Car won't start, engine turns over but won't turn on.

Hello G2iC,

I was hoping some of you gurus might be able to help me out. I put a B20B into my 1990 DB1 and the car won’t start. The engine turns over but never fires up. The battery is good and I can hear the starter turning the motor. I put a test light between each spark plug wire and spark plug to make sure the ignition system is working and brand new NGK spark plugs gapped to .044, brand new cap and rotor. I am using my stock distributor to keep it obd0. I flushed my fuel injectors to make sure they are not clogged and put all new seals. I read the main relay/fuel pump relay tend to go bad so I took it out and resoldered all of the points and it still does the same thing. Last thing I tried was to loosen the fuel line that goes into the fuel filter and when I turn the key to the on position fuel does not come out of that line. Does that mean the fuel pump, sending unit, or main relay is bad? What should I try next to get it running. Also I tried spraying some starting fluid into the throttle body while held open and the car turns over and starts but dies right away once the fuel source runs out. I tried listening to the main relay when the key is turned on and I hear it click and then a second or two later click again. Thanks for your help!

Sorry this was a mistake posting in this thread…but you can check your grounds, its easy and poor connections can cause many issues…I dont have other advice sorry…i believe the fuel pump grounds with the main relay behind thermostat, could be wrong

MAke sure that the timing belt is not snapped. Remove the distributer cap and make sure it is spinning when the starter is turning. If it is not spinning your belt is snapped and you should not attempt to start it again before it is fixed otherwise you will bend the valves ( if they are not bent already).

I will double check the grounds, thank you.

Timing belt is not snapped. I will check what you said but I have spark so I assume it is spinning.

as mentioned, check your grounds. specifically the t stat ground cluster. check all your fuses. don’t eyeball. use your test light. if those 2 check out, access the fuel pump connector and check for voltage at the connector with the key on

Have a extra main relay and a extra resistor box to double chek. To see if one of those are bad I just had this issue on my daily it turned out to be bad wiring but I wouldn’t of found that out if I didn’t swap new starter, alternator, grounds, fuses, resistor box, and fuel pump but nice now I don’t have to worry about those parts goin bad double check and re check could be something so simple your overlookin it like a tranny ground, or Tstat ground

You said in your first post you do not have fuel pressure. The car will not run until it gets fuel
What you should be looking at is why the pump does not run when the key is turned on. Is it getting voltage to the fuel pump ( fuses , main fuel relay , ECU , open ground’s ) these are things you may want to check.

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone. I haven’t been able to work on the car yet but I plan to this weekend. I will be sure to check all of the grounds and try to figure out why the fuel pump isnt turning on. I hope I dont have to replace it, it doesn’t sound like fun.

I was able to look at my car today and I followed the step by step guide in the service manual for the PGM-FI Relay and it is functioning properly. It is also supplying power to the fuel pump so all grounds and fuses are correct. It says that I need to replace the fuel pump so that is what I am going to do. Since money is tight (I have been unemployed since July '14) I was looking at getting this pump from ebay; http://www.ebay.com/itm/331270269288?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT would this be a good one to go with or would this one be better? http://www.ebay.com/itm/181309328484?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Walbro is a good pump either one should work for you

Good luck

I ended up buying the more expensive one, the genuine one. I put that in yesterday with the help of a friend and the car starts up now. Just noticed I had one coolant line under the intake manifold near the thermostat housing that didnt have the hose clamp on it so it leaked a little coolant. Also the fuel feed line into the fuel filter had a slight leak on it so I am going to get new seals for that. Now to finish up a couple things like tie rod ends and replace the cut springs and get a new windshield and it should be ready to go, for now. Many other things I want to do to it but need to get a job first.