OK, since I'm staying at my aunt & uncle's until the power comes back on at home, and since there's not a whole lot to do in the middle of nowhere, I figured it's an excellent time to install my K&N intake, ZZP PCM, and Hi Velocity (HV) TB. I got the intake & PCM in, but couldn't figure out how to get the throttle linkage off the TB, so I left it for the time being and finished the other two. With just the intake & PCM in, it started up and ran just fine.

After my uncle got home, he looked at the TB and showed me how to get the throttle linkage off. Put the HV on, and the car wouldn't start. It'll chug, it's trying, but it won't catch. Realized I forgot the gasket, took the TB off, scraped the remnants of the old one off and put the TB back on, still won't start. Took the HV off and put the stock TB on, still won't start. My uncle fiddled with it, even tried squirting a small amount of fuel in the TB to try and get it going, but it wouldn't work. Realized the paper I got with it said the battery needs to be disconnected for an hour, so I did that and it didn't fix it.

What is wrong? It worked with the PCM & intake with the old TB, but now it won't. One thing we did notice is, on the TB, it's got three clips and one rubber thing that just slides on. The rubber thing was splitting, so we taped that up real good, and nothing.

My uncle says he doesn't think it's getting fuel. Why? Someone help! I need my car so I can get home, my boss is running my restaurant into the ground (for example, he's using food from before the hurricane, meaning it's spoiled now) so I need to get back.

(On the bright side, as easy as it is to disconnect the tubing on the K&N intake, I can now swap out the TB in 10-15 minutes. lol)

that rubber thing is a vac line and it should run to a black box right behind your s/c next to your alternator. replace that, it's an actuator which sucks exhaust fumes out of your gas tank I believe.

try unplugging your MAF and see if that helps.

did the tb come with all the sensors or did you have to swap them over from your old tb? you may not have put in your TPS correctly.

They came with the sensors, it's straight from ZZP. Simply unclip them off and clip them on the new one.

As far as replacing something, town is a 15 minute drive, and it's small at that, dunno if they could help. So, I'm hoping it's something that can be fixed on location. lol

did u try unplugging the MAF? it's the big sensor on top.

maybe you need a CASE learn? i'm not too familiar with them, especially since you already had the car running with that PCM.

case learn should still let the car run.

So you unplugged the PCM and put the new one in while the battery was still hooked up?

Come on, I'm not a total idiot, the battery was unplugged during the intake/PCM installation.

The problem shouldn't be with either of those two, because like I said, it ran fine. It wasn't until I switched the TB that it wouldn't start.

Haven't unplugged the MAF yet, it's 11pm, I'll work on it tomorrow. lol

Isn't the case learn what I did in leaving the battery unplugged for an hour after installing the TB?

Case learn won't keep it from starting.

No, the CASE learn is done with a tuner. Unplugging the PCM allows the car to dump the trims and other set-up-specific "temporary tunes". Unplug the brain and the car forgets the previous set-up and starts trimming and such for the new goodies.

CASE learn aligns the CPS with the PCM.

Check for blown fuses first, if none are found try swapping the stock PCM back in, and see if it starts and runs. Anything's possible...Good Luck!

Try cleaning the MAF, you just put an oiled K&N on there.

Did the TB come with a MAF, or did you use the stock one?
Is the PCV functioning?

even if PCV wasn't working the car should still run.

did you plug the sensor ends into the correct sensors? I believe the MAF and TPS ends are the same so they could have been accidentally switched.

Car should start with the MAF unplugged.

I used the stock MAF. How do you clean it, just get a towel and wipe it off?

I'll check about the sensors maybe being switched.

The car has almost caught a few times, but it won't stay running more than a second.

what are you doing on here then? go and have a look lol, we need some response because now we're just repeating the same things over and over again.

Use break cleaner and spray it on the MAF to clean it. but first try swapping the TPS and MAF ends and see what happens. and try leaving it unplugged before trying to clean it.

I just wanted to post a response to let you know I got it. :p

Anyway, the sensors are very similar, but slightly different, and I couldn't get them to switch places, so they should be correct.

Cleaning and removing the MAF didn't help.

Switched the ZZP PCM back to the stock PCM, even though it had worked since I put it in, and that didn't help either. So, I'm running the stock TB & PCM. I don't plan on removing the K&N because I don't see why reassembling the stock airbox would help, especially since it's run since I put the K&N on.

All the connections are tight, and the sensors are in place. It'll turn, it just won't catch and finally start.

I'm all out of ideas...

The car is parked on about a 15* incline, but that wouldn't keep the fuel from getting to the engine, would it? I've started my car when it's parked on a 35-45* incline before.

Ok, so let me make sure I understand this. Your stock PCM won't work with your HV TB but will with the stock TB? Have you tried your ZZP PCM with your stock TB since this? I know it worked once but have you tried it since?

did you accidentally swap the two connectors on the PCM? like put the top connector on the bottom and vice versa?

is it getting fuel?

You've got it a little backwards. I installed the ZZP PCM & intake with the stock TB, and it worked. Put on the HV TB and it didn't. Put the stock TB back on and it still didn't. But the stock PCM back in and it still didn't work.

I'm almost certain the connectors are in the correct spots, but it wouldn't hurt to flip them and check. I'll do that now.

As for whether or not it's getting fuel, my uncle doesn't think so, but I don't know why it wouldn't be. Don't know how to check, either.

Lemme go check the PCM, and I'll get back to you.

oh ok, I thought u meant it works now with ur stock PCM and TB.

like said before, if you turn your key to the ON position, do you hear your fuel pump come on? check to see if you broke any vac lines coming off your BBV.

it does seem like something to do with fuel though now.

I didn't evem bother switching the connectors. It said blue in top, white on bottom. That's the way it's set up.

Excuse my questions, but what's my BBV? And what does the fuel pump coming on sound like?

BBV is boost bypass valve.

basically check the big black cylinder thing right infront of your s/c near your TB, their are are like 3 vac lines coming off it. check to see if any are broken. is the vacuum line attached on your TB?

I can't describe the sound of the fuel pump but it will be fairly loud, you'll definitely hear it coming from behind you. Mute your music, turn the key on, and if you hear a noise from your backseat then its coming on. I really can't put the sound in words, I tried.

I don't see any broken lines. The only thing I can see is the black cover for some wires is split. I'm guessing it's a heat shield for the wires.

When I put the key in ON, I hear what sounds like a buzzing noise coming from under or behind me. That's all I can hear.

the buzz would be your fuel pump.

the black covers over the stock wiring harness is fine.

did you try unplugging the battery for 1 hour when switching back to your stock PCM?

are you getting spark?

No, I didn't unplug the battery for an hour when I switched the PCM back. I can do that now.

How do I tell if I'm getting spark? It's turning over but won't catch, so I figured it's either fuel or spark, but don't know.

(Again, I'm sorry for being a noob, but I'm learning. )

check the ignition fuse

edit: to find out if youre getting spark, pull a plug wire off of a plug, and hold it next to the spark plug. You should be able to see/hear if it is sparking

We checked the fuses related to ignition and fuel, both in the engine and behind the glovebox. All good. I check the fuel line in front of the s/c and it's getting fuel. For some reason, it's just not igniting.

I guess I'll have it towed in to town in the morning. Not a whole lot else I can do...

did you try holding the plug wire off of the plug?

OK, here's the latest:

I got fed up, and just had the stupid car towed to the dealership. That was Thursday, I think. Called me Friday, saying they found a pinched wire, but that didn't help, so they checked the plugs, and when those were replaced it fired right up.

However, it was supposedly smoking real bad due to coolant leaking in the engine. They were closed over the weekend, looked at it today, and said it had a blown intake gasket. Replaced that, but it still didn't fix things. Said they still have a vac leak. They suspect it's a cracked head gasket, because a blown head would have given me engine temp problems on the way up here. They won't be able to tear the engine apart AGAIN until tomorrow to find out "for sure" what it is.

What do you guys think? I feel like I'm getting snaked, but I don't know enough to tell. Wanted y'alls opinions. Not that there's much I can do now, but....

Looks like another GP.net member is going to pay big time!
Sounds odd all this is going down after you take it in just for not starting.

looks like you should have done this yourself

Before they rip into the motor have them do a compression test. That will rule out a blown head gasket. Vacuum leak could be from a bad install on the intake gasket.