engine not starting after a7 swap

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Tue May 21, 2013 10:00 pm

You can only jam it in if it's 180 degrees out I think as the two teeth are slightly offset. It should be a nice fit the correct way.

h10ndr · Post by **h10ndr** » Wed May 22, 2013 12:38 am

Erm, you cant use the ATR distributor as a replacement for the 4th Gen as its missing the TDC sensor (1 plug not 2 plug distributor), unless the engine wiring has been altered to still use the A7's crank sensor down near the oil pump/crank pulley.

Obviously the car drove away from PAW fine, with a working distributor. If it has failed since, and you have swapped in an ATR distributor in place of a 4th Gen distributor then it wont work. But, you can swap the coil from the ATR distributor to your original to try get it going again. (I've done that before).

The teeth on the dist. are offset and cant be inserted the wrong way. However, if the drive gear has been removed and then put back on, it can be 180* out of timing then. (I've done that myself). You must mark the distributor gear and shaft (center punch) before you remove the drive gear so it goes back on the correct way.

bristol_bb4 · Post by **bristol_bb4** » Wed May 22, 2013 6:30 am

Yeah I double checked the orientation of the rotor arm when I fit it,

Its started to turn over funny aswell, bit of an odd description but it kiNd of 'spins' rather than 'pulses' when I turn the key

Preparing for the worst

ill definitely have to break it if the engines gone already lol

FrontBackSide2Side · Post by **FrontBackSide2Side** » Wed May 22, 2013 6:46 am

I would definitely contact PAW if it happened so soon after the engine swap. As people have said they have an excellent reputation but people can still make mistakes or if its nothing to do with the work they have done I dare say Rich will be able to point you in the right direction. I'm sure he would want to know anyway if its happened on the way home from there.

LewisH · Post by **LewisH** » Wed May 22, 2013 8:05 am

I agree with frontbackside2side mate, contact paw. I would of done almost immediately to be honest. Just to see if he has any clue as to what's going on

bristol_bb4 · Post by **bristol_bb4** » Wed May 22, 2013 8:25 am

I have been in touch with rich he's suggested a few things and been very helpful but I want to try and sort it my end before I have to trailor it back to him because I'm so tight on spare time

PerformanceAutoworks · Post by **PerformanceAutoworks** » Wed May 22, 2013 9:09 am

Steve,
I tried ringing you back again last night but got no reply so left a message. I don't carry my mobile around with me at work so had no idea you had rung until I got home!!
You are far better off ringing the work line 01285 711733 during hours as we can actually hear that one

I'll give your mobile another try this morning

Just to clear some stuff up here....

The car has an ATR engine fitted but it is all converted to run with 4th gen dizzy, 4th gen injectors and is running on a chipped Prelude ECU with Apexi VAFC which has been tuned to suit the motor.
The engine had a number of "issues" we we had to rectify before it could even be fitted, but once done the car was running 100% perfect during the road testing and tuning.
Ste has already been in touch and we have been trying to work through some possible causes such as the dizzy and a few other possibles.

Ste - if you are getting a code for the TDC sensor then that is actually in the dizzy itself so it's either a faulty dizzy or a wiring fault to the dizzy. You can still get a spark from a faulty dizzy but it's just not happening at the right time or it is not strong enough.

I know you said that the dizzy was "known working" but I had seen this many times where a good dizzy sits for a while unused and then fails when swapped into a car and is asked to work again.

As I said to you on the phone, I am trying to help and if it is something to do with our work or any of the parts we supplied then I will put my hands up and correct it...no question!!.
With so many unknowns about the engine it is a little worrying and of course we can only check over a motor so far without fully stripping it. The faults it had (which we rectified) would not be the cause of this issue but to me from your descriptions I still suspect an electrical issue.

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Wed May 22, 2013 9:34 am

h10ndr wrote:Erm, you cant use the ATR distributor as a replacement for the 4th Gen as its missing the TDC sensor (1 plug not 2 plug distributor), unless the engine wiring has been altered to still use the A7's crank sensor down near the oil pump/crank pulley.

Obviously the car drove away from PAW fine, with a working distributor. If it has failed since, and you have swapped in an ATR distributor in place of a 4th Gen distributor then it wont work. But, you can swap the coil from the ATR distributor to your original to try get it going again. (I've done that before).

It is a 4th gen dizzy he's using, but as Rich suggested it's been sat for 6 months, so although it worked perfectly could still be at fault I guess.

bristol_bb4 · Post by **bristol_bb4** » Wed May 22, 2013 10:07 am

Thanks for that rich, I just wanna make it clear that I'm not faulting your work in the slghtest, as I said above I just wanna avoid bringing it back if I can.

Thanks again for everything mate

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed May 22, 2013 10:22 am

Just out of interest since it's been mentioned several times over a few threads, care to share what the problems were with that engine?

Lude Generation

engine not starting after a7 swap

Re: TDC sensor code thrown after a7 swap