Make sure the wires aren't crossed somewhere. Also my 3.5 was doing that and I sprayed water on the distributor cap and found a crack. Not sure on the idle.

 

sounds like a vacuum leak

 

Check compression. Also I know the reluctor wheel on the crankshaft needs to be swapped when you go to 3.5... Do you need to do the same for this swap? I'm curious to see the gains on this cuz I'm gonna step up to 3.8 myself soon.

 

yes it will need to be changed. With that in mind that means the timing belt had to be changed as well, so it'll be a good idea to look into that to see if the timing marks are still lined up and belt tensioned properly.

I have seen a member here reuse a hydraulic tensioner (80k) miles with a new timing belt. Within just a couple of drives it failed and collapsed, letting the belt skip a few teeth and throw the p0300 code. I ended up putting a new one on for him and two years later he's still on the road.

 

I checked the Timing marks, and everything lines up fine.
Front head (lines up perfect)

Rear Head (lines up Perfect)

Crank (perfect also)

 

Which distributor did you use? Late 02's got the 3 pulse distributor, so make sure you're using that reluctor. When you put it in, did you make sure it was lined up right? Turn to TDC and place rotor pointing to cylinder 1.

 

This weekend will be the last chance I have to get this up and running for mtod. I am going to replace the tensioner and make sure timing is still correct. I will also look at the distributor and make sure I installed it right. I noticed the wire from the alt to the bat was snapped off at the 120 amp fuse. Could that have been causing this problem? I would not think so as that is just the wire that charges the battery.

 

Motor will run fine without the alternator. I generally run a vehicle for a short while after doing a timing or head job before I hook up all te extra accessories. As long as you have a charged battery, it'll be alive.

 

Lets do an idiot test.

1. Is the 3.0l and 3.8l have the same firing order? My initial guess would be yes, but just verify.
3.0l firing order: 1 − 2 − 3 − 4 − 5 − 6
3.8l firing order: 1-2-3-4-5-6
Both above firing orders identified in the factory service manuals on Tearstone Performance - Home

2. Check the spark plug wires to make sure they are in the correct order. Take a pic of your cap and wires when you can and Ill verify it to what I have if you want.

3. Check all wiring plugs, i.e. MAP sensor, Crank sensor, Knock sensor, etc.

4. Compression check all cylinders.

Thats what I would start with. Just my .02.

 

Okay guys, problem solved.

I pulled intake manifold and pulled the plugs to do a compression check. As I was pulling them I checked each one and found cylinder number 1 &5 were not firing. There was no sign of combustion. I pulled the cap and rotor but did not find anything abnormal. I decided to replace them both either way. I put it all back together and vroom. It started right up with no problem. Drove it for about 10 miles with no problems or codes thrown.

 

Ya, we get to see the 3.8 this year at MTOD. Better make sure and drive it around this week to put some miles on it!!!

 

may have had a hairline crack in the cap like someone else said and it was arcing out to ground at those cylinders. Glad you got it fixed (so I don't have to come up there ).

Burnout time?

 

i had a cyl 6 misfire pop up every now and then when i first did my swap but it went away after awhile

Burnout time?

the 3.8 will defiantly do it, trust me...

 

So how does it feel with the Tuned Rom?

 

Feels great, cant wait to get into the fine tuning stage.