S54 Crank no Start but I have (fuel, spark, and air)

[Ajcanadian]

Hi all, recently I refreshed my s54. I ended up rebuilding the vanos (whole beisans kit), rod bearings, complete reseal; headgasket, timing cover gaskets, and more. The engine had to come out for all the work. Yesterday, I tried to fire the car up, it would crank but not start. The spark plugs were getting flooded with fuel. So I checked for timing a few times (dead on) and I have good compression. I took the MAP sensor out and sprayed some starter fluid with new plugs. Same thing car would crank but not start. I have confirmed I have fuel pressure as well. I plugged in my scanner and I have no codes. Any idea?

[01M3Fan]

Did you reattach the ground wire from the ignitor loom to the block?

[sapote]

The spark plugs were getting flooded with fuel. ... I plugged in my scanner and I have no codes. Any idea?

Title says it has spark but the post body didn't mention or how did yo check this. How???
No code because if DME detects the bad condition, it still needs to have certain crank revolution with the bad condition before register the codes.

[Shonky]

Nothing you have said indicates you have spark. In fact it seems that's the most likely problem given you're not getting any kind of firing of fuel or starter fluid or otherwise.

What are you reading codes with? I'd guess a critical sensor is missing. Pretty sure missing the ground on the side of the head won't result in no spark however it's been known to damage DMEs.

[Ajcanadian]

Nothing you have said indicates you have spark. In fact it seems that's the most likely problem given you're not getting any kind of firing of fuel or starter
fluid or otherwise.

What are you reading codes with? I'd guess a critical sensor is missing. Pretty sure missing the ground on the side of the head won't result in no spark however it's been known to damage DMEs.

It was connected, pulled #1 coil, inserted sparkplug, grounded plug case, cranked it over.

Scanned with snap on scanner, car specific and OBDII generic route.

Timing has been checked again, all cylinders at 130-140 psi compression

[Shonky]

Wild ass guess. You say timing is good - I assume you're referring to cam to crank timing? Is it possible to be out by 360 and still have the cam timing check out as right? ie cams out of phase by 180 would mean pins still fit in the timing tool wouldn't they?

Compression sounds a bit low to me. I would be expecting more like 170.

[Ajcanadian]

Wild ass guess. You say timing is good - I assume you're referring to cam to crank timing? Is it possible to be out by 360 and still have the cam timing check out as right? ie cams out of phase by 180 would mean pins still fit in the timing tool wouldn't they?

Compression sounds a bit low to me. I would be expecting more like 170.

correct, cam to crank timing.

it’s also a cold compression test. I’m sure it’ll go up after the engine is warmed up, right?

[sapote]

It was connected, pulled #1 coil, inserted sparkplug, grounded plug case, cranked it over.

and did it have sparks? You said everything but the sparks -- strong blue, weak orange, etc. Why not say it out clear?

[S54B32]

Make sure you have Vanos pressure if you have removed and cleaned the internals of the pressure regualtor. I had the same behavior with far to less vanos pressure.

[Ajcanadian]

Make sure you have Vanos pressure if you have removed and cleaned the internals of the pressure regualtor. I had the same behavior with far to less vanos pressure.

thanks I will look into it

[Shonky]

Make sure you have Vanos pressure if you have removed and cleaned the internals of the pressure regualtor. I had the same behavior with far to less vanos pressure.

Can't see how VANOS would prevent it firing. At worst cam timing is slightly off but it should still start or fire off. At the very start, there will be little to no pressure in VANOS. It takes 5+ seconds once actually running for VANOS to get up to any sort of pressure.

[S54B32]

Can't see how VANOS would prevent it firing. At worst cam timing is slightly off but it should still start or fire off. At the very start, there will be little to no pressure in VANOS. It takes 5+ seconds once actually running for VANOS to get up to any sort of pressure.

But it was in my case. Even multiple 10 sec cranks won’t fire it up. Adjusted the screw and after one more 3-4sec crank it fired up.
Don’t ask me why, but maybe 1 or 2 bar is not enough to move the splines.

[karter16]

But it was in my case. Even multiple 10 sec cranks won’t fire it up. Adjusted the screw and after one more 3-4sec crank it fired up.
Don’t ask me why, but maybe 1 or 2 bar is not enough to move the splines.

At startup the splines don't need to be moved. The cams are in the default (retarded) position at start up.

[S54B32]

At startup the splines don't need to be moved. The cams are in the default (retarded) position at start up.

all I can say is, excatly this was preventing the engine to start in my personal case.

edit: i need to look into the tune, but if i remember correct the intake is full retard and exhaust full advanced during idle. so i assume they move while startup.

[sapote]

so i assume they move while startup.

During starter cranking, there is not enough vanos pressure (regardless of how the pressure regulator screw was set) to move the spline shafts. It's all depending on the their last positions during engine shut off for the engine to start up on the next cycle.