hey all, i just swapped out my 359xxx km kade for a lower mileage kade, and now it doesn’t start :?. everything is hooked up properly (as far as i know, kind of hard to mess up a kade -> kade swap), no harness plugs without a home or anything like that. i tried to start it yesterday, by jump starting it (battery was dead, but when i hooked it up to another car it had 12v), and all i heard was the starter whirring. the engine wasnt’ turning over. i was low on gas at the time, so i assumed it was that, so today i went and filled up a portable tank of gas, put it in the car, and no dice. same thing happens, starter just whirs. can anyone give me a diagnosis? car is stock, with a viper alarm, which i disarmed before disconnecting the battery (although it could still be the problem, i’m not 100% sure). another weird thing i noticed was when the battery had power going to it, none of the interior lights worked, except for the hicas light when the key was in the on position. could it be the grounds or something similiar? well, if anyone can help, it’d be greatly appreciated. thanks.
Uhm, starter?
Sounds like the bendix isn’t coming far enough out. Try push starting it.
Is the lower harness hooked up right?
yeah, it was getting late last night, so tonight when i get back from work i’m gonna try the starter i had from the previous motor.
i believe it is, they make them quite stupidproof, can’t really hook up the wrong plug to a sensor… other than the grounds, but even then the length of the wires tells you roughly the location of where it should go.
i’m just curious about why the lights weren’t coming on when i had it all hooked up to jump start it, popups weren’t working, dash and interior lights weren’t working… i might just buy a new battery as well? well we’ll see what happens with the starter… thanks for the replies.
fuses!
olol check fuses! + grounds 
checked fuses last night, checked grounds today… everything seemed fine. jumped it again, same shit, whirs like no tomorrow. switched the actual batteries… and boom! works like a charm… sort of. this motor was pretty mint when it was in my other car, but for some reason it’s not running in optimal condition. was overheating at first, flushed it a few times, started to get better (temperature didn’t shoot up as quickly), but each time i drained the radiator, cool-warm water came out at first, then it started pissing boiling hot water. im guessing it has something to do with the liquid inside the radiator being just water… perhaps it will change when i add antifreeze? that, or my thermostat might be stuck closed? also, it feels like the motor is leaking air between the valve cover and head? and theres a weird, burning smell, almost rubbery… might be partially melted spark plug wires from the overheat.
in any case, i’ll check all those tomorrow, as well as buy a new battery. any suggestions? i was just going to buy the cheapest one, but taking a look at the optima redtop and yellowtop, as well as the orbital (same concept but from canadian tire), they seem alot better than the conventional battery.
make sure ur fuel lines are not mixed up, make sure you hear the fuel pump priming, check for spark, check the plugs.
we did another engine swap in chris’s car last night and at 2am after 36 hours of work it wouldnt fire, then we realized i had put number 4 and 3 wires backwards. what can i say i could barely walk i was so tired.
ok, update. i bought a new battery (optima redtop, $140ish at walmart), and it starts (same as when i put the battery from my jumper in). apparently, what i think happened is my friend hooked up the jumper cables oppositely. the reason i think this is a) because he is an idiot, and b) the battery has no + or - markings and it does look like they are opposite terminals at first glance, but if you follow the wires, they are actually not what you think they are.
anyways, there seems to be something weird going on. it does not overheat anymore (coolant is now in the car), but the light problem is still present. none of the accessories work other than the hicas light. when you turn the key you can now hear the fuel pump priming, and it starts (has some difficulty). also, the valves are tapping like crazy as well as the timing chain is rattling, both of which were not present when the engine was in the other car (these aren’t really a big concern to me, just thought i would mention it). my question is, is there any relay that controls the accessories that might have blown when it was jump started incorrectly? or maybe even the ecu… the fuses are all fine, but i will check again. the really weird part is that once the car is warmed up, all the accessories work (popups, interior lights, etc.). has anyone experienced this problem before? or have any suggestions?
one last thing to add, is that i took it down the street, and the oil pressure light came on. could this be related to the valve cover gasket leak?
if you made it this far, thanks for reading and helping. i’m not exactly an expert at this stuff, so any help is appreciated.
hard starting + valves tapping + timing chain rattle + oil light = you need to top up the oil!