Hey everyone I have hit a wall. I rebuilt my engine down yo the head gaskets and valves. I have a 2004 Xj8. I've put everything back together except for adding coolant and power steering fluid and left the exhaust pipes disconnected as those suck. When I turn the key it tries to turn over but won't, occasional loud bang/pop sound and a smell of possibly fuel.

I checked the codes and only p0102 and p0112 show up in the list after multiple attempts of checking. My fear has been the timing is off but no codes are showing for that but I don't know if they would show up at this time.

Any thoughts or ideas on checking why it won't start? Engine has gas in tank and oil added.

 

Check all electrical connections and make sure battery is fully charged.

You may need to remove the cam covers again and check to see if the valve timing is correct. Correct valve timing is set to 45 degrees ATDC.

 

Which cylinder do I set that with and what does the 45 degrees part mean? I know at top down center but not sure the degrees part.

 

Setting the timing with VVT cams is different from normal static timing, the VVT cam sprockets are "spring loaded" and you have to physically hold them against the "spring" when setting up, then lock off, it's kind of counter intuitive, as you would normally let the cams sit where they land, if you get my drift, hope that makes sense and is useful........ Setup is all in here, prob have been better to just post that and not waffle on.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vqpy3bbjzd...e_168.pdf?dl=0

 

ThankS for sharing. I installed the cams so the flat part was facing up and used the locking tool to hold it there. I didn't think about the position of the crankshaft since the guide I was following didn't mention that.

At this point I'll take it apart and try to set the timing correct again but i heard this is an interference engine. If I have already cranked the engine a number of times to get it to start could I have damaged some valves? I'd rather not take the heads off again.

Also I still don't know what cylinder I'm supposed to do the 45 degrees ATDC with when positioning the crankshaft comes time.

 

Use the crankshaft holding tool to correctly position the crankshaft before installing the any of the timing chains. Use the 24mm crankshaft pulley bolt to rotate the engine in a clock direction only. DO NOT rotate the crankshaft in an anti clock direction or damage to the main and rod bearings is the result.

Here is a link to the AJ engine course:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vqpy3bbjzd...e_168.pdf?dl=0

Pay particular attention to page 74 of the PDF (page 26 of the course).

 

Thank you for the resources and information. I also found online that im supposed to use cylinder 1 as my reference point for making it 45 ATDC. I will take everything apart, follow the guide based on positioning of the crankshaft and pray that it starts up this time.

 

What needs to be done to ensure the crankshaft is in the correct position is to remove the CPK and install the Crankshaft Holding Tool into the torque converter flex plate. Do not use the Crankshaft Holding Tool to hold the crankshaft whilst removing the front damper pulley. Refer to page 70 of the PDF (page 22 of the course) for the correct procedure.

 

2 questions:
1. what is the CPK? crankshaft position...?
2. how likely is it that i damaged any valves due to already cranking the engine a few times with the crankshaft and pistons not timed/positioned properly?

 

1. CPK, is the crankshaft position sensor,
2. If it's just the phasing of the cams that's out, then you "should" be fine, once you get it set correctly, however, if the timing is WAY out, there is only one easy way to find out, set the timing and give it a go, with fingers well and truly crossed. The phasing on these engines was originally 30 degrees, and was increased to 48 degrees, that's got to give you a frair to piddling chance of it surviving a bad set up.
A lot of "interference" engines are quite forgiving with static f*^k ups, different story if it actually fires up, then loses the timing, "catastrophic", is the phrase often used, Had a volvo many, many, many years ago, broke the timing belt as I was driving it, spun it over for ages, before i realised what had happened, fitted a new belt and the bugger started first turn of the key. on the other side, my mate parked up his Rover 2600, popped into a shop, came back out and it wouldn't start, belt broke as he turned the key, bent all the inlet valves. Hope your the lucky one.

 

I followed all the steps in the guide for timing and putting it back together. The engine still wont start but here is what i did and let me know if you know of anything i missed or messed up on. i put what i thought to be the "required things" back together to avoid unnecessary work when finding out if the engine would turn over. i didnt put the radiator back in and the power steering pump is installed but the tube is left unattached as well as the air instake box. when i attempted to start the engine it tried turning over but didnt. attempted a few times but it still wouldnt.

i realized that i had not attached the throttle body back and forgot to put oil into the car. so i attached the throttle body and the oil into the car. attempted to start the car again and it didnt even sound like ti tried turning over. the only sound was a pretty audible *click*..... *click*..... *click*. this made my heart drop hearing this as it sounded very unusual to what i expected and fear i may have made the engine worse.

Im wondering if maybe i blew the starter in trying to start so many times or if the engine stupidly seized up on me. the thought of the engine seizing on me is really discouraging. The engine codes were just things for air intake and coolant since those arent attached. i also looked into engine seizing and it said sometimes a computer might cause it if it senses something is wrong that could cause major damage before that damage happens. maybe jags do that type of thing. Any thoughts would be greatly helpful as i am stumped

 

This might seem obvious, but have you checked the battery?, sounds to me like the battery has gone down.

 

Hate to say it but if there was no oil in the engine and you did not prime the oil pump before starting the engine and it actually turned even a bit you may have a problem.

Same with the battery. If the battery was low (it might have actually saved your engine, considering it had no oil) I would recommend charging the battery and I would squirt some oil into each cylinder via the spark plug hole.

 

So turns out the battery is bad. Thank you. I jumped it with my other car and attempted to start.

Car was now turning but didn't sound like it was cranking and then an occasional small explosion sound (exhaust pipes are still disconnected). I'm coming to my wuts end on this car. Hopefully i can figure this out.

 

i am also learning that simply adding oil isnt the only thing to do but i guess i need to prime the engine more than also just putting some oil int he cylinders. i will be doing it this week but read that i need to disconnect fuel and spark to the engine and turn the engine a few times with the starter to build oil pressure. dont know completely what turn the engine with the starter completely means but ill try it this week and let everyone know how it goes.

 

Adding a bit of oil into the cylinders will aid with making sure things are lubed until the engine is primed.

Just remove the fuse or relay related to the fuel pump. No need to worry about the spark. No fuel = no combustion.

Crank the engine for 10 - 15 second spurts to ensure the starter does not over heat. I'm sure you'll find you will only need to crank the engine for a few seconds at most before the oil light on the dash will go out.

Good Luck

 

Ok i have tried that stuff and the engine still wont start. Disconnecting the coils and spark plugs, removed fuel fuse and turned engine with key 10 sec at a time until the oil light went off. put it all back together, attempted to start but the car still wont start. turns and hear some small explosions but nothing that sounds like its close. i checked if there was fuel pressure in the lines and there is. so i have fuel and assume theres spark since its new plugs and coils and i hear the small explosions. im thinking of renting a compression tester and testing each cylinder to see if im getting compression.

i cant imagine im having timing issues still since i followed the instructions to the T and very carefully since i didnt want to have to tear it down a 3rd time. any other ideas of what could be wrong? as a reminder, air intake box with MAF (intake manifold is on) and radiator and exhaust pipes are all disconnected still.

 

What part of the air inlet is still disconnected? The MAF is used to determine the fuelling.

 

Well I've usually kept the intake off up to the throttle body which included the MAF but this last time I loosely connected the intake to the throttle body and plugged the MAF sensor in.
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To me it sounds like timing is still off.

Perform a hard reset. Disconnect battery and touch neg and pos battery terminals for 15 - 30 seconds.

Reconnect everything electrical in the engine compartment, including spark plugs and coils, connect all intake tubing from air filter to throttle body.

Ensure battery is fully charged and give it another try.