LIMG Troubles
 

I just finished changing my gasket, got the car all back together and now it wont start. Its backfiring into the airbox but it is acting like its trying to run. I put all th epushrods back in the correct order but I wanna say the engine seems to be outta time. I did roll it over a couple times without the camshaft sensor plugged in but i would doubt that would have something to do with it as I have pulled the ground off the battery and let it sit overnight and the car is still acting up. Also, I noticed every few times I try to start it, its making a nasty noise from down by the flywheel. Anyone have an idea what could be causing this?

spark plug wires on incorrect...100%

thts my guess too

Nope, that's the first thing I checked. This is really weird, I'm not the most experienced mechanic but it really seems to me the engine is somehow out of time. I'm gonna pull the camshaft sensor out and clean it in case it got gunked up by the sludgy antifreeze/oil mixture. But its not the spark plug wires, I checked the harness plugs and everything is plugged in, the vacuum hoses are all on though a couple connectors got cracked in the process but I'm certain that' not an issue, and I'm also certain the pushrods are all in correct order.

Compression test, then put the pushrods in the correct order for reals.

Need I repeat myself about the pushrods being in correct order?

Compression is good on all cylinders

Firing order for sure then. Did you happen to put 1 on the back?

I did this job recently on a van and had an issue similar. One of the rear plug wires was put on wrong...

I would start with spark plug wires...

And Im pretty confident I followed the chart I found online... But it was alte at night... Just triple check yourself. If in doubt try swappign a few around.

Ours was on the back side...

Happened to me too.

The plug wires are mixed up, I put them on backwards

I put the 2,4,and 6 wires on 1,3,and 5 :blush:

1 3 and 5 are in the back and 2 4 and 6 are in the front

Okay, ill go double check the plug wires again. I looked at the coil pack earlier thinking maybe i had it mixed up but it appeared right. Just for the hell of it I'll go switch them around.

Yeah upon further investigation, the plug wires are correct and to put them on any other way would be obviously wrong. I don't know what you guys mean about front and back. The terminals on my coil pack are all in a single row, with the number corresponding to the wire printed on the back below the terminal. My wires are also labeled and the numbers match up to where they are plugged in on the coil. I never had the wires off the plugs themselves so they are on the correct spark plugs. Another thing I have observed is that earlier I went to try and start it and everything sounded fine as it rolled over, but then it back fired. There are a lot of times it sounds like everything is all fine, but then there are the time is sounds pretty obvious its outta time which leads me to believe it is in fact something electrical.

OK Front and back doesn't mean the coils, it's the plugs.

Front and back means the plugs in the front of the engine and the plugs back behind the firewall.

Actually there is no front and back. Most people think that because they dont understand the transverse engine. There is only left and right. the right side of the enigne is plugs 1 3 and 5 and the left side is plugs 2 4 and 6.

Do you smell gas from behind the car when it's running? If you do, it's the plugs, trust me. It's really the only thing that makes sense, unless there is something else that you might be leaving out.

Did you take the coil pack and ICM off the motor when you did the work? Did you plug the 2 ends back into the ICM?

Yes, I do smell gas burning when I try to start it but I havent gotten it running yet. And I understand what your saying as far as front and back but that isn't applicable here because, like I said, I left the wires on the plugs when I did this. The coil pack and ICM both had to come off to do the gasket, but is plugged in correctly. I do notice there is a decent sized piece of insulation missing from the wire of number 5, but no wire is showing and cant imagine that would be the cause of my troubles. A friend is gonna stop and take a look here in a bit so well see what he has to say. I dont know what else I might be leaving out, like I said, all I did was fix my gasket.

Does anyone know if theres a vacuum advance on these engines? My starter is shot now from trying to start the junk so much so I'm gonna wait til morning to go buy a new one or at least get a little more life outta mine. Another thing, the rings are good but I can roll the engine over with just a little ratchet on the alternator so we are guessing the intake valves are staying open. At least I got my buddies STi til I get this thing running.

No vacuum advance on these. Do a compression test at least and do yourself a favor. The started could have got too hot, but the battery is probably run down. If some valves are not closing, the pushrods aren't in right.

i am going to put my money on your pushrod order

can't be pushrod order, the reason it's farting out the intake is that it's FIRING IN THE INCORRECT ORDER!!!!!!!!!!! the mixture burns when one of the valves is open... DAMN LISTEN MAN

go out, take EVERY WIRE OFF, and RE DO IT!

nate when you put your pushrods in the wrong order you called me saying there was smoke coming out of the TB when you cranked it, so how are you going to say its just plugs and wires?

oooo burn

does the engine spin over and when it backfires does it suddenly stop or shutter?