Flapjack
Lunatic engine swapper
So after more than a year of sitting around and ignoring my car because I was so pissed off at it, I decided to call MMR and see if they'd warranty the engine that was knocking. Not sure why it went, but a main bearing came apart and made a nice groove in the crankshaft and chewed up the rod a bit. MMR was awesome. They refreshed the engine... new rings, bearings, crankshaft, and replaced the rod, but only charged me shipping. Very happy with them as of late.
Anyways, as always seems to happen with me, on the first startup, the cam timing was off. It always seems to want to jump a tooth when it starts. It's driving me crazy. Especially since the turbo flange on the driver's side prevents the valve cover from coming off, so the header has to come off on that side, which means the engine has to be lifted, which means the intake has to come off, etc. I've tried the garden sprayer trick before, and that doesn't help. Mark at MMR recommended not doing that, as he said it rarely helps, and it flushes the pre-assembly lube that is important for the first startup. Anyways...
On the first startup, the engine initially sounded good. After it had warmed up a bit, it stumbled and stalled out. Subsequent starts were harder, and required the pedal all the way down/throttle wide open to start.... probably the cylinders washed with fuel. That's when I did the compression test and found it to be about 40psi off on each side.
I took the car apart removed the valve covers. The cams were off by two teeth on each side. I re-timed them, then put it back together enough to do a compression test, which looked great. I continued working until I have it all back together and ready to start.
I started it up, only to have it behave the same way... stumbling, running rich, and stalling if I don't keep giving it gas. This time, however, it threw a wrench light. There were no CELs tripped, so I restarted it and tried to keep it running. Within a few seconds, a CEL for P0345 (bank 2 cam position sensor) went off. I cleared it, but it came right back. No other codes have tripped.
Now before everyone says "it's your alternator", I have a few inputs. One, it was working perfectly before I R&R'd the engine. Also, the alternator seems to 100% of the time trip P0340/P0344... not P0345, which indicates the circuit itself is not working (PCM sees no input from CMP).
I have two brand new CMP sensors that I bought and never needed, so I replaced them and got the exact same behavior. I checked the CMP harness/plug and couldn't find anything wrong. I also checked to make sure the CKP sensor was plugged in snug. I checked all the coil packs to make sure they were seated and plugged in. I also redid the compression test (scared to death it would be off again), but it was right where it usually is for this altitude (140-150psi with a dry test at 7400ft altitude).
I did pull the alternator to check at AutoZone/O'Reilly's on the way home, but I'm not holding my breath. My gut tells me it has something to do with one of the two wires between the harness plug and the PCM, but I can't find anything cut or pinched.
I've thought about ohm'ing out the wires, as well as possibly getting a cheap oscilloscope to see if they are triggering at different times, which might indicate the camshaft toner ring is off. But I doubt that is it, as the timing marks lined up correctly, and the compression seems good on each side.
Anything I'm missing?
**EDIT**
I forgot to add, I have no cam phasers/solenoids. They are completely removed/blocked out using the block plates from the 3v V10.
Anyways, as always seems to happen with me, on the first startup, the cam timing was off. It always seems to want to jump a tooth when it starts. It's driving me crazy. Especially since the turbo flange on the driver's side prevents the valve cover from coming off, so the header has to come off on that side, which means the engine has to be lifted, which means the intake has to come off, etc. I've tried the garden sprayer trick before, and that doesn't help. Mark at MMR recommended not doing that, as he said it rarely helps, and it flushes the pre-assembly lube that is important for the first startup. Anyways...
On the first startup, the engine initially sounded good. After it had warmed up a bit, it stumbled and stalled out. Subsequent starts were harder, and required the pedal all the way down/throttle wide open to start.... probably the cylinders washed with fuel. That's when I did the compression test and found it to be about 40psi off on each side.
I took the car apart removed the valve covers. The cams were off by two teeth on each side. I re-timed them, then put it back together enough to do a compression test, which looked great. I continued working until I have it all back together and ready to start.
I started it up, only to have it behave the same way... stumbling, running rich, and stalling if I don't keep giving it gas. This time, however, it threw a wrench light. There were no CELs tripped, so I restarted it and tried to keep it running. Within a few seconds, a CEL for P0345 (bank 2 cam position sensor) went off. I cleared it, but it came right back. No other codes have tripped.
Now before everyone says "it's your alternator", I have a few inputs. One, it was working perfectly before I R&R'd the engine. Also, the alternator seems to 100% of the time trip P0340/P0344... not P0345, which indicates the circuit itself is not working (PCM sees no input from CMP).
I have two brand new CMP sensors that I bought and never needed, so I replaced them and got the exact same behavior. I checked the CMP harness/plug and couldn't find anything wrong. I also checked to make sure the CKP sensor was plugged in snug. I checked all the coil packs to make sure they were seated and plugged in. I also redid the compression test (scared to death it would be off again), but it was right where it usually is for this altitude (140-150psi with a dry test at 7400ft altitude).
I did pull the alternator to check at AutoZone/O'Reilly's on the way home, but I'm not holding my breath. My gut tells me it has something to do with one of the two wires between the harness plug and the PCM, but I can't find anything cut or pinched.
I've thought about ohm'ing out the wires, as well as possibly getting a cheap oscilloscope to see if they are triggering at different times, which might indicate the camshaft toner ring is off. But I doubt that is it, as the timing marks lined up correctly, and the compression seems good on each side.
Anything I'm missing?
**EDIT**
I forgot to add, I have no cam phasers/solenoids. They are completely removed/blocked out using the block plates from the 3v V10.
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