engine in and having trouble!!

[rusty_mazda]

I finally put my engine back in and wanted to drive it to work (in spite of what my girlfriend said). well when i got there it died. i thought battery or alternator, so i bought an optima red top thinking it would have enough juice to crank and get me home. i finally got it started but had a hard time keeping it running. it started sputtering and bogging down, so with my usual luck get stopped at a red light, and gear down, hold the clutch, give it gas so it doesn't bogg, and use the e-brake to slow and stop, but it ends up dying anyways. now it won't turn over. gas has been sitting inthe car for 6 months with no gas treatment ( i know) so i'm wondering if it's somehow clogged my injectors. any help is appreciated, and thanks to everyone in advance

 

[mp3josh]

it kinda sounds like your alternator gave out on you. You may have ruined your optima in the process. Take the alternator off and take it to Autozone or what ever place will test it for free and see if it is the problem.

 

[sam1]

sounds like it could be the maf also. check your intake too. mine sputtered like that when my intake popped off my thottlebody because someone didnt tighten it back down after playing with the intake

 

[Black_Protege_5]

Well what kind of work was done to the motor. If your have complete dissasembled it it could be many things. Your timing could be off or there is a vacuum leak and many other things.

 

[rusty_mazda]

i think my problem is that i used the original head bolts and the head gasket didn't make a good seal, so now i feel like a big jackass!

 

[wicked]

i think my problem is that i used the original head bolts and the head gasket didn't make a good seal, so now i feel like a big jackass!

I doubt that,if they were properly torqued from the factory,and this is the first time your reusing them,and you torqued them right you should be fine.

 

[Black_Protege_5]

Yea I highly doubt your headstuds are that worn. You might just have a vacuum leak.

 

[Installshield 2]

I vote vacuum leak also...9/10 that is the cause of newly installed engines stalling constantly...check every single one, even though some of them have nothing to do with idling (wouldn't want the break booster to fail also just because it wasn't checked as well)...they are not the strongest of tubing...a leak usually occurs at the end of the tube, tearing slightly around the nipple when you install it...that is most likely all it is...

this also is assuming it ran fine once it was higher in revs...and that is would simply fall past idle and stall out...

 

[rusty_mazda]

i know it's not sealed good because coolant is getting inthe cylinder and oil is spitting out between the head and block. i used a torque wrench and torqued to 13-19 ft/lbs, so i'm not so sure what went wrong, but i decided to order some arp studs and i'll be sure to check for vacuum leaks as well.

 

[TheMAN]

you need to read the manual more carefully! the head bolts are far from tight!

 

[xelderx]

^^^^


Yep...13-16 ft-lbs, but then you need to turn each bolt 90 degrees in sequence and then another 90 degrees in sequence.

 

[Dimitrios]

You may as well used your fingers to tighten them. Are you sure you didn't reference N-m for the torque values instead of ft-lbs?

 

[TheMAN]

ok tell you what... since you had trouble putting the motor together to begin with a couple of months ago, I advise you to stop wasting time and get the car to the shop and let the pros take care of it... you did try to fix it yourself but it's clear at this point that this is way above your league

 

[Black_Protege_5]

Yea 13-16lbs of touque is way too lose for the head. After the 90 degree turn it is more like 40lbs of torque each. There is your leak and all of your other problems.

I would also suggest getting it done at a shop or atleast someone who knows what they are doing to help. If you were close I would. Also make sure the head hasn't twisted. If you don't remove the head bolts in proper order the head will warp due to the pressure.

 

[Glowspeedp5]

ok tell you what... since you had trouble putting the motor together to begin with a couple of months ago, I advise you to stop wasting time and get the car to the shop and let the pros take care of it... you did try to fix it yourself but it's clear at this point that this is way above your league

LOL Pros......

I took my car to Ferman Mazda about 4 months ago for a ticking noise on the bottom of the engine.. I advise them its the bearings. They looked at me and just laughed... They re did my head meaning valves on exhaust side and intake..... Call me still making noise. Its the intake. They told me. I said no it sounds like bearings... Chris we have our best guy on the job.. 3 weeks later oh we found the problem your bearings are bad.... Moral of the story car now smokes when it did not smoke when I took it in with bad bearings.... So Pros. I do not think so......Maybe at dodging wrenches.....

 

[TheMAN]

there's bad shops and there's good shops, just like good dealers and bad dealers... that's a fact of life

 

[rusty_mazda]

ya'll were deffinatly rite about the torque specs, and i got those from a local shop. maybe theywere talking about the valve train. anyways i bought an old haynes manual hoping it would help some, and sure enough the head bolt torques were around 50. oh yeah, (the man) the reason for doing it myself was to learn about it and to save money cause the shops around here want 600 bucks to swap the gasket and i don't have it.

 

[Black_Protege_5]

Well time to rip everything apart again. How fun huh?

 

[Maz2001MP]

i think my problem is that i used the original head bolts and the head gasket didn't make a good seal, so now i feel like a big jackass!

Generally new head bolts are recommended due to the fact the bolts stretch and become slightly distorted after while. Good luck though!!

 

[Dimitrios]

ya'll were deffinatly rite about the torque specs, and i got those from a local shop. maybe theywere talking about the valve train. anyways i bought an old haynes manual hoping it would help some, and sure enough the head bolt torques were around 50. oh yeah, (the man) the reason for doing it myself was to learn about it and to save money cause the shops around here want 600 bucks to swap the gasket and i don't have it.

"Around 50"? You need to be certain on things like that. Nothing wrong with DIY, unless you're doing it wrong.....