Hello all, new here.

I just finished an engine replacement in a 03' 3.0L Xtype.

I have a no start issue.
-Engine appears to be bound/locked up, ie. it can not be rotated with a wrench on the crank pulley nor will the starter turn the engine. The battery is fully charged 13.2V.

-However when when the torque converter is unbolted (decoupled) from the flex plate the engine can be rotated with a wrench.

Does anyone know what could cause this?

 

Well I figured that out.


No it seems I have powertrain fault and engine is not accepting throttle input (throttle blade does not move when apply pedal).

 

It should turn in neutral.

 

Speed
First of all my guess is that the torque converter (TC) came out a step or two while you had the engine out. Now you may have it bound up with the flex plate pushing on it. When you install the TC, you have to carefully push it up in the tranny and rotate it some, back and forth, and as it engages in the tranny you will feel three separate detents as it engages. If you don't feel all three steps, you are not fully engaged, and the TC is sticking out too far.

Next the throttle body, my connector shell on the wiring that goes to the throttle actuator crumbled away. I have the remnants of the connector held in with zip tie and has been working fine. Check those connections and check the wiring from the throttle body all the way back to the big connector on the firewall.

 

Thanks for the reply.
The engine was bound due to wrong starter mount bolt being used. The longer bolt was contacting the torque converter. I won't go into how this happened.


Now the engine starts but will barely idle.
The DBW 2 pin connector crumbled also. There is no voltage at either pin with engine running or not running, at any throttle pedal position.
I will trace and ohm these wires out tonight.
Also I noticed Fuel Strims are at 25% when the engine is (struggling) to idle.

The engine will run and hang at about 2k rpm with MAF and air box disconnected and removed.
I have not checked fuel pressure yet.

We did have an issue with the J gate during the installed but it appears to be working correctly now.

 

Glad you found the jam and it was easy to fix.

I'll tell you something else about these cars, they love FRESH gasoline, 91+ octane. If it's old or low test they'll gag on it.