1983 spider won't start

[smokey14]

I have a motor from a 1982 and i cleaned it up and put new rings and pistons in and put it in the car. I checked all the timing marks and it started right up. After it ran for a while and smoke started coming from the exhaust manifold. I took the cam housing off, sealed the manifold studs and put it back together with a different cam housing. the car won't start. I checked the spark it was ok, I checked fuel it was good to the fuel rail. when I was checking the fuel I had vacuumed the the fuel pressure regulator down and I had the fuel hose sticking in a milk jug and when I turned the key the car started and ran for about 30 seconds. Any ideas will be appreciated. Thanks.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

It sounds like your cam timing is off, so that would be the first thing I'd check. If your exhaust cam is off, your ignition timing may be as well since the distributor is driven by the exhaust cam.

By the way, some smoke from the exhaust manifold is "normal" upon startup of a new engine. Any oil or grease on the manifold, including the oil from your hands, will cause some smoke but it typically burns off in a minute or two of running.

-Bryan

[smokey14]

I know my timing is set correctly all marks are on point, the smoke did not start until the engine heated up and ran for a while. the thing that puzzles me is if the timing is right and it is getting gas and spark why won't it start. thanks for responding all help is appreciated.

[smokey14]

I have another auxillary air regulator and I changed them out and the car keeps trying to start but just chugs along for a few seconds and wont quite kick over.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Several common "no start" issues with the fuel injection (in no particular order):

1) Leaking air duct, the one from the air filter box to the throttle body. These have to be completely free of air leaks for the engine to work properly.

2) Bad Coolant Temperature Sender (CTS), the one in the thermostat elbow housing (not the ones on the cylinder head; those are for the temperature gauge). It's also fairly common for the electrical connector to go bad (or just be loose).

3) Bad Cold Start Injector. Usually with a metal and blue plastic body, this injector is in the front of the air plenum.

4) Sticking air vane in the air flow meter (AFM). This is the component between the air filter housing and the air duct.

-Bryan

[smokey14]

Thanks for the info I will check them out, meanwhile I got her to start by tweaking the distributer and cranking it for a while. It ran rough at a low idle and when I gave it gas she revved right up.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Great! I'd have to say that incorrect ignition timing is one of the most common causes of engine issues. Just for reference, turning the distributor clockwise retards the timing, and counterclockwise advances it. A half inch of rotation on the outer circumference is about 20 degrees.

Advance the timing a bit (counterclockwise) and see what that gets you. Finishing off with a timing light is best.

-Bryan

[smokey14]

I got the book by Brad Artique and in it he mentions the cap on the charcoal canister being missing as causing a problem. Mine was missing so I did what he suggested and made a small plug and drilled a small hole in it and the car started on the first try.