to check the timing. Also when we tried to crank it, the transmission might have been in gear. We were cranking it without a clutch pedal installed, no driveshaft or rear end in the car. Transmission was bolted up but there is no shifter, so I did not know exactly what gear it was in. But I think it would still crank fine right? Even if it was in gear? I don't know. I am lost. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[cpl dozier]

Man I thought there were some smart people on this forum. Guess not. I will try trouble shooting myself.

[240sxScores]

Timing has to be pretty spot on when you put the distributor in. I was a tooth or so off when i swapped mine and it was a difference of running like shit and running good. Then its just rotating it a little to get spot on. If the dizzy gear isn't put in close to the right spot it wont start at all either.

And you even say in your post "i know the timing is off". Fix that issue first.

[cpl dozier]

Well, I tried throwing some more ground straps on the car today and put another fresh battery in the car and turned the key. Still turns over extremely slow. After a second it seemed as it killed the battery so I put jumper cables on it to my truck and tried cranking again. Still acts like it has a dead battery. Turns over very slowly. I don't think timing has anything to do with this. Correct me if I am wrong. Any ideas?

[gijoe69]

maybe the distributor isn't aligned properly......also adjust timing

[cpl dozier]

Well, I don't know how to adjust the timing...My friend said once it starts up we will rotate it until it runs right. But it is turning over super slow. Like it has a dead battery. Timing has nothing to do with that right? Let's trouble shoot one problem at a time in order....Why is the car turning over so slow? What can I check?

[gijoe69]

your friend is wrong... just listen to me & 240sxScores ... set car to BTDC on the crank pulley...remove distributor... align distributor... read this thoroughly Fix Your 240sx Timing Chain Rattle (http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/fix-your-timing-chain-rattle.html) it applies to you read the part #9 ..... if you do this right and follow the instructions that applies to you....and the car starts you owe me and 240sxScores a beer!!!

[gijoe69]

read procedures #1 and #9 that will solve your problems.....after you are done and the car starts buy a cheap timing gun (Harbor Freight) or borrow one and set timing the proper way to 15* or 20* whatever is at spec

[gijoe69]

also not to be an ass but study the FSM and use the SEARCH feature.......

[cpl dozier]

I really hope you two are right..Sure would suck to go through all of that tomorrow and come back on here and say WRONG! You two seem pretty confident. I hope you right.

[cpl dozier]

Fail.

Tried setting the motor ar tdc two times and adjusting the distributor then turn the key. Still same exact thing. Turns over extremely slow. If you like, I can make a video of it to prove it and show the steps. It was pretty time consuming to get it ready just to turn the key and get zero results. I think I am going to sell the car.

[gijoe69]

Hmmm. Do a compression check maybe it could be a bad cps that is on top of the bell housing

[cpl dozier]

No signal to the injectors...Nothing coming out. There is fuel pressure though. Car still turns over extremely slow.

[fcdrifter20]

your friend is wrong... just listen to me & 240sxScores ... set car to BTDC on the crank pulley...remove distributor... align distributor... read this thoroughly Fix Your 240sx Timing Chain Rattle (http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/fix-your-timing-chain-rattle.html) it applies to you read the part #9 ..... if you do this right and follow the instructions that applies to you....and the car starts you owe me and 240sxScores a beer!!!

NO im sorry your wrong!! that would have nothing to do with the problem he is having.


First check to see if you can even turn the motor over by hand.Shouldnt be hard to turn it with a breaker bar, if it is extremely difficult to do so, then you got an internal problem and you should take it back to who ever you bought it from

next check to see if you have a good connection on the started and make sure your grounds to the chasis are all tightened down properly.

[cpl dozier]

Extremely hard to turn over by hand...Multiple ground straps using zero gauge wire all over the motor. But the reason I don't get it, is because the previous owner of this car that I have, had an SR in it doing the same thing, which is why he parted it out. He said no one could figure out what is wrong with the car. No signal to injectors and turns over slowly.

Every time you try to crank the car no matter what battery or if jumper cables are even hooked up to another car, it always turns over for about 3 revolutions, then the starter stops. Like it is a dead battery or something.

[fcdrifter20]

Extremely hard to turn over by hand...Multiple ground straps using zero gauge wire all over the motor. But the reason I don't get it, is because the previous owner of this car that I have, had an SR in it doing the same thing, which is why he parted it out. He said no one could figure out what is wrong with the car. No signal to injectors and turns over slowly.

Every time you try to crank the car no matter what battery or if jumper cables are even hooked up to another car, it always turns over for about 3 revolutions, then the starter stops. Like it is a dead battery or something.

to be honest i have never had a problem like that.

also your motor shouldn't be extremely hard to turn over, but if the other guy had the same problem it mite be something electrical.

is the car lowered at all? if so check the harness underneath the fenders, see if there are any exposed wires touching each other. try checking the starter relay too

[fcdrifter20]

one more thing. unplug the starter from the harness and give the starter direct power, see if it makes a difference in how the motor turns over.

[cpl dozier]

The car is factory height...The harness is fine in the fender wells. Looked for the relay briefly and did not see one. I will check again this weekend and also attempt the direct power to the starter to see if it spins faster.