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Maybe it is time to go back to original sin on this vehicle: if I understand everything you have written, this car went into a HS or JC auto shop with the engine completely torn down on arrival or once in the shop; it was then rebuilt. Since then it has not started; even with ether. Since, checking compression, fueling, ignition, no issues found; still won't start, even with ether. Do I have this correct?
Some critical sensor, wire, connector was not installed correctly. I would guess (only a guess), crank or cam position sensors are not sending critical input to the ECU.
Go all the way back: "A buddy and I convinced . . . . ," way, way back is where your issue lies . . . review each step, step by step. Start by finding Motorcarman's engine rebuild tutorial (stickies or Google it). Get a copy of the electrical diagram, and trace every wire to and from the ECU . . . somewhere you, your buddy, or the previous tech, missed something . . .
When you took the engine apart, did you keep all 4 camshafts with the heads that they came from? Seeing as it’s an AJ26 engine, you’ll only have one camshaft position sensor and it’s on the drivers side rear of the head. When you reassembled the engine, is it possible that you have the camshafts installed in the wrong head? If you have the intake camshafts swapped in the wrong head, you’ll have one head with a camshaft sensor but the reluctor for that sensor can be in the passenger side head… where it doesn’t have a provision for a sensor.
When we received the car, the heads had been rebuilt and were sitting in the floorboard of the car. Due to the time they were exposed, there was a little surface rust on the cams so we removed them and cleaned them up. We were cautious enough to make sure we put the cams back where we pulled them from, but I have no way of knowing if they were correct when we received it since they had been rebuilt. Passenger side cams are stamped with "A" and drivers side are stamped with "B". Sound right?
Sort of depends where you are located, doesn't it? In case you are missing the obvious: in the UK, Australia, NZ, Japan, the driver's side is the right side; in the US, Canada, and most of Europe, the driver's side is the left side. So your description is worthless without knowing where you are!
OH, WAIT! Going to your public profile, I see you are in the US.
See page 36 as it relates to A bank and B bank location as a difference between AJ26 and AJ27 engine in the illustrations for the Camshaft Position Sensor
And also starting on page 14 for a cool shop pic to take to a office supply store print service
Since the heads have been gone through at the machine shop, you can possibly get away with removing the camshaft position sensor on the rear of the D/S cylinder head **carefully**. You don’t need to remove the intake manifold or the valve cover. When you get the 8mm bolt out, you need to rotate the cam sensor side to side (gently) while using a thin flathead screwdriver to get underneath it so you can pry it upwards. I’m expressing caution as it’s most likely the original 26+ year old (fragile) sensor. Once it’s out, you should be able to use a small mirror to see if that reluctor is in place. If you don’t see it, it’s probably in the back of the P/S intake camshaft. D/S AJ26 cylinder head camshaft position sensor provision. AJ26 P/S cylinder head without provision. This is an example of what you’re looking for. This is taken from an AJ27 intake camshaft. The correct one will have one ‘lobe’ on the reluctor.
Keep in mind that there are *many* things that can cause a crank no start situation. Since the school received a basket case, there’s no telling what’s going on until you do a little bit of exploratory surgery. At this point, we’re going to assume this is the original AJ26 engine and the machine shop has possibly incorrectly reinstalled the intake camshaft’s.
Last edited by Addicted2boost; Oct 10, 2024 at 05:13 AM.
Good question if you have AJ26 or AJ27 cams installed , I think this relates to firing order differences
Place a 1/4 inch long extension down the identified # 1 cylinder max up stroke to correspond the reluctor " wing " pointing at the CMPS sensor pickup
You would have to watch the # 1 intake valve close with valve cover removed 180 degrees crankshaft ( not cam ) wise before as it comes up on top compression stroke , TDC
As to which is the #1 is not square in my head as I believe there are 2 different cylinder number position / firing order charts ( AJ26 vs. AJ27 ? )
If wrong you have some tear down to do so................
Readers ............Would this be correct ?
I see in your ( Addicted2boost ) pic # 3 as stamped cam marked AJ27
On the inline 6 engine X300 ( Mine ) the cams do not have part #s but blank forged #s before machining ( there was a change in machining per TSB for a different valve timing overlap angle between intake and exhaust ) This is what your VVT does to change that angle difference to engine RPM for best cylinder exhaust gas clearance out the pipe so you have a higher % of unburnt O2 drawing back into cylinder and little consumed O2 gas staying / recirculating for next fire off reducing effective engine displacement
In the interest of not leaving another thread with no answer, as I am always frustrated when I find one that way, I have found a solution
However, it will not be a well received solution
I have gotten the car running again... by swapping an LS into it. Say what you want, but it puts another car back on the road that was otherwise doomed to rot, and it made for a cool project. Thank you gentleman for all your help, even though my drive train will not match the expertise here anymore, I'm sure I'll be back sooner or later. Especially if I can find out who owns the XJ6 R a few miles away...
