1988 festiva with presubably a aspire engine will not crank

[350freak]

after all day pulling and replacing the engine (just bought w/40K miles) I noticed quite a few differences that make me believe w/ low miles to be an aspire engine. After reassembly turn key to tick tick tick tick and smoke from the starter. My brain kicks in and almost immediately think the flywheels are different on the engines as well as the starter...... Am I correct to presume I now need to A. Pull the engine back out and replace the flywheel or B. buy an aspire starter?

[TominMO]

after all day pulling and replacing the engine (just bought w/40K miles) I noticed quite a few differences that make me believe w/ low miles to be an aspire engine. After reassembly turn key to tick tick tick tick and smoke from the starter. My brain kicks in and almost immediately think the flywheels are different on the engines as well as the starter...... Am I correct to presume I now need to A. Pull the engine back out and replace the flywheel or B. buy an aspire starter?

I doubt it. Smoke from the starter? Is it wired properly?

[350freak]

yes its wired exactly the way it was before the swap I believe the problem is the festiva starter gear is binding up with the aspire flywheel. The flywheels have 2 different part numbers the starters have two different part numbers so I am thinking their not interchangeable just trying to get confirmation if an aspire starter will fix my problem

[shadetree]

Did the engine spin before installing ?

[350freak]

yes I was driving the car til the engine went out. got another engine that was (from a good guy a good engine) Im pretty sure the festiva B3s did not have the funny steel piece on the timing belt side of the crank shaft. this one does, so i'm thinking its an aspire engine. just trying to see if I can do an aspire starter to fix the issue or do I have to pull the engine again and replace the flywheel..... All this is dependent on if for a fact the flywheels have a different tooth count.

[TominMO]

Did a qwik search at Rock Auto to compare. 88 Festy and 95 Aspire use the same flywheel. This is a simple method to check parts compatibility.

[350freak]

ok then well im missing something then. I don't know why shes not turning over. It ran great before. and the swap went wonderful. that's the only thing I could think of is the starter was binding on the teeth of the flywheel

[shadetree]

We are talking about a five speed correct ?

[350freak]

ok so I checked too and the flywheel and starter are the same PNs which is strange cause I looked at other sites and it showed different PNs. So I'm not sure what I've missed. could the engine be locked up and preventing the starter from turning it. the oil looked great and full. not sure how long it has been sitting though. I guess after church tom. I'll go out and just try to turn over the engine.

[350freak]

no I linked it with my 4

[TominMO]

Woke up about 1/2 hour ago thinking I didn't check auto flywheels, only manual. Turns out tho that all flywheels for auto and manual Festys and Aspires, 1988-97 and all transmissions, are the same; so that's not the issue.

All manuals have the same starter motor; all autos do too, but different from the manuals.

[350freak]

ok that's good. cause I used the known working starter that came off my old engine

[WmWatt]

Assume you checked the new engine not siezed by removing spark plugs and using wrench on crank shaft bolt to rotate crakshaft?

[350freak]

ok so it was a ground. but now I gotta replace the water pump. do I have to use a gasket or can I just use rtv or make one with gasket material.

[TominMO]

ok so it was a ground. but now I gotta replace the water pump. do I have to use a gasket or can I just use rtv or make one with gasket material.

I'd use the appropriate pre-made gasket, along with the specific tube of water pump-thermostat housing sealant. It's all cheap, so no need to cut corners.