HELP ! Swapped an 89 engine. Now it doesnt start !

Stangfreak95 · Aug 25, 2005

Some of you may know I blew my motor in my 95 and bought an 89 engine from a Lincoln Mark VII. I heard that engine run right in front of me and it idled perfectly.

I finished putting the exhaust back together today and all the air-pump stuff also. So I was ready to go for the first start-up. I had to remove the distributor prior when painting the engine but I replaced it exactly like how it was before I removed it. But anyway, today, I tried to start it and it just didnt wanna do it. So I thought I replaced the distributor wrong so I checked the whole thing again with piston#1 TDC while rotor pointing @ #1 sparkplug "pin". Same stuff. I had some help and we tried different kinda positions and we did fire it up but it was EXTREMELY sluggish and died like 5 seconds after. Something is wrong. Wasted like 2 1/2 hours working on this problem.

Here is what I "assembled" this engine with so you all know more about it:
- Stock Lincoln E7's heads, block, lower intake, cam, timing chain.
- My mustang's upper intake, oil pan, fuel rail, injectors, timing cover, waterpump, distributor, balancer, all the front accessories. Still running all the 95's electronics and sensors.

My friend is saying that I should be using the 89's distributor but I dont think it's the problem. The shafts are identical. Electronics are different. But since I run the 95's harness, I basicly cant use the 89's distributor since it has a module attached to it that us SN95's dont have.

Anybody have any suggestions about what could be causing the engine not to start and run well ?

Thanks
Mario

Killercanary · Aug 25, 2005

Is the firing order different on that motor versus the 5.0L HO?

mustbastang · Aug 25, 2005

pull the timing spout out if car starts u have a distributor problem.

HISSIN50 · Aug 25, 2005

And be sure you are not on the exhaust stroke when stabbing the dizzy (it will expel some air out the plug hole). The car can run like poop when stabbed out of phase like that.

Good luck.

bjl95mustang · Aug 26, 2005

Another vote for the dizzy being 180* off. My car acted like it wanted to start then I turned it 180* then it fired right up.

Killercanary · Aug 26, 2005

I've been there too with having the distributor 180* out, so i agree with the others and make sure you are putting it in as soon as the piston reaches TDC AFTER the compression stroke.

Stangfreak95 · Aug 26, 2005

Killercanary said:
Is the firing order different on that motor versus the 5.0L HO?

Same thing Paul

Stangfreak95 · Aug 26, 2005

mustbastang said:
pull the timing spout out if car starts u have a distributor problem.

Did this yesterday. Doing the same thing with or without spout connector in.

Stangfreak95 · Aug 26, 2005

HISSIN50 said:
And be sure you are not on the exhaust stroke when stabbing the dizzy (it will expel some air out the plug hole). The car can run like poop when stabbed out of phase like that.

BJL95Mustang said:
Another vote for the dizzy being 180* off. My car acted like it wanted to start then I turned it 180* then it fired right up.

Killercanary said:
I've been there too with having the distributor 180* out, so i agree with the others and make sure you are putting it in as soon as the piston reaches TDC AFTER the compression stroke.

I might be screwing up here. My brother-in-law mechanic is coming over in 2 hours and hopefully it will be only this that was the problem. The firing order is good. All my sensors are plugged in.

Although it's the first time since I removed the EEC Tuner from the computer that I'm trying to start the stang. Does the computer resets by itself or do I have to do this manually ?

CManT1914 · Aug 26, 2005

When you remove the computer (I REALLY hope you removed the battery and held the brakes for a minute to drain residual power first) then it no longer has power to the KAM (keep alive memory), so it will erase all it's stored "learned" techniques and go back to a completely stock tune. That's why you hear everybody say to unhook the battry for 20 minutes after swapping sensors and parts.

And if you remove an EEC tuner from the PCM, then the PCM immediately goes back to using it's stock parameters, meaning it's stock tune.

WhiteDevil · Aug 26, 2005

CManT1914 said:
When you remove the computer (I REALLY hope you removed the battery and held the brakes for a minute to drain residual power first) then it no longer has power to the KAM (keep alive memory), so it will erase all it's stored "learned" techniques and go back to a completely stock tune. That's why you hear everybody say to unhook the battry for 20 minutes after swapping sensors and parts.

And if you remove an EEC tuner from the PCM, then the PCM immediately goes back to using it's stock parameters, meaning it's stock tune.

Yes the computer has some adaptive control but disconnecting your batter will not effect things this much. There isnt much of a difference from making your computer learn from scratch and letting relearn the new info from new part. I have rarely ever disconnected my batter for that reason and have had very little computer related problems with my car.

StangFreak - Your sure that the non HO has the same firing order? I was under the impression it was different. Also Try having someone crank the car while you turn the distributor. It is near impossible to get the distributor back in EXACTLY the way you took it out, so you are gonna need to set your base timing each time. Put it in and if it doesnt start ahve someone crank it while you turn the distributor.

Stangfreak95 · Aug 26, 2005

WhiteDevil said:
StangFreak - Your sure that the non HO has the same firing order? I was under the impression it was different. Also Try having someone crank the car while you turn the distributor. It is near impossible to get the distributor back in EXACTLY the way you took it out, so you are gonna need to set your base timing each time. Put it in and if it doesnt start ahve someone crank it while you turn the distributor.

Dude, the Lincoln have the 225hp HO engine from the stangs. Forged pistons and everything. EXACTLY the same as the Fox. And yes the firing orders are the same. Just to make sure, I called Ford today and asked them to look it out. The guy called me 5 minutes later and told me the exact firing order as the stangs.

We did try to turn the distributor while cranking. Doesnt really help. I checked the codes and now It tells me something about the fuel pump. MAybe it's not pumping enpugh gas. I put the stocker back in , in June. And I DROPPED it on the pavement just before putting it in and had a bad feeling about it. I instantly plugged it to a 12V source to see if it was working and it went ON. But is it pumping enough ? Did I damage it ? Maybe.. Now I need a fuel gauge to see what the pressure is. It seems that it is a fuel problem.

final5-0 · Aug 26, 2005

Mario

Are the plugs wet?

If you push the valve on the rail, does the fuel really squirt out?

Later
Grady

Stangfreak95 · Aug 26, 2005

final5-0 said:
Mario

Are the plugs wet?

If you push the valve on the rail, does the fuel really squirt out?

Later
Grady

Yes Grady the plugs are wet but that doesnt mean it's pushing enough though. But there's fuel coming up thats for sure. When I press on the "shrader" valve, gas comes out but doesnt really squirt like you say. I just cant wait to sort this problem.

final5-0 · Aug 27, 2005

Stangfreak95 said:
Yes Grady the plugs are wet but that doesnt mean it's pushing enough though. But there's fuel coming up thats for sure. When I press on the "shrader" valve, gas comes out but doesnt really squirt like you say. I just cant wait to sort this problem.

I do agree about not knowing if enough fuel is present for proper operation.

I've thought about this subject many times and can't come up with a solution other than a gauge on the rail.

Let us know what you find out.

Later
Grady

Stangfreak95 · Aug 27, 2005

final5-0 said:
I do agree about not knowing if enough fuel is present for proper operation.

I've thought about this subject many times and can't come up with a solution other than a gauge on the rail.

Let us know what you find out.

Later
Grady

One more thing...I did the longtubes+o/r H-pipe 3 summers ago. So basicly the stock H-Pipe has been sitting there collecting dust. It stayed maybe 6 months outside and the rest in a poor shed. Now it's installed but maybe the thing is jammed up with whatever inside. Maybe a squirrel put some stuff in it...

Wondering if this could be a possibility. I just borrowed a gauge from a mechanic friend and I'm gonna go test to see whats up with the fuel.

yellow1995Cobra · Aug 27, 2005

nm lol missed a previous post

Stangfreak95 · Aug 27, 2005

Is this normal ?

ok I just hooked a fuel gauge directly on the rail and I get 42-44psi when I turn the key to ON. Same when I'm cranking the engine. It stays at this and doesnt go down. I know we're suppose to have somewhere around 33psi when running but I dont remember having it this high just when the key is ON. I have stock injectors, stock regulator and stock fuel pump.

Is this normal ?

HISSIN50 · Aug 27, 2005

Is the vac line connected to the FPR? The FPR might not be passing enough fuel back to the tank. But that should not be an issue IMHO - those numbers are in the ballpark.

Stangfreak95 · Aug 27, 2005

HISSIN50 said:
Is the vac line connected to the FPR? The FPR might not be passing enough fuel back to the tank. But that should not be an issue IMHO - those numbers are in the ballpark.

Yes the vacuum is connected to the FPR. I dont think either that this is the problem. After diner, I'll disconnect the stock catted H-pipe and hopefully it will start, on only the headers.

HELP ! Swapped an 89 engine. Now it doesnt start !

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