Wiring and ECUs hate me.

I bought a 3.0 off a 95 Automatic w/ automatic wiring harness and ECU. Everything is in the car and ready to be fired up. Power windows work, lights work, radio works, the stupid blinking red light in the dash works, but when I turn the key, nothing. But we know the interior is getting power.

What usually causes this? I.e getting power to the interior but not starting? Starter is plugged for sure.

I noticed the automatic wiring harness is slightly different, has more plugs, but that shouldn't stop me from starting the car.

Yeah I know I should post this in the 4th gen forum, but it would only be a mater of time before it gets pushed down by posts asking which CAI is better, etc. I need to sell the car soon, so the sooner I solve this problem, the better...

 

neutral safty switch. the auto will not start if its in anything but park or neutral.

 

But he is still a 5spd.

 

Ok I was dumb enough to forget two plugs. My bad. Now the car cranks but wont start.

Yeah. Car is 5-speed with a motor/ECU/engine wiring harness out of a 95 auto.

Perhaps the auto ECU wont allow the car to start without seeing a signal from the plug that's supposed to be connected to the neutral switch?

 

Did you reuse the harness in your car?

edit: why did you use the auto harness?

 

I used the auto engine wiring harness but the engine bay harness/dash harness/etc. is still from a 5-speed.

 

Something tells me that you aren't getting a signal from one of the crank sensors or cam sensor.

 

I'll check. The one on the timing chain is plugged in for sure. It just cranks monotonous like it's not making any effort to start. Gas lines are plugged up too.

 

If one of the crank/cam sensors isn't getting a signal, that probably means that you might not be getting fuel or spark until you correct it.

 

check the sensor next to the tranny, the crank pos sensor.

and i hope you didnt take the 3.5 out and sell the max...

 

Damn this suck's....I hope you get it running

 

That's exactly what I'm doing. Keeping the 3.5.

 

what do u plan on doing w/ the 3.5

 

lol, I bet it is the same two that had me stumped the first time I tried to fire up the engine after the swap. Same problem, interior stuff worked, but nothing when I turned the key. Was it the gray and brown ones on the driver side fender by the small fuse box?

 

Pull one of the coil packs and see if you are getting an spark. If so spray some starter fluid in the TB to see if you can kick start it. Make sure you hava good ground going from the block to the frame. I was a tard and forgot to attach the small grounds to the upper IM and the injectors didn't have a ground path for the pulse.
Choray

 

Good idea... there are so many little things to think about when swapping an engine.

It looks quite a bit like Broaner's set up right here, but with the 3.5;



Sucks I can't upload pictures... I'm picking up the S13 next week.

 

droooooooool. goodluck w/ this project and keep us updated.

 

UPDATE:

We checked the voltage and all 6 injectors are getting 12 volts. But all the coil packs are not getting power. I really have no idea WTF is up.

I actually put the 5-speed wiring and ECU back in so all plugs are plugged up. This wiring worked 100% fine on the 3.5. We tried grounding the coil packs but it didn't change anything. The radio and all the interior stuff works. It's definately getting gas too.

Anybody have any suggestions?

 

on the harness theres a few plugs besides the ecu plug, i think theres three others. That go behind where the radio is located. Make sure you got all those. The engine harness only controls the engine room components. There is another harness the body harness that controls the interior lights. They are two completeley seperate harnesses

 

I know that. There is the main ECU plug and two others on the 5-speed harness. Everything is plugged up.

What I dont know is why the injectors are getting power but the coil packs are not getting any.

 

Check engine light come on in ACC pos?

 

Yep .

 

Start at page 120 of your friendly online FSM available at phatg20.net, post your findings.

Did you reciever your throw out bearing spacer?

allen

 

No I haven't recieved it yet.

I have downloaded the 1995 maxima FSM in my computer but it is divided in sections and I do not have numbered pages. What section of the FSM would this be?

It's a real pain in the @ss right now...

 

How bout fuses. Have you checked all the fuses. Also, it almost sounds like the reason it may not get power is b/c something is too corroded to send a power signal to the coils. You may have to clean your plugs. Check for Corrosion.

 

Go to the EC section and look under the Ignition Signal chapter, it will tell you the exact steps to take to test the coil pack circuits for power and ground.

allen

 

I pulled the spark plugs because they looked corroded. Bought 6 new ones. Didn't change anything. I also switched the fuel pressure regulator to the one I had on the 3.5 (which I am 100% sure worked fine) and also re-routed some fuel lines to make sure nothing was clogged up. Nothing. It still cranks but wont start.

 

my car is doing the same thing.Im not getting any spark tho,and i get power to the coils both 12 and .01v to the signal wire.so maybe thats were it lies

 

Not sure if you checked all the engine related fuses....there is one in the car that I blew when I did my 3.0/3.0 swap that had me doing the same thing....just another thought...

 

Which one?I was thinkin the eccs 1&2 may lie were the problem is.

 

is it an even crank? the problem could be with the wiring of the crank sensor.

 

Could the problem be the crank sensor itself?

Yes the cranking is very monotonous.

 

I think the problem might not be electrical, it could be related to the FPR. Does anyone have pictures of how the stock fuel lines are setup? I think it might be the opposite of how it goes on the 3.5.

When I pulled out the 3.5 I marked the fuel lines to make sure which went on the front of the fuel rail and which went on the rear of the rail. And I plugged them up on the same order on the 3.0.

Does anyone know if the FPR is at the beginning or the end of the fuel rail? I.e is the gas supposed to enter the front of the rail first, or the rear of the rail with the FPR on it?

 

From fuel tank goes to the left/front part of fuel rail/engine.

 

Are you kidding me?

 

So it works now?

If it doesnt, how are the grounds.

 

Switched it. Car still wont start. The cranking seems slower now though.

I checked the battery and it's still charged way up.

I did a little test. Pulled the fuel line off the front of the rail and then tried to start the car to see if there would be gas coming out of the fuel line (from fuel filter/tank). There is none. Is this normal?

I just don't get it. When I had plugged the line on the wrong end (fuel line coming from filter/tank onto the FPR/rear of the rail) gas would build up there and the FPR would act as a dam blocking it from entering the fuel rail.

But now that I have the line plugged to the right end of the rail, no gas... WTF?

 

Fuel pump fuse? Is the pump good?

Did you make sure all the grounds are connected?

 

The hose that is connected to the FPR is supposed to be the return line.

You try hooking up a psi guage? Was there any pressure when u pulled the fuel hose?

 

I did the same thing on my first swap.I thought the line coming from the filter would go to the fpr but i was wrong. So don't feel to bad.
Sounds like you have a fuel problem but that still doesnn't solve why the coils have no power.Try sprying some ether into the intake and see if it fires.