Timing situation I can't figure out

Hey guys, I just finished an engine swap and am having some serious with the ignition timing. When I set timing the car runs nice and smooth. After turning the car off, then restarting it, it only fires on two cylinders. If i take the bolts off the CAS and crank it way down in the way of advancing timing, it will start and run on all four cylinders. I can then adjust the timing and it runs fine again. Every time I turn the car off I have to go back to advancing the timing way forward, starting and then re timing. This car has been a serious nightmare from the get go, so any help would be nice.

 

[Barnes]

I'm assuming you've tried a different CAS?

 

Sorry, I forgot to add I have changed the CAS, coil pack, and ECU.

 

[Barnes]

That helps.. kinda? That is a really weird problem. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[1990ggsxnj]

Any logger info? And not to sound like I'm out there, but are you sure the CAS isn't 180 degrees off and the plugs are in good working order?

 

[Terry Posten]

I vote for a bad connector/wiring issue.

I had a very similar issue with my Alt when I bought my VR4. It would not charge until I hit 3K revs. All it turned out to be was a loose connection with the plug on the back of it.

Check for a resistive connection on that CAS plug.

 

[Hertz]

Are you sure the plug wires are correct? I'm wondering if it isn't related to the cas, so this is my wild guess.

 

Yeah the wires are correct, put another ignitor in as well.... This problem is pretty nuts. It's odd that after going from super advanced to grounding the ecu and retiming at 5*BTDC it runs awesome. This problem sucks balls.

 

[MitchooO]

wen the car starts and runs on 2 cylinder are all the spak plugs getting fire or are the injectors cutting out? id try to figure that out first and see if its killing the coil or if it may be cutting 2 injectors for some reason? wild guess for a wild problem haha...

 

[fivestardsm]

Have you changed your power transistor? These will cause issues like that aswell.

 

Quoting Jonvr4:
put another ignitor in as well....



Well, the fix is to not turn the car off..... Sorry I couldn't resist. Give us some more details on the setup.

 

Quoting fivestardsm:
Have you changed your power transistor? These will cause issues like that aswell.



Yeah I tried 3 of them.

 

[dmj]

Did you put in a new timing belt tensioner? What is the condition of your timing belt? is it tensioned properly? sometimes these problems can be caused by simple things.

 

They are all new, but really have nothing to do with anything that would cause this problem. They are all related to mechanical timing, and the only way they could cause any sort of issue would be in the cams and crank were out of time... that would cause me to not be able to time correctly at all vs 2 cylinders firing.

 

[Barnes]

Has Digit touched this car in any way shape or form? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hsugh.gif

 

ROFL no, but I would say pretty close.

 

[prove_it]

Really weird issue. Doesn't really make sense if you think about it. Other problem could be a bad coil, but if you replaced it then I doubt the coil assembly. Check the wiring for the coils. If one coil drops out then it would only run on two cylinders. Seems like the only way it would run on two then four then two. Also check your plugs, they play games at times too.

As for an two injectors dropping? do this:
Start it up, get it to run on two cylinders, then unplug one injector at a time and figure out which two cylinders it is. If it's 1-4 or 2-3 then you got a ignition issue, but if it's 1-2, 1-3, 2-4, then you got a completely separate issue. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

Just some food for thought.

 

[toybreaker]

Quoting Jonvr4:
Quoting BarnesMobile:
Has Digit touched this car in any way shape or form? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hsugh.gif


ROFL no, but I would say pretty close.



Jon, don't be so hard on yourself... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/fawkd.gif



Try "abbra~ca~hocus" while waving a 2lb sledge menacingly in the vicinity of the cas.

Works for me! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I think you're on the right track looking for a harness/connector issue...

 

well that's a real a-hole thing to say John!

Hahaha, I'll be trying a new section of harness today, after I pull that 3k Vr4 engine out.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

 

[toybreaker]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif

Jest trying to help...

You did turn the timing back an hour Saturday night, right? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif