First start….help needed

[elfrey]

Hi all,

Trying to start my Blueprint 302 (306). Engine ran on Dyno at Forte Parts connection early fall.

I have a sniper 2, using Holley PDM. I have 58 PSI at the regulator. The pump runs at start and I can see gas splashing as the engine rotates.

The PDM also powers the ECU. I have the Orange wire to the + terminal on the coil. My distributor is from Blueprint no CD. Yellow wire to - terminal on coil. I also tried to run with battery power directly to coil.

Gone through the Sniper setup and confirmed all values and look correct. I had a low voltage condition identified by Holley on start up when using the electric choke wire, went direct from the battery to the PDM to take that out of the equation.

Verified the firing order, checked coil resistance to spec. Spark confirmed using a timing light although it seemed pretty low, and I assume so since the sniper says I turning at 162 rpm’s.

Bypass the inertia switch, clutch. Not sure what I am missing.


I have some popping and headers get a little warm but it doesn’t start.


Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

[Guardm16]

I also have the Sniper 2 but I used the Holley Distributor, no timing needed, the Sniper 2 ignition take s care of it.

OK sounds like you have fuel and some spark, I would check the firing order, some strokers use 351 crank shafts....different firing order. But, you said you checked that. Have you pulled a plug and checked for spark that way? Also check the PDM instructions. There are several ways of connecting depending on ignition type and ECU.
Mine went together very easily with no issues. I did not use the PDM fuel pump circuit, I used the one from the RF harness.

Good Luck

[elfrey]

I also have the Sniper 2 but I used the Holley Distributor, no timing needed, the Sniper 2 ignition take s care of it.

OK sounds like you have fuel and some spark, I would check the firing order, some strokers use 351 crank shafts....different firing order. But, you said you checked that. Have you pulled a plug and checked for spark that way? Also check the PDM instructions. There are several ways of connecting depending on ignition type and ECU.
Mine went together very easily with no issues. I did not use the PDM fuel pump circuit, I used the one from the RF harness.

Good Luck

Thank you for responding. Since the engine was run two months ago and I didn’t change anything, I assumed all was good but checked wires and firing order just to make sure. I did go through the Sniper wizard and set to coil (-). I feel like I must be overlooking something.

[bil1024]

Bad coil? Having same issue, but no time to troubleshoot it yet

[elfrey]

Bad coil? Having same issue, but no time to troubleshoot it yet

I don't think it's the coil. I am using Pertronix 45011 (.6 ohm). The spec calls for 0.6 ohms primary (I am getting 0.7) and 9000 secondary (I am getting 9.7 kohms). This there another way to check?

Thanks for your reply

[MaxVmo]

You have 12 volts at the coil? My Blueprint 347 had the sniper pre-wired as well but I still needed the orange wire and electric choke power to the coil if I remember correctly. This is where my issue was.

[elfrey]

You have 12 volts at the coil? My Blueprint 347 had the sniper pre-wired as well but I still needed the orange wire and electric choke power to the coil if I remember correctly. This is where my issue was.

Yes, I actually bypassed all of the RF harness, and I am going directly to the battery for the pink (keyed switch) and the coil power. I also just swapped out the coil just to make sure that wasn't the issue.

I took the PDM out of the equation as well and went back to the harness with the relay supplied by Holley.

My battery is a group size 51 (Breeze battery tray) with 425 CCA, I know a lot of folks are using them, so I don't think that's an issue. Just thought I'd mention it.

Thanks for responding.

[Robodent]

I purchased an engine trans combo from Mike five years ago and the problem I had was Mike installed a plate just below the fitech unit and blocked it off. Just a thought but that was my problem. Rob

[elfrey]

I purchased an engine trans combo from Mike five years ago and the problem I had was Mike installed a plate just below the fitech unit and blocked it off. Just a thought but that was my problem. Rob

Thank you, I removed the throttle body during the engine install.

[bobl]

A couple of things to check. If your timing light will fire while cranking put it on #1 and check the timing on the balancer. Possibly the distributor got moved after it was tested. Try spraying some starting fluid in the throttle body and see if it momentarily starts. If it does you have a fuel system problem, if not it's ignition(assuming nothing is wrong mechanically). Pull the spark plugs and check them. They could have become fouled during testing, and they will tell you a story. Plugs are my first guess.

Bob

[Mike.Bray]

I have one of these which is great for checking if you have spark.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HU2L1NU?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

[Rockman]

Is your O2 sensor properly installed? A while back, I stumbled onto this from Holley:

The Sniper ships with an OEM grade Bosch O2 sensor. Oxygen sensors read unburnt Oxygen not Fuel. All it knows is what it sees in the pipe. When a wide band sensor is (DAMAGED) it almost always reads dead lean. Why? Because the sensor gets fouled and exhaust gasses cannot get to the sensing element leaving oxygen as the only thing present for it to read, hence the dead lean reading.
So, what damages O2 sensors?
• Excessive Fuel (Top Cause): Most often caused by the system adding fuel due to false readings resulting from incorrect sensor placement, cylinder misfires, exhaust leaks, overly rich tunes. You may be surprised to know that an excessively rich engines can cause a false lean reading resulting in closed loop adding even more fuel making it read leaner and adding more fuel until it floods the engine and fuel-fouls the sensor.
• Oil control: If you're burning oil you will kill your O2 sensor, closed loop chasing unstable fuel supply issues( see fuel pumps comment)
• Wrong Sealants or Fuel Additives: Those that are not O2 sensor safe will kill your sensor.
• O2 Sensor Mounting: The O2 needs to be mounted 6-8” after the merge in the header collector. It needs the tip pointed down at least 10 degrees from horizontal and at least 15 degrees from vertical I prefer about a 45 degree angle from horizontal. You should then have at least 18-24” of pipe after the sensor. If you have any exhaust leaks between the combustion chamber and 18-24” after the sensor you are going to have problems.
• Pinched or Burnt O2 sensor Wiring: Keep it high, tight, and safe. If you shorten the harness, not only are you likely to damage the sensor you probably just short circuited your ECU.

Good luck

[elfrey]

Hi all,

I want to thank all of you for your responses and suggestions.

Big lesson learned, never assume that since your engine was run 3 months ago before it shipped that nothing changed.

I mentioned that I checked firing order even though I never expected it to be wrong (and it wasn't). I didn't check to see where the rotor was at TDC on cylinder #1 since nothing should've changed however, when I checked TDC for cylinder #1, the rotor was pointing to #4.

It never really occurred to me that it could have been changed since they (Forte's Parts Connections) placed witness marks on the distributor and eng. block, and they were aligned. For some reason they must have removed the distributor and allowed the rotor to move out of time.

I set the rotor back to #1 and she fired right up.

By the way, this is in no way a dig at Mike Forte, he and Aaron helped my trouble shoot on Sunday. Even though they didn't have the solution, it was nice to know they stood behind their work and took a call on Sunday.

Again, thanks for all the help you folks give me.

[rgcoelho]

Hi all,

I want to thank all of you for your responses and suggestions.

Big lesson learned, never assume that since your engine was run 3 months ago before it shipped that nothing changed.

I mentioned that I checked firing order even though I never expected it to be wrong (and it wasn't). I didn't check to see where the rotor was at TDC on cylinder #1 since nothing should've changed however, when I checked TDC for cylinder #1, the rotor was pointing to #4.

It never really occurred to me that it could have been changed since they (Forte's Parts Connections) placed witness marks on the distributor and eng. block, and they were aligned. For some reason they must have removed the distributor and allowed the rotor to move out of time.

I set the rotor back to #1 and she fired right up.

By the way, this is in no way a dig at Mike Forte, he and Aaron helped my trouble shoot on Sunday. Even though they didn't have the solution, it was nice to know they stood behind their work and took a call on Sunday.

Again, thanks for all the help you folks give me.

Hi Elfrey,

My name is Ronnie and I'm with Forte's Parts Connection. I'm glad you were able to pinpoint the problem. I'll inform Mike and Aaron of the solution. Thank you for the feedback.

Ronnie C
Forte's Parts Connection

[MaxVmo]

Congrats Elfrey, a big step!

[gbranham]

Air, fuel and spark...at the right time. Nice job getting it fired up!

Greg