Thread: Cranking, not firing properly, too burnt to troubleshoot....

Ideas?

This is on the new build, obviously. Got her to crank over with no issues, acted like it wanted to start, sounded like it backfired once or twice trying to start. Fuel pressure is good. Plugs are odd. 1 and 3 look like they haven't even ignited, while 2 and 4 are black and soaked. This is only after about a total of 45 seconds combined start attempts.

The cap was new on the old build, only about 2K miles on it. Same with the rotor. Plugs are new, plug wires are new.

Sorry, I'm really frustrated with the car at the moment. I need some nicotine, and some caffeine. Off to the store in wifey's car I go

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Oh, one thing I'm thinking, that still doesn't explain the plugs being like they are, is that I'm running 740cc injectors on a 370cc inj. program at 4bar. Obviously it's going to run pig rich, and I have a program for it, but I need to make sure it starts first.

Decided to pull the valvecover...

Exhaust cam rocker 1 fell off! How in the hell does a rocker arm fall off? Both the shims are still in the head, and one retainer is slightly dinged up.

RAWR.

Retainers are BOTH scored a little bit, but they ARE titanium, so they should be fine. Still puzzled as to why the rocker flew off. Just doesn't make sense, especially since the motor never started.

not running rocker arm stoppers

Of course not. Why would I run rocker arm stoppers?

Even still, rocker arm stoppers would be benificial at high RPM, not when you're trying to start the car, right?

Anyone else have any ideas? I really don't want to tput it back together just to have it fly off again, and possibly damage something. That, and fortunately I didn't have to fish out the shims, and I'd like to keep it that way...

Are you sure the rocker was actually in the slot on one of the shims when you put it together? Are the keepers all the way in?

Yes and yes. That's what makes it so wierd.

I'm guessing the cam was tightened down all the way? Haha, have to ask!

Put it back together and crank the motor by hand with the valve cover off and watch. Or you can hook up some wires to the starter so you can touch them together and have the motor crank that way so you can watch everything easier, just unplug the inj, or pull the fuel pump fuse before hand so it doesnt start.

Yeah, cam was tightened down all the way, EXCEPT...

Now that you mention it, one bolt on the second to last cam cap wasn't torqued. It took very little effort to remove the bolt, whereas the others did. I'm going to re-torque them all down as I re-install everything.