Question
Ok, just got my new valve cover on, now it's actin up and need some advice. I go to start it, only takes like three or four cranks and battery is DRAINED!!!! Had the battery tested and it's fine, so starter solenoid bad? Also, while in neutral, I rev it and it pops and shoots flames out the pipe as soon as I let off. Ideas would be appreciated.
A little more info. What exactly did you do? A engine pull and rebuild? in chassis valve cover replacement with nothing else? Depending on the procedure we can nail down what might have happened. Possible decomp problem , broken decomp weight from prybar use,plugged up with silicone,incorrect cam timing, wiring not installed back the same way. When load testing batteries they need an absolute minimum of 80 amps above 9.6 volts for at least 15 seconds. A decent battery should easily pull 120 amps above 10 volts for 15 seconds. You can do a quick check by just cranking the engine and hooking up a voltmeter to be sure it doesnt drop below 10 volts during the cranking process. Unplug the fuel pump to allow for this test.
Im going to throw some things out there. Ive seen quick overheating from stripped or missing impellars, using way to much silicone and plugging up the coolant ports and bleeder hoses, forgetting to put coolant in. If the return is pinched off it will raise fuel pressure up very high to where the injectors may not fire,accompanied by a fuel leak somewhere. You will not have very good return flow back into the tank as well which is easy to see. Perhaps one injector isnt plugged in or has a bent terminal. This may not cause a hard start but will cause seriously hot exhaust temps and it will be hard to rev up from idle. Is the radiator warming up top and bottom as fast as the engine?