Folks,

I went to start the car for the first time tonight and all it did was crank with the occasional pop. If it were a carburated car I'd swear it was 180 out. It's like it isn't getting any spark or it's out. As far as I can tell the injector harnesses are plugged into the correct injectors. Unfortunately, that's based on the wiring diagrams off lt1swap.com.

Anyone have any idea? I'm crazy frustrated

 

Check your grounds, make sure the ignition has power WHILE CRANKING, some older switches will loose power on certain circuts during.cranking, but will be hot with just the key on. Also what is your fuel pressure? How long has the engiesat? Injectore can stick if its been sitting a while. There are other things to check, but these seem to be most peoples first time no start problems. If they all check out, come back and we'll dig in a little further.

 

Oh, and VATS, you have that turned off right?

 

I'm assuming that VATS is off. I sent the computer out to Brendan at LT1Swap to have VATS removed and the other programming done. The engine has sat for a long time, over a year, so I'll try soaking the injectors in some injector cleaner and see if that helps. I don't have the grounds hooked up in the normal spot but I'll reroute them when I permanently set the harness.

How do I check to see if the circuit is cutting off during cranking? The entire fuse block for the engine has one wire running into the cab and connected to the regular fuse block on a spade terminal marked "ign". I hear the fuel pump going when I click it into the ignition on position, but once everything is cranking of course I can't hear a thing. Especially because right now I just have open headers so I can see if it goes... and I want to hear the open headers. Is there a different terminal that maybe I should jump off of?

Fuel pressure could be low. I'll pick up a pressure gauge today and check it. The reason I say it appears low is that I have a see through pre-filter and I figured the gas would be rocketing through it. It isn't.

 

I too am in the same boat. First time trying to start; I hear the fuel pump run when I turn the ignition on but have no presure at the schroder valve. my vats have been shut off. I do not hear any popping like it is getting gas to the plugs. any help would be much appreciated.

 

A "Noid" light will verify if you have injector pulse. It plugs into the individual injector plugs and will verify that the injector is getting the sig to open and let fuel through it. You said that it doesn't appear that fuel is flowing.
I think that this would be a good place to start.
You can 'rent' a noid light from Autozone. You pay up front, and when the light is returned, you get your money back.

 

thanks for the help. i will get on today

 

What kind of car is this going in? The ignition wire powering up the engine fuse box should be the wire that originally went to the distributed, that will have power while cranking. You can test it by putting a test light on it and having someone crank it while you watch the light, it should stay on.
[QUOTE=Joe H;15133406]I too am in the same boat. First time trying to start; I hear the fuel pump run when I turn the ignition on but have no presure at the schroder valve. my vats have been shut off. I do not hear any popping like it is getting gas to the plugs. any help would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE
What year/ type of engine? Retutnless fuel rail or with return?

 

Well,

I checked my fuel pressure today. The first ignition on cycle was about 45. I turned it off and cycled it on again and it went up to about 50. I then cranked it and it seemed to want to fire a bit more than last night. I put some of the lucas oil fuel injector cleaner in the tank and attempted to crank the engine for a few minutes. Nothing. I'll let it sit over night. I also got some spray injector cleaner. Any tips on how to go about cleaning the injectors? I'll rent a noid light, or just buy one, tomorrow and check to see if they're firing. As far as whether the fuel pump is running during cranking, it is.

It's going into a 1972 nova formerly with an inline 6. Maybe to be certain I'll take the wire from where it is and splice it into the distributor plug. I'll have to look through my manual to see which wire that is.

It seems like if VATS isn't off that it'll start and run for a few seconds then die. Isn't that right?

Joe, maybe your fuel pump is wired or plumbed in backwards? Is it an external pump? Did your original setup have an in-tank pump that needs to be bypassed? Not sure if any of that helps or has anything to do with it since I can't seem to figure mine out, but w/ no fuel going up to the shroeder valve it sounds like the fuel pump just isn't pushing. Did you prime the fuel pump? I had to fill a water bottle with gas and pour it into the fuel pump to get things to work at first. My setup was pretty easy on that front as I was using a clear pre-filter to see that initially my fuel pump wasn't pulling anything.

Any other ideas while I'm digging?

Thanks all!
Mike

 

You hear the pump run but no gas at the rails? Do you have the filter/regulator hooked up right? Is there enough gas in the tank to fill the lines? Is your pickup in the tank submerge in gas? There is no reason why you shouldnt be getting gas to the front. Are you running a single line system or are you running a regulator on the rail with a return line?

 

You need a constant 58-60 lbs at the rail. What pump are you using? Are you running a single line or a return line? I would say find out why your fuel pressure is low and move forward from there.

 

I'm using a Walbro 255 lph inline pump. I did see something in the GM manual for a yukon talking about boosting the pressure in the system any purging the air out of the lines by blocking off the return line and cycling the key until the pressure built up. I guess that that would at least get me fired up once, but it doesn't seem like a practical solution. I thought it interesting that between the first key on switch and the second key on switch that it was like a 5 lb/hr jump. I thought that a good key on, no cranking position was supposed to be like 50 lbs/hr and then there was supposed to be a jump when the engine was running.

The fuel rail is one of the '02 truck rails with a return line.

 

I looked a little closer when my girlfriend got home from work. It appears that during cranking the fuel pressure is actually jumping to maybe 55 lb/hr. I guess it could be more. Unfortunately, I killed the battery tonight so I had to hook it up to the charger so I can keep tinkering on it tomorrow. One of the times we cranked it it really did seem to want to start. Which makes me think maybe the injectors are plugged. I think to be safe though I really do have to test the injectors. How about a method of testing the coil packs? Is it just pull the plug and see if there is a spark?

The only two issues that I can think of are the same as on a carbureted engine: fuel, spark.

tsnow, where is germantown? I'm up in Asheville and lived in Charlotte for a few years, but can't say I've ever been to Germantown.

 

Spray some carb cleaner in the intake and see if it fires up!

 

I'm working on a 66 Chevy II ls1 from a 2001 z28 6 speed manual transmission. I am running Tanks Inc in tank pump and I am using the Corvette type regulator with return line. last night is switched the gas lines coming from the tank but no gas pressure at the rail. this morning I put a noid light on the injector and no light. i know the pump is running becauce everytime I try and start the car the gas fumes in the garage are very strong. I ran a hot wire from my battery to the orange wire and still no start. what am i missing? could i be running the pump backwards?

 

I think the noid light should be lighting. As far as the fuel pump, I'd say you're probably wired backwards. Have you disconnected the hoses from the tank to see if any gas is making it out of the feed line? If not, its probably just building up ridiculous pressure in the tank.

 

When I switched gas lines just gravity was flowing gas from both fuel lines, I did not have the pump on. I will switch wires on the pump and see what happens. Thanks for all the help guys much appreciated

 

Joe, I don't have your setup, but is it possible that the in tank pump actually isn't hooked up to a line? That maybe it's simply running in the tank and that's why your just getting a drip out? I'd say if you were getting just a drip while the switch was on then something in tank isn't hooked up. It would seem that if it were running backwards that it wouldn't even dribble. How about if you put your hand up against the feed line while it's running from the tank? If it's sucking then it would seem to be wired backwards. If it isn't doing anything then I would think something in tank isn't hooked up. Mine is an external pump, so once I primed the pump I overcame your part of the problem. Apparently, I'm still not getting enough fuel though. How bad was running the noid light?

 

Very easy, the noid light just plugs into one of the injector sockets

 

To clean the injectors, I usually remove them from the rail and soak them in Seafoam, it's always worked for me, but be sure to spray some lube around where the o rings are to make them easier to come out and to keep from damaging them, also lube them good when putting them back in. I usually soak them overnight, but have got impatient before and just let them soak for a few hours. I'm thinking this is going to be your problem since you said it was sounding like it wanted to run. You are supposed to have 58 psi, but realistically, it will start and run on the 55 psi that you have. It won't be right, and may lack power under load, but should start.

Clamping off the return line will boost your pressure, and can help sometimes, but a word of caution, if your using the factory lines that connect to the fuel rail, they are plastic and crimping then can damage them, if your using rubber fuel injection hose it's less likley to hurt them.

the wire you should have hooked up to the relays that power everything up is the wire that went to the coil of the Nova originally, but it should be replaced from where it plugs into the fuse box (on the firewall side) to your new fues box, because its a resistor wire. Using this wire you don't have to worry about the ignition losing power.
This is not a bad idea, just don't get carried away!

If your pump is wired up correctly and the hoses hooked up correctly then maybe you have a bad filter/regulator. What brand is it? If it's an Orielly's $19 house brand, then replace it with either an AC Delco (expensive) or a Wix.