Help pls - Swapped engine, now wont start

Hi,

Well I managed to net my replacement engine in last week (first engine swap ) but it doesn't want to start  

I've checked, rechecked and triple checked the timing and I'm sure it all lines up correctly (cylinder 1 valves both shut at TDC, marks aligned on intermediate and crank pulleys) and I've tried rotating the distributor at various angles but she wont fire although I've heard the odd pop pop pop as though it's trying to.

The car was running fine before the swap so I know the fuel & ignition bits are all ok. I can here the fuel pump and smell fuel from the engine. I haven't put any coolant in yet but can't see that would make any difference?

Anything I could have missed? Any tricks for getting the timing in the right ball park? Could it be flooded from the repeated attempts to start it?

As always any help would be much appreciated.

Some more info:

Checked compression - reading 12ish on all 4 cylinders.

Hooked up my timing light to the HT lead for cylinder 1 and rotated the distributor until the strope lit the TDC mark. Checked all HT leads for spark.

Turned over for ages but still no joy (got the odd pop pop from the inlet but never sounded like starting.

In desperation squired some easy start in the inlet and got an almight back fire which frightened my gf who was turning the key for me!

Really scratching my head now :cry: Do any 1.8 models fire different to 1-3-4-2 ?? I checked the rotor - it definitely goes clockwise.

if you were closer i'd come take a look, firing order is the same on all the 1.6/1.8 engines 8v engines.

It sounds like a spark problem to me - it sounds like you've done some extensive tests, but maybe you've missed something really obvious along the way :dontknow:

I take it the rotor arm and dizzy cap are the correct ones, the spark plugs are in good nick, the leads are correct for the spark plugs (some require you to screw on a little part on the end of the plug to make the connection), you've numbered the cylinders correctly (1 next to cambelt, 4 nearest gearbox), the ignition amplifier is plugged in and working, all the connetions to the coil are clean and firmly home, etc?

Just trying to think of stuff that's easy to overlook…

HTH

Rich

i am off that way shortly let us know rob

Thanks to volkswarren and Rich for the replies and especially to Rob for his offer to help.

Right this is a tad embarrassing ops: but I felt I ought to post the cause of the non-starting up…

OK there's no point putting it off, I was 180 deg out on what I thought was the 'business' end of the rotor arm ops:  ops:  ops:  ops:

In my defense the rotor arm is kind of symmetrical with a counter weight opposite the business end!

Just need to fix the loud squealing noise (water pump I think, will see if it does it with the belt off) and the flashing oil light (based on my earlier mistakes I've probably swapped the two sensor wires )

Cheers
Duncan

its just a learning curve!

Quality! Glad to hear it's running again…

Rich

Hmm won't make that mistake again!

The squealing noise was the alternator which I've swapped for an old one that doesn't charge very well, just for the time being.

Also sorted out the flashing oil light - it was the pressure sensor on the cylinder head (useful having the old engine handy for bits).

Tonight I'll tackle the small coolant leak and take it for a quick spin.

Also I think there's a misfire although I haven't set the timing properly yet.