Rb25Det Rebuild

[daymo]

Hey guys

First time posting but I have just finished rebuilding my rb25det with new stock piston rings, oem head gasket and had the head pressure tested and shaved. This engine is pretty much stock besides a fmc, regapped spark plugs and a boost controller set at 10psi.

Started the car and let it idol for about half an hr and everything seem to be going great so I decided to take it for a easy run through town and just out of town to make sure everything was going well which it was until I came back into town and pulled up at a round about and it started to sound like it was missing and then just stopped and now it still trys to turn over but no ignition. It sounds like it has no fuel but it has a full tank. Could it be that something has gone wrong and ecu has a error that is preventing it from starting.

Any and all advice accepted.

[GTSBoy]

Normal diagnosis steps required. Pull a plug and see if you have spark. Noid light on injectors and see if you have pulse. Fuel hose off rail and see if you have fuel pump.

Look for CAS wiring loose, AFM wiring loose, coil packs or ignitor wiring loose. Etc etc.

[KiwiRS4T]

Oil level ok? Sump plug and filter tight? Crap in fuel tank?

When you get it going don't idle it - push it hard without thrashing it and watch water temp and check for leaks.

[Ben C34]

Why did you idle it for so long?

Not that it would have caused your issue, it's just weird.

Can't figure it out online. Follow steps as mentioned above.

[daymo]

I only idle it for so long because I needed to refit my front bar which has LED indicators that I had to rewire but otherwise I would have taken it straight out for a drive. There is a very slight leak at the back of the bell housing but not enough to cause any issue in that short of a time and I slightly overfilled the oil before it sat and idled but checked the oil again before going but when It stopped I checked the oil and it only just had a drop on the dip stick so I topped it up and tried to start it again with no success. I will definitely go through and check all those and fix the slight oil.

Is there anything else I should be looking for having just rebuilt it? everything sounded like it was running well and it idled perfectly before going out.

[GTSBoy]

The reason to not idle it for a long time on fresh start up is that you will potentially ruin your chances of seating the rings. It has nothing to do with how full the oil is.

[Ben C34]

Check everything

Check timing to see of its the same as you set it befote, if not could indicate the cam belt slipped.

Oil leak after a rebuild is a bad sign.

Your car didn't have to be running while you fitted the bar. Idling a new engine can cause the bores to glaze.

[daymo]

So in having let it idle for so long there may be the chance that I have done something that may need me to basically rebuild it again? Coz if I have to rebuild it again I am thinking I will take it off the road and do a complete rebuild with forged internals but I would rather have it back on the road as I would have to buy another car in the mean time which is why I only used OEM Replacement parts to do this rebuild.

[Ben C34]

It's not all over yet. The rings will probably still bed in.

At this stage the rings bedding are the least of your concerns

[daymo]

So it might just take alittle longer for the rings to seat and at this point better of finding the problem and starting there? I also read somewhere that sometimes after a rebuild that the oil pump can fail mostly in the older cars is that a possiblity here or are the RB25DET oil pumps pretty good?

[GTSBoy]

Why would you think the oil pump is dead?

[Ben C34]

Cmon man.

Look at your car. Don't worry about crazy shit.

Why do you think the pump would just die? What experience with engines do you actually have? Cos I can tell you that you would not for a split second confuse an engine that has stopped due to no oil pressure with an engine that's out of fuel if you had a clue.

[daymo]

Sorry I should have said but the oil pump was just a general question I have oil pressure and what not I just wanted to find out how commonly it happens.

[GTSBoy]

Limiter bashing causes oil pump death. For the most part anyway.

Don't drift. And if you have to drift, drift smart (if that's possible).

[skylinecouple]

Bit of a worry if you started out with full oil and then had none. Plugs probably fouled on so much oil going into combustion chamber. Have you tried new plugs then restart ? As stated, fuel & ignition. Check compression, oil in turbo intake. Oil had to go somewhere. even the exhaust would have oil in it to lose that much so quickly.

[GTSBoy]

Oh Wow. I only just realised that all this talk about oil was because the OP's second post said all the oil had gone. I concur with what has been written above. With a hearty WTF?

[Ben C34]

Yep, I missed the "only a drop of oil" bit.

Wow.

Wow

Wow.

That's a huge leak.

I'm still confused how you can mistake dead engine due to no oil with no fuel? Or how you have such a massive leak. Or not know how to run in an engine.

Good luck with it. Good on you for having a go, but as you may have learnt whilst an engine is simple, there's a lot that can go wrong.

Take your time and figure out what has happened here.

[KiwiRS4T]

OP had a drop of oil on dipstick - not an empty sump but still a worry. But probably not the cause of non starting.

How long was your rebuild? Could have stale fuel or crap in tank. Take out your fuel filter and turn on the ignition - plenty of fuel? Replace with a new filter and cut the old one open to have a look. Like they say - go back to basics - check the CAS - look for spark, injectors clicking - pull the plugs to see if they are oiled up and clean or replace. Double check the cam timing and cam belt.

[AngryRB]

Take the CAS out and check you havn't actually broke the shaft, if its not aligned properly it shears off, it would start missing badly until it sheared off then, nothing , as OP described.

Also as said, check the timing marks line up incase the belt has come loose, from incorrect torque settings on the tensioners and crank pulley bolt.

Edited December 19, 2014 by AngryRB

[daymo]

Hey Guys,

So just thought I would let you know where I am at with it. I have gone through and checked the CAS which is all good, timing belt is still spot on, checked the fuel pump by removing the pipe after the fuel filter and turning it to on and plenty of fuel coming through, so I did all this while waiting for my ecutalk cable to arrive and when it did I plugged in and it came up with error code 21 - Ignition error so after this I continued to pulling all my spark plugs and they were all white on the tips which would mean that they had fouled so I bought a new set of spark plugs and have replaced them all and as I reassembled it I checked that all my coilpacks were all good replaced the cover and at this point I still had the car in the on position from when I was using my laptop and didnt think twice to switch it off but as I was replacing the ignitor module I plugged it all in and sat it on the cover so I could grab the bolts and socket I picked it and found that it was burning hot. So this has lead me to believe that this module is fried and is the cause of my issues so I have bought a replacement and just waiting for it to arrive so I did some research as to why this mights have happened and found that it can happen if the earth is not earthed properly so I checked my earth and found that I have somehow placed it under the rocker cover screw at the back so I have moved it to under the last bolt at the back that holds the plate for the coilpacks.

Is this what caused my issues or is it still only part of the issue? Thoughts?

Thanks