Rebuilt my 5sfe now having problems

[jdmilo1]

Hey guys I new to the board and seeking any kind of help you guys can give. I've recently rebuilt the 5sfe in my 96 camry,replacing the pistons,rings,bearing,and having the head reworked. I also replaced the distributor,crankshaft position sensor,and of course the plugs and wires. Today I got everything put back together today started it up in runs but really roughlike it barely wants to keep spinning. When you give it gas it smooths out a little but the minute you let off the gas it dies. It's running rich,I pulled off the spark plug wires 1 by 1 to check for spark,it had plenty but pulling the wires had no effect on the motor which I thought was odd. I've checked and double checked the timing alignment marks on the cam sprocket the 2 dots on the cam gears,the notch on the balancer is at 0 and the rotor button is pointing at the #1 tower on the cap. To me it sounds like a timing issue but I've had the whole motor apart so anythings possible. I'm at a loss! Any ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
John

[new echo owner]

Two dots on the cam gears? There are two different sets of dots on the cam gears, did you align the correct ones? Also if the valves are too tight, it will cause problems too.

N.E.O.

[MyFreeCamry]

If there was no effect by pulling off the plug wires while engine is running that shows a "dead cylinder" Check your timing marks one more time to make sure the correct one are lined up, meaning the marks show that #1 cyl is at TDC (both valves closed) and also check to make sure your valves are adjusted correctly.

[jdmilo1]

Thanks guys I'm planning on checking things again today. I forgot to mention and I may be just imagining things but when I shut the car down myself or it dies on its own it seems to me like the there is a noise in the oil pan like somebody has a straw and is blowing air into the oil. It may have been doing this all along and maybe I didn't notice. Just thought I would throw this out there.
Thanks again for your replies.
John

[beingblueeyes]

What did you have reworked on the head? if you checked the cam timing and its all good have you done a cylinder leak down test? Also when you installed the rings on the pistons did you stager the gaps?

[jdmilo1]

Hey guys did some more trouble shooting today. First when installing th pistons I did stagger the gaps,and by reworking the head I disasembled it had it cleaned and then I changed the seals,making sure I bagged each valve with its corresponding lifter,shim and spring as to not get things mismatched.

Today I pulled the plugs they were black as night and smelled rich which I kinda figured. I Double checked all the timing marks and I do have the right dots lined up on the cam gears,its not the double dots and not the last set, if that makes any sense. I did a compression test and all the cylinders were at 180 and holding after cranking it over about 4 times. Then using my harbor freight leakdown tester I tested all cylinders making sure they were all TDC on the compression stroke and they were all about 5% leakage. Now what does all this mean in the grand scheme of things,what if any problems can I rule out? Where should I start I would rather not pull the motor but I don't know where to start.
Would the balancer assembly be causing these issues?
Thanks again guys
John

[beingblueeyes]

Well you can rule out any internal bottom end problems by the sound of your comp test and any valve problems by your leak down test and it sounds like you have the cams as they should be making the motor sound. Dose the crankshaft position sensor need to spaced or anything (I don’t have one) also check your fuel psi at the fuel rail, if that’s norm I would suspect a sensor. Make sure everything is plugged in

[new echo owner]

Can you post some pictures of your engine? Did you check the valve clearance when you re-assemble the head? Did you connect the MAP sensor, both vacuum and electrical?

N.E.O.

[jdmilo1]

I had the local machine shop rework the head about 70,000 miles ago and at that time the checked the clearences,and before this recent rebuild I've never had any valve train noise. I assumed that when I recently rebuilt the head myself if I kept all of the springs together with there apropriate spring,lifter and shim that I would be aliright and just put things back together the way they came apart. Aside from shiming I didn't think there was any other adjustment like there is on a SBC motor. Did I screw something up? On the sensor front I've checked everything a couple of times,I've scanned it with the autoXray scan tool I have and it's not showing anything. I'm pretty sure that fuel is the one thing it's getting plenty of my clothes start smelling like it if I'm around it to long when it's half assed running.
Is there one sensor that will screw up a motor this bad and not throw a code?
Thanks guys

[new echo owner]

It is always a good practice to check the valve clearance after having major cylinder head work done, even if you are putting everything back where they came from.

The MAP sensor is used to let the ECM know what the engine load is, so it can control the injector pulse duration. If there is restriction or leak in the vacuum hose going to the sensor, it may trick the ECM into thinking that you are accelerating faster and heavier than you really are.

N.E.O

[jdmilo1]

Thanks I'll check the clearances tomorrow. On the map sensor just to make sure the vacuum hose goes to the single nipple on the passenger side on the little pod looking thing to the left of the egr valve. To test it I'm assuming it will be alright to follow the procedures in a haynes manual using a vacum pump.
Thanks N.E.O

[new echo owner]

Keep us posted. I am not familiar with the Haynes manual, but you do have to use a vacuum pump. If you need to here is a link for the FSM: http://www.camrystuff.com/manuals/Gen3/eg1.pdf

N.E.O.

[jdmilo1]

Well N.E.O I think your a life saver. First off that manual is awseome I wish I would have had that over the last few years. Secondly after looking at things I think I had the map vacum hose going to the egr modulator and the hose that was coming from behind the block going to were the map sensor hose was supposed to go. It's late and I hope that made sense. Anyways I owe you I was almost in a state of meltdown. Could you email at jdmilo1@yahoo.com and let me know where you like to eat and the least I could do is send you a gift card for dinner on me.
Thanks again
John
p.s. I'm assuming this is whats causing my problem.

[new echo owner]

Lets us know how it turn out.

N.E.O.

[jdmilo1]

Like I was saying N.E.O I owe you switched the vacum lines put everything back together and it runs great and to think I was about ready to role it into the river.
Thanks again and I'm serious about the gift card.
John