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Thread: Landcruiser w LS2, Starts but does not run

  1. #1

    Landcruiser w LS2, Starts but does not run

    Hi Guys, i am new to the forum!

    over the past 4 years i have slowly built up a Landcruiser 80 series with an ls2 crate engine. Seemingly, i have encountered nearly every problem/challenge one can encounter when undertaking such a project however, through determination and a lot of colourful language, I am nearly at the end!

    I have always had the philosophy that if you want something done properly save money and buy the tools for the job then learn how to do it yourself! you don't have to pay someone every time its screwed up, know what I mean?

    Anyways, i paid for a loom that was 'plug and play' right? wrong! overall the loom was pretty good other than a few shitty crimps where the insulation hadn't been stripped and the MAF being wired wrong etc. etc. life goes on. Soooo, I have a problem with the machine which I thought some of the elitists on here could help me with.

    Build Specs:
    - Stock LS2
    - Standalone w E38
    - Standard pump w adjustable pressure reg
    - 5 Speed manual NV4500
    - Ranger Splitter
    - Stock LC transfer case
    - Standard diffs etc
    - Thermo fans (Ford)

    Ever since I first turned the key to start her up it would start but not continue to run. So, it would actually start (fuel, air, spark, timing, crank/cam positions all known), make the beautiful V8 rumble then die/quit/stop. Sometimes it would run like it had a really lumpy cam in it but always only ran for about <5 seconds. Then after about 50 start attempts it ran! We had checked all the plugs, coil pack earths, connections etc. etc. and then for no apparent reason it starts. it runs and i drove it around happily (other than it needing a tune).

    Then one day, I go to start it and it starts then dies again! go figure. i parked it in the shed and left it while i tried to figure what was going on. I trolled the internet, talked to tuners, searched and searched until i found a guy on youtube who had a similar problem in a track car. it would start but not run and he determined that it was the alternator that had been wired up incorrectly. So I raced up to the back shed, re-worked the alternator wiring correctly and guess what? it ran! and I drove it around happily!

    Until! my wife and I got the nerve and drove it to Adelaide and back (2000km return). we had the fridge, dog, camping gear, gas ring and stock pot for cooking crayfish and over the 4 days we had a great time. On the way home though it started to develop a miss at idle, not bad just like a plug was going crook perhaps? anyhow we get home late at night and decide to unpack the car the next day after work. We left the fridge on, which I have done on many occasions, which drained the battery. The battery is a deep cycle/starting agm optima blue top. Sooo, after a day and a half I went to start it and move it but the battery didn't have enough juice, no problem, so I put the charger onto it. after 24hrs of charging I went to start it again and she did her same old trick! Starts but doesn't run!

    I am very patient. So my father and I are talking over a beer and we were both getting the impression that it may be a voltage related issue? because each time it has stopped running/started running there was some kind of an electrical change....?

    Stay with me.

    So we headed over to the car which wasn't running at this stage and decide to unplug the alternator. perhaps it was sending a spike after coming online?? while my hand was down behind the alternator my hand bump one of the coil-plug leads and it was loose! I guess that was the miss at idle. after plugging the lead back on I asked Dad to try starting it....it ran. (Alternator still plugged in)

    how the hell does that work? Are the e38's that sensitive to voltage? could the loom be picking up power from a noisy source? do I need shielded wire for the modules? I am at a total loss.

    I will take a log of it running later today but I thought I would throw this out there first.

    thanks guys, any help would be most appreciated. Could I please ask you, in your responses, not to use acronyms, abbreviations, slang etc. especially if you start talking about the tuning side of things.

    Regards,

    Dave.

  2. #2
    Have seen discharged batteries and low cranking voltage force these (in their native cars) to a point where idle takes forever to relearn, if at all. Will it stay running if you use throttle? Tech2 has an idle relearn for this not sure if HPT can do it in scanner somebody here would know. If you have an e38 wiring diagram run a pinout and make sure all constant power pins are there and all earths are good when loaded. Not sure which alternator you're running on there but most of the ls2's use pcm controlled charge on demand and need the ammeter on the battery earth to function properly. You may have tried all this but thought i'd throw it out there in any case. Good luck with it

  3. #3
    Senior Tuner SultanHassanMasTuning's Avatar
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    Vats? please post tune to review
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  4. #4
    Advanced Tuner
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    Sounds like VATS