DougM

I guess it is earlier:
Vin is car ES841469
Eng stamped M28/21 82E00528
Also, the previous owner to me had the heads cleaned up after a head gasket leak. When I broke the belt upon hard acceleration, there was no contact.

I went ahead and put on the belt and everything lined up. Turned it a few revolutions and everything was still lined up. Will button everything back up tomorrow and try to fire it up again.

pjg

Euro twin dizzy info

DougM

Thanks for the info, but I have the manuals. I was able to resolve my problem and all is back in sync. I was just making a mountain out of a molehill because I just wanted to be 100% sure of what I was doing. You tend to be cautious after pulling the motor to refresh everything, only to realize that you put the dampener backwards when you are almost finished with the rebuild.

DougM

Got everything back together with everything aligned correctly and the balancer on correctly, not backwards. Went to fire it up and it "chuggs" like I have a dying battery. I trickle charged the battery up over night and it did the same and does not want to start. I charged it up again and took it to Autozone and they did the load test and said it was fine. It's strange because when I had the balancer on backwards, it obviously wouldn't start, but cranked over normally without hesitation. The only thing that I can see could have caused a change during my balancer flip is that to break the crank bolt free, I bumped the starter while I had the breaker bar and socket leveraged against a jack stand. It only took 1 bump of the ignition for 1/2 second to break it free. Is it possible that the starter is wearing out with these symptoms????

Mrmerlin

did you also verify the twin dizzys are timed with the engine?
make sure the rotors are both pointing to their respective hash marks on the distributor at TDC,
then try swapping the coil wires to the other distributor,
if they are swapped then the engine wont run

DougM

Yes, the rotors are pointing to the hash marks when the motor is TDC and the cam pulley marks are aligned. I turned the motor by hand several times to confirm and everything stays lined up. I am wondering if my starter is going on the fritz which gives the impression of a weak or dying battery.

DougM

Still trying to figure this out. Which exactly is the TDC mark on my balancer in the pic on the first page of this thread? It has since been flipped since that pic. The marks are 0T | 5 | 1 | 0 . I can't find a pic of this particular balancer in the manuals. Should it be on the hash following the 0T or should it be directly over the 0T?

Mrmerlin

on your damper it will line up with the first straight line past the O T.

DougM

thanks
Just trying to eliminate the obvious potential problems first.
All timing marks line up on balancer, dizzys and cam gears
Battery tested good at 2 different parts houses
Brand new starter
Looked over all grounds
Fuel getting to the rails for sure but not sure about injectors??
Guess maybe I should run a compression test next???

BRB-83-911SC

Doug - been following your adventure from afar (and learned a bit about my car in the process - I, too, am in the lower compression 84 Euro camp). I don't remember - were you ever able to physically confirm that you didn't bend valves, or were you moving forward based on the fact that your engine number *should* not be interference? Did you have the opportunity to do a leak down test? Sorry about your troubles.

PorKen

To be sure... 0T| is definately on #1/top of piston is visible through spark plug hole?

DougM

Brian
When the belt broke this spring, I feared the worst so I pulled the motor without checking anything. Many things needed refreshing anyway. With the motor out and cam towers removed, I did a leakdown and all numbers were 1-4%. I also looked with a boroscope and everything appeared good.
What is odd is that when I finally tried to start it this past weekend(with the balancer on backward), it cranked evenly, but just would not fire. After realizing the balancer was backward, I removed everything and re-installed the belt with everything lined up correctly. The only thing I did different was that I used the started to help break the crank bolt free. I went ahead and got a new Bosch starter today in case I fried the original one. When I go to start it, it does the same thing as it did after I flipped the balancer. It cranks strong, then slows, then gets strong again etc....but it will not fire. It sounds like the battery is dying...
Confusing

Mrmerlin

spray some ether into the intake and crank it see if it will fire if it fires then you are missing fuel so then its on to the relays and fuel pump fuse

DougM

The car does not fire with starting fluid.
I ran a compression check and all numbers are within 5%.
What amount of CCA battery is recommended. Mine is 770.
How can I test if I am getting spark?
I know I am getting fuel because the plugs get damp.

Lizard928

you are not getting spark,

does your tach jump as you crank?
Is the reference sensor new?
try jumping the LH, EZF, and FP relays.