Alright, so here's the downlow. 1994 del Sol, all stock, 5 speed manual. My stock D16's crankshaft pulley came loose about a month ago and wrecked the inside of the pulley, the end of the crankshaft, some of the threads on the bolt, and the key got mangled. So I bought a D16 longblock from someone I know on TSF. Used my transmission, dizzy, intake/exhaust, thermostat housing, and my chipped P28. The longblock has unknown miles, but supposedly it was a running engine. Anyways my friends and I get the engine all together, set the timing all proper like, and dropped it back into my Sol. Connectors all connected, fluids all filled... and the engine won't start. Here are some things we tried/ruled out:

• Dizzy is fine (new, bought it about a year ago), we even tried it in a 93 EX Coupe
• ECU is fine -- or at least, the 93 EX Coupe's ECU won't run my car (Coupe has D16z6 with an auto tranny, but it has been used to test run my car before and it worked)
• Brand new spark plug wires -- exchanged them today, original wires were about a year old
• Spark plugs are also about a year old (all this dizzy related stuff was done at the same time last year when my stock dizzy died)
• Engine is grounded
• Definitely getting fuel to the engine, as it leaks out the fuel filter when the line is loosened... also have fuel in the oil because...
• Compression test failed on #3 cylinder (95psi), but about 160-170 for the others

We pulled the dipstick out and the oil smells a bit like gasoline (this is new oil, not reused). My friend tells me that the engine should still run, even with one cylinder's bad compression. The really damnable thing is that we tested the spark plug wires with a timing gun... when the wires are in place on the spark plugs and dizzy, the timing gun does not light up as we try to start the car. But when we unplug the wire from, say, the #1 cylinder, it will light up. We tried the timing gun on my friend's 95 HB, even going so far as to disable the engine from actually starting and then testing the wires. Gun lights up as it should.

So I'm wondering just WTF is going on with this damn D16... any ideas? Other than doing an engine rebuild/swap? I'm even thinking about taking the crankshaft out of this "donor" D16 and putting it into my original D16 along with new bearings. At least I know my original engine ran fine before the pulley came off...

 

a cylinder will still run on 95psi in a cylinder.had a nitrous b16 the rings were on their way out and had about 80-70psi in each cylinder lol. the best way to check spark is to physically check and see with your eyes. pull the ignition wires one by one place a spark plug in the spark plug in the ignition wire. hold the spark plug to a ground (a bolt on the rad support) use insulated plyers so u dont get shocked too lol. if you dont have any spark try swapping your main relay.

 

Fixed it... swapped the spark plugs around (and cleaned them up a little, they had some gas on them), then used a stronger battery jumper than the portable one we used whenever it seemed the battery was draining. Turned it over, it ran rough at first, then started right up.

It burns oil like a mofo when its run at higher RPMs, but it runs... God knows whoever ran the engine before dogged the hell out of it. Poor D16. I'm keeping extra coolant and oil on hand in case it burns oil a lot or leaks coolant from some surprise location.

 

I talked to David today during lunch. Without him being there he really couldn't be of much help but said that there had to be another issue. Now that you mention the battery, maybe that was it.

My LS has a cylinder that has lost some of its compression. I am using a 20/50 weight oil and it is working out for me. It has stopped the oil burning until my 3,000 mile oil change. I keep an eye on it.

I am working on building another block to replace it but in the meantime that oil seems to be of assistance.

 

Thanks again for you and David's advice & help (via Rich) I talked to my stepdad a moment ago and he mentioned that I should run the engine with this oil change for a time (a week or so?), then change it out and use some kind of valve cleaning additive (I forgot the name already), and replace a 3rd time, to de-gunk the engine. God knows it sat unused for a long time (I'm not even sure, I need to ask the guy). I'll try a heavier oil weight with my 3rd oil change.

Yeah, it's funny about the battery... I was saying that the day we tried to start it up for the first time. I don't know, maybe my car communicates with me telepathically... it told me the ECU was bad back in May, when we couldn't figure out why the fuel pump wasn't sending fuel to the engine -- yet passed all the tests... "Can we get a telepath out here? My car is having problems."

 

nice