Engine Swap Woes

[Cal3thousand]

1) Took my Oddyssey PC1200 to the battery store and got it charged... The guy said it returned a 12.8v reading and tested at 510 cca. Being that it was originally rated at 510 cca, it seemed good to me.

Got it back to the car, one round of weak cranking (same symptoms and sounds as before), and its back down to 12.3v.

Do you think my battery gave up the ghost? I bought the damn thing almost 2 years ago and its only discharged down this low once before. If you didn't know, Odyssey is a high performance AGM battery supposedly able to take multiple deep discharges and still survive.

I'm also very interested in getting a new battery charger / tender / starter / reconditioner. So far, my choice will be this one:

Black & Decker VEC1093DBD Smart Battery 40/20/10/4 Amp Battery Charger

2) I checked all my wiring and ground wiring (I upgraded to home swedged welding cable for the Big 3) and they are fine. I'm going to take my starter and battery to Autozone for testing tonight.

Q1: Anyone have feedback on battery tenders / jumper boxes and the like? What Brand do you like and what features are important?

( I know I should probably start a new thread... will do if I don't get enough bites)

Q2: Anyone use AGM batteries or something else that you prefer?

[Keaton85]

If I was going to buy any commercial battery maintainer I would go with a BatteryMINDER This has the only true desulfator that I know on the main stream commercial market. Building your own is the best but that's a lot of work! Keep in mind though, that even if you leave a battery on a tender/trickle charger for long periods of time you can still get dendrite build up. This is easy to solve by shorting the battery out quickly or putting a high amperage load on the battery for a short period of time.

Your, AGM is probably fine, although if you just try another battery then you can rule it out. even cranking slowly it should start without issue if everything is working.

[Cal3thousand]

If I was going to buy any commercial battery maintainer I would go with a BatteryMINDER This has the only true desulfator that I know on the main stream commercial market. Building your own is the best but that's a lot of work! Keep in mind though, that even if you leave a battery on a tender/trickle charger for long periods of time you can still get dendrite build up. This is easy to solve by shorting the battery out quickly or putting a high amperage load on the battery for a short period of time.

Your, AGM is probably fine, although if you just try another battery then you can rule it out. even cranking slowly it should start without issue if everything is working.

That's what I was thinking... that this crank seems strange... I've had weak batteries that have cranked better. I imagine that trying to crank the seized motor just put my starter (probably the original) over the edge.

[Reximus]

Q1: Anyone have feedback on battery tenders / jumper boxes and the like? What Brand do you like and what features are important?

( I know I should probably start a new thread... will do if I don't get enough bites)

Q2: Anyone use AGM batteries or something else that you prefer?

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/2/DriveWinter/BatteriesAndAccessories/BatteryChargers/PRDOVR~0111522P/CTEK%252BMulti-use%252B3300%252B3.3A%252BBattery%252BCharger.jsp?locale=en

here is something that i get from the local autozone equivalent store in Canada. it's called Ctek 3300 multi-use battery charger. it has desulfate function built in. my brother has brought back a 6 year old dead battery to near new level. as to battery brand, i don't know what's available in the US, but here, i know we have got customers that uses interstate batteries, they last a very very long time... such as 7 years. recently there has a new record of 8 years i don't know how they do it, but it's good :lol:

[Account_Deleted_T5M]

Are ALL the grounds hooked up? Skipped through the thread, but i've never done a motor swap and not have it start up first try. The only issue i had once was i had to prime the fuel pump, it cranked and cranked, but until i pumped the gas to prime it into the motor it wouldn't start.

If its cranking its not starter related, if it clicked then its starter or low battery.

Your Battery is fine, somethings not getting juice from the battery, check that the ground is connect to the block next to the transmission, its runs from the negative side of the battery to the block

[Cal3thousand]

Are ALL the grounds hooked up? Skipped through the thread, but i've never done a motor swap and not have it start up first try. The only issue i had once was i had to prime the fuel pump, it cranked and cranked, but until i pumped the gas to prime it into the motor it wouldn't start.

If its cranking its not starter related, if it clicked then its starter or low battery.

Your Battery is fine, somethings not getting juice from the battery, check that the ground is connect to the block next to the transmission, its runs from the negative side of the battery to the block

Checked again and all the grounds look fine. I didn't touch the chassis to battery during the swap. I reconnected the tranny ground tight. And the firewall grounds and good.

Took my starter out and went to Autozone for a check up but their machine was down. <_<

[Account_Deleted_T5M]

Checked again and all the grounds look fine. I didn't touch the chassis to battery during the swap. I reconnected the tranny ground tight. And the firewall grounds and good.

Took my starter out and went to Autozone for a check up but their machine was down.

If your starter was bad, it would either or if it was not engaging on the flywheel you would just hear it it spin freely.

Car is getting fueling right, but not spark. Check for fuel pressure.

Have you checked for SPARK, by pulling a wire and grounding it to the block?

[Reximus]

Checked again and all the grounds look fine. I didn't touch the chassis to battery during the swap. I reconnected the tranny ground tight. And the firewall grounds and good.

Took my starter out and went to Autozone for a check up but their machine was down.

do you have another set of known good camshaft position sensor and crankshaft position sensor? maybe try that and see what happens? with either of those sensor out, the engine will not start.

[Cal3thousand]

If your starter was bad, it would either or if it was not engaging on the flywheel you would just hear it it spin freely.

Car is getting fueling right, but not spark. Check for fuel pressure.

Have you checked for SPARK, by pulling a wire and grounding it to the block?

Its a super weak crank... whether a semi discharged battery, fully charged battery, or jumped by another car. All the same type of cranking. Anyhow, I'm going to take my starter to another autozone and find out.

It's been wet here in Cali and I don't get home at a decent enough hour to get anyone out to check spark when I crank it. But even with spark, I don't think the engine is getting enough speed for proper starting compression anyhow.

do you have another set of known good camshaft position sensor and crankshaft position sensor? maybe try that and see what happens? with either of those sensor out, the engine will not start.

I don't have another set. Going to test the starter, if that fails, I might start throwing some JY sensors at it.

[Reximus]

Its a super weak crank... whether a semi discharged battery, fully charged battery, or jumped by another car. All the same type of cranking. Anyhow, I'm going to take my starter to another autozone and find out.

It's been wet here in Cali and I don't get home at a decent enough hour to get anyone out to check spark when I crank it. But even with spark, I don't think the engine is getting enough speed for proper starting compression anyhow.

I don't have another set. Going to test the starter, if that fails, I might start throwing some JY sensors at it.

sorry to ask so many questions, just trying to help you figure something out....

while you have a slow crank, what sort of noise is it making? and also if you take out all the spark plugs, could you turn the engine on the crankshaft with the 30mm bolt freely with very little resistance?

[Cal3thousand]

sorry to ask so many questions, just trying to help you figure something out....

while you have a slow crank, what sort of noise is it making? and also if you take out all the spark plugs, could you turn the engine on the crankshaft with the 30mm bolt freely with very little resistance?

Engine turns by hand freely... even with plugs in.

Just went to Autozone and put the starter on the tester and scared the piss out of the girl running the test after it threw a huge spark. (I was surprised, but she gave me better help than all the dudes I've seen at Autozone in the last 2 years)

So I bit the bullet and actually bought that duralast rebuilt starter. I hate buying stuff there, but they had it in stock and it came with a lifetime warranty. I inspected it and it doesn't look that bad. It should last in the mild So Cal weather.

I'll install tonight and hopefully have good news to report back.

[jdlc]

Engine turns by hand freely... even with plugs in.

Just went to Autozone and put the starter on the tester and scared the piss out of the girl running the test after it threw a huge spark. (I was surprised, but she gave me better help than all the dudes I've seen at Autozone in the last 2 years)

So I bit the bullet and actually bought that duralast rebuilt starter. I hate buying stuff there, but they had it in stock and it came with a lifetime warranty. I inspected it and it doesn't look that bad. It should last in the mild So Cal weather.

I'll install tonight and hopefully have good news to report back.

I' surprised your replacement engine did not come with CPS, CKPS, and starter!

[Cal3thousand]

I' surprised your replacement engine did not come with CPS, CKPS, and starter!

It didn't come with anything... it was just the long block for 600 bucks. No turbo, no sensors, no hoses....

Actually i lied... it came with an intake mani, fuel rail and injectors, and throttle body and PCV. but no starter and nothing on the back side.

[Reximus]

It didn't come with anything... it was just the long block for 600 bucks. No turbo, no sensors, no hoses....

Actually i lied... it came with an intake mani, fuel rail and injectors, and throttle body and PCV. but no starter and nothing on the back side.

well, install the starter first then see what happens after that. keep us posted :D

[Gilhuly]

Have you done basic verification of spark and fuel? Are you getting spark at the plugs? It sounds like you may need to do some boring, basic diagnostics. After air, spark and fuel, verify physically that timing is correct. Good luck with this. You'll get it figured out.