Alright guys, I got my 240sx. Unfortunately everything in the engine bay was disconnected, there was no radiator and or battery. I precede to purchase the battery and hook everything up and all of the lights turn on. I try and crank the car over and it's a no go, the second attempt I try it and a small flame shoots out from the front of the passenger side, I step out and look on the ground and it is now covered with oil. Is my engine now completely dead? and should I be looking for an SR20? or can I still fix this engine for a fraction of the cost, and just swap another engine later on when the engine completely dies?

 

Why was everything disconnected?

 

I am not sure exactly why everything was disconnected. I got the car for $1200 and towed it back to my house, the body is in really good shape the main reason I got it was to do either an SR swap or 2jz but I was just tinkering with it to see if I could get the original engine to run.

 

They may have been in the process of pulling out the engine.

So does the engine not crank over at all now? As for the flame I have NO idea. If the air filter tube & everything is hooked up....I would be worried. Could be a injector spraying fuel..umm hell I cant really tell ya. As for the oil..could be the filter or housing may be just loose.
As for cost comparison. A used engine can be had for as little as $100. A rebuild will run ya around $700..if the block & head are good.


Humm..it is possible the small flame could be electrical? or wa sit like a backfire type of flame?

 

Did it blow a hole in the block?

 

I am not sure if I got a hole in the block, I doubt it. After that incident and the oil that spilled out I have not checked to see if it'll turn over. but I may as well look for an engine.

 

did you locate the source of the oil?

 

Alright, surprisingly the engine was fine since it was so cold the oil had frozen and since it didn't have an oil cap the oil spilled out. Now the engine turns over but for some reason the idle is funny like it feels like it wants to turn off, and if I push down the gas pedal it'll be fine, but once I take it off it's the same thing. Also sometimes to turn it on I have to push the gas down in order for it to turn on. any suggestions on what is still wrong?

 

frozen oil? never heard of that happening. anyway, your idleing problem is prob a bad injector.

 

??????????
Oil doesn't freeze it just becomes more viscous at start up the colder it gets...

 

the only way your oil would freeze is if it has water in it and even then it would not freeze it would just be clumpy and milky. if this is the case your looking at a rebuild due to blown head gasket or cracked head or even worse timing chain rubbed and broke through the oil chamber.

 

The funny thing is when I towed it home, It didn't have an oil cap for the underbody oil pan and it never leaked anything until I left it in the garage for an hour and then tried starting it.

 

it probably had oil in the oil filter and when you tried to start it the oil from the filter went into the oil pan and leaked out. Was it just a little amount of oil or a lot?

 

the flame could be a backfire through the intake.

Your distributor could be way off.

Check the timing.

also, change the oil and filter before you try to restart it, and check your vacuum lines.

If you have the idle air control hose from the air intake (before the throttle body) disconnected, it won't idle for doo-doo, because it can't meter the air.