So in the middle of my 3.5 build my beater max has bit the dust. The headgasket went while driving up a big bridge and the motor seized. I decided to bring the project car back online while I finish my 3.5 as the beater is well, beat!

I haven't touched the timing at all on the 3.0 in question but did have pretty much everything else off of the block. After buttoning everything back up I am having some starting issues. The engine fires but will not run, most of the time it just sputters but occasionally will rev up to about 5k then stall. I've checked all my connections and have eliminated all codes.

Now for the strange part. When I turn the key on the IACV makes a noise, sounds almost like the fuel pump priming. After I kick it over and it does it's sputtering the IACV makes a continuous whirring noise and then if I let it sit for about a minute or so the injectors start firing as if it was at idle.

I tested my CKPS(POS) and thought it was bad but my meter crapped on me so I just replaced it with the one from the beater, still no go. I will continue to test sensors tonight with my new meter starting with the CKPS(REF) and then CAM sensor as the sputtering makes me think it is having issues with timing. Any thoughts or input would be appreciated.

 

Make sure all the teeth are good on the timing ring and check if the crank pulley is in good condition.

Can you rev the car and hold it? Unplug the IACV and see if it works. Any cels?

 

Hmm...

The injectors firing without the engine running reminds me of a thread, here: http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...t-problem.html

 

No, the throttle seems to have no effect on how it runs..

No CELs

I will inspect the timing ring and crank pulley and report back, what should I be looking for on the crank pulley?

 

The timing marks on the backside of the pulley, just make sure they aren't torn up or somehow damaged.

Also any metal shavings on either CKPS or the CPS, or the timing ring/crank pulley timing teeth can cause issues as well.

 

do you have a picture of the timing ring

 

Best pics I have:

 

I checked through the crank sensor hole, the ring is there and it worked when i took it off so I don't see why it wouldn't now.

I've replaced both ckps and the cps, the maf, same results. still no codes.

Starting to lean towards a lean condition for some reason. I checked the fuel line going in to the fuel rail and lots of gas comes out when I crank it but not much when it primes, and from my thumb as a pressure guage it doesn't seem to have very much pressure. I'll grab a pressure guage tomorrow and see what the pressure is.

The fuel supply line with the filter is hooked up to the rail on the side without the diaphram on it, is this right?

After that all I can think of is to start checking the resistance in my injectors but again they worked fine when I took it apart and they stayed installed in the LIM the whole time.

 

By diaphragm so you mean FPR? If so, yes.

Did you check the timing teeth on the crank pulley?

It's possible the timing ring was damaged when it was swapped over, even a small nick could cause issues starting.

You are getting good spark, right?

 

I gave them a quick look and they seemed to be fine however I will check again.

I've kinda assumed that I have spark because it is firing. Quality of spark I'm not sure of as I can't see it from the drivers seat, I asked the girl I'm seeing to have a look and she reported no spark but I'm not sure she quite knew what was going on.

oh I should also mention that I have cleaned the grounds neat the IM and on the engine block.

 

OK so I got myself a fuel pressure guage, plan for tonight is to check the pressure, if it's low replace filter, still low replace pump. Once the pressure checks out fine if it doesn't run I'll move on to check the injectors. First I'll verify resistance then check with a set of noid lights to see that they are firing properly.. Anything else I should be looking for?

 

How do you plan on verifying resistance with a noid light?

 

Actually I was planning on using a meter to verify resistance and that they were pulsing during crank withthe noid.

After checking fuel pressure (which was a tad low but not by much) I went to replace what I thought was a bad seal on the LIM gaskets. While doing so I noticed that I had made a huge rookie mistake in not connecting the EGR to the monifold. Buttoned her all back up and she runs like a top...

Thanks for your help!

 

Throw on the 3.0 oil pan (correct CPS position).