Trying to start motor, any ideas?

[HawksWR37]

I have my 5.4L into my 04 now and im trying to get it started and it cranks but doesn't fire up. I need ideas to try to get it to start. it has fuel because my fuel pressure gauge is reading 30psi at the rails. I dont know if it has spark though. is there anyway to check and see if the plugs are sparking? any ideas will help guys. thanks

[bobtsgt]

did you reuse your old harness? are all the sensors hooked up as in crank and cam? MAF all hooked up? Is it clean cranking or struggling?

[Rustanggt98]

PATS turned off in the tune?

[03z06vette]

If u have fuel pressure the ckp Is good.

[HawksWR37]

did you reuse your old harness? are all the sensors hooked up as in crank and cam? MAF all hooked up? Is it clean cranking or struggling?

its my 4.6 harness, i have double checked the two trigger sensors and maf, and it is cranking normal but just doesnt seem like my cylinders are firing.

[HawksWR37]

PATS turned off in the tune?

its using my 4.6 computer so i didnt think this would be an issue

[highmileage4.6]

Have cop ignition setup on it ? check for spark by pulling one out and grounding it just becarefull cause it will light ya up,poissible antitheft getting in the way? it will usally shut down the injectors or coils if it sees a wrong key it will crank but not start

[NXcoupe]

Take a coil off, put a plug in it, then lay it somewhere so it's grounded, then have someone crank while you watch for spark. If you have spark, then you have another issue. Check with a noid light and see if the injectors are pulsating. They should also click when the key is cycled.

[bobtsgt]

you could also check the harness ends to make sure all the pins are tight in the connectors. Its unlikely but a possibility. Also what tune are you using with the 5.4 in?

[HawksWR37]

you could also check the harness ends to make sure all the pins are tight in the connectors. Its unlikely but a possibility. Also what tune are you using with the 5.4 in?

well its still running my stock 4.6 tune on there right now.

[highmileage4.6]

I would think the 4.6 compy would run it considering i think the only diffrencec is the 5.4 is bigger cubea?

[Jake]

have you tried connecting the battery yet?

[HawksWR37]

Your funny mr npi ;)

[bobtsgt]

the computer also thinks the cubic inches are still 281. There are values in the computer to determine engine size. But do the spark test and report back with what you find.

[Rustanggt98]

I thought about this after my before my first reply, but since i haven't messed around with these much in the last 4 years i decided to bite my tongue and see what everyone else came up with. Since that hasn't fixed it yet, here goes.....

As far as i remember, the timing chains on a 4.6 2V have one less link in them compared to a 5.4 due to the difference in height because of the wider block. So if you are running the 4.6 computer, the cam sensor and crank sensor should be trying to match up the 28 tooth timing, and the 5.4 has 29 teeth (iirc, its been a while). so why not try unplugging the cam sensor and then checking for spark? it should still run (create spark) running off only one of the sensors.

If you get spark that way, you will need a tune or 5.4 computer. ;)

[highmileage4.6]

i guess thats a possiblity but my understanding is even if its got an extra link in it its still going to stay in time

[Rustanggt98]

i guess thats a possiblity but my understanding is even if its got an extra link in it its still going to stay in time

Its going to physically stay in time, but the crank sensor and cam sensor will be reading differently, thus creating confusion because it is looking for 4.6 timing intervals.

Again, i'm not 100% sure on this theory, but i would surely give it a shot for as easy as it would be to try.

[Blackout]

even if the cam sensor isn't reading it should still fire, it will just throw a check engine light. If the computer isn't getting a reading from the cam sensor it will revert back to the computers eeprom and go into limp mode for the sensor. Basically it will just use a set of values that is preprogrammed to run the engine.

1. Make sure you grounded the block.
2. Make sure you have the ground hooked up on the harness
3. Make sure your pump is priming
4. Make sure your injectors are spaying
5. Make sure you have spark

This is the basics as alot of people will tell you. If you have all of these then we can lead you to explore other reasons. If anything you should be able to get the car to fire or even start.

[Brandon Alsept]

Ok was this a known running engine when you bought it, or is this a engine you rebuilt?

Then also make sure all your of your connections are hooked up. Ford is nice about running some weird wires threw some connectors you wouldn't expect to have anything to do with the engine LOL.

[94tchikinv8]

Then also make sure all your of your connections are hooked up. Ford is nice about running some weird wires threw some connectors you wouldn't expect to have anything to do with the engine LOL.

True story, I ran into a problem with this on a v6 to mod swap I did several years ago. i thought I could use the underhood body harness from the v6 car; I was wrong. As soon as I put the harness off the v8 car in, the car fired right up.

-Rob

[HawksWR37]

I appreciate all the input guys i got it running this weekend, i dont know exactly what i changed that did it because i changed a lot of stuff. but it will be getting an alignment then a trip to Dayton performance then it will be done! finally!