I bought a front cut of a 97 Sti from Japan and I am planning to use this drivetrain in a rally car that I am building. I will be doing a swap and a conversion to LHD so I wanted to start the engine and make sure it worked before I chop any wires. Car was in the accident and had broken cam wheel. I ordered a new wheel and belt. When I replaced it I was happy to find out that valves were not bent and compression is good. I attached a fuel tank and I tried to start it, but it won't start. I have good fuel pressure and I checked all injectors. The only thing is that spark is a lot stronger on left side vs right.

I swapped coil and ignition module with one from my US Spec 98 Rs Impreza but it did not help with the spark problem.

When I crank it it almost wants to start but it dies.

I could not locate OBD II connector on it so I did not test for codes.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.
thanks
Greg

Not sure if this will help but here goes....

1. Check that you have the spark plugs hooked up in the correct firing order and that you have setup the timing correctly.
2. Ensure that there is no "hidden" immobiliser(s) in the loom.
3. I had a similar problem after servicing the airflow meter. To get my car started, I hooked up a massive landrover battery and cranked it over for ages. It finally "misfired" into life with the biggest black cloud of smoke and then settled down!

If the battery has been left disconnected for a while, then the ECU may have reset, therefore any OBDII codes would be lost.

Skid

I am pretty sure about timing. We also checked spark, injectors and fuel pressure.

Greg

You may have fuel pressure, but have you taken a plug out, cranked it over and see if you can smell fuel? The alternative is to remove each injector in turn and check that fuel is being ejected (careful, since the pressure is high enough to penetrate skin - wear eye protection!). If you have fuel and a spark then it should start unless the timing is wrong. My friend had a similar problem and it turned out to be the injector relay! I expect you've checked the fuses too? Good Luck!

Ok I had a mechanic over last night and he had a load of diag tools with him.

Here is what my problem is.
I have good fuel pressure, compression, injectors are OK and timing belt is OK.

The problem is that spark occurs in the wrong moment for some reason. I replaced can and crank sensors, coil and a little module that controls the coil. EX. cylinder 1 we had a spark when piston was going down with exhaust valves open.

Any ideas why?

sounds like you have the firing order incorrect. are the leads on the correct plugs ? Either that or there is some other problem related to the fact the timing belt has been off.

We tested spark from 4 coil leads and none of them was for TDC on cyl. 1

It is really strange.

Greg

If the spark is happening "after" it should, then the ignition is too far retarded and needs advancing so that it happens at Top Dead Centre with inlet/outlet valves closed.

The only way I know of doing this is to adjust the distributor, however, I am unsure how you do this on the Subaru - on all the other cars I've worked on, you would slacken the mounting bolt and twist the distributor body a small amount (can anyone else help here?).

Skid.

Greg

I would expect the spark to happen a little before TDC. However, if the sparks don't correspond at all then you must have the timing set up incorrect.

Ken

Got it working. It was just a cut wire.

Thanks
Greg