96 Challenger refuses to start

[PieceOfWork2004]

After countless hours of messing with my 96 Challenger I finally decided to throw in the towel and have a new 787 engine from SBT installed. I just got the boat out of the shop Friday and rushed to the lake to take it for a spin. Just before I put it in I tried starting it just to make sure everything was cool and she fired right up. 10 minutes later I had it in the water and the thing refused to turn over. The starter fires and sounds strong but the engine refuses to start.

I tried calling the shop that worked on it for me but the mechanic that did the work was already gone for the day. I talked to one of his cohorts for a while and he said that they had it out on the lake for a few hours the day before tuning it and it was running like a champ. His only suggestion was maybe the battery was weak and to charge it.

I left the battery on the charger overnight and tried firing it up the next morning but it just did the same thing. I've replaced the plugs, done everything I know to do to troubleshoot the fuel system and verified that the plugs are sparking by pulling them out and grounding them to the block. I'm at a loss on what else to try and would love to get this thing up and running ASAP. If anyone has any suggestions I'd greatly appreciate them.

Thanks!
-Eric

P.S. - Any idea where the grounding studs for the plug wires are on this thing. I've been looking all over for them and nothing sticks out!

 

[kustomkarl]

Is it getting fuel? be sure the selector is in the on position or in reserve if it is low on fuel. If you just paid a repair shop to do the work, you might want them to check over what they did and get it running as it should be. If you keep tinkering they might not want to be responsible for it.

Karl

 

[PieceOfWork2004]

Karl,

Thanks for the input. It seems to be getting fuel but I can't say for sure. this may sound stupid but is there some surefire way to check? I dumped what was in the fuel filter this afternoon and tried cranking it over and the filter filled right up so I can only assume everything is working but don't know for sure.

I was trying to avoid doing too much without the shop looking at it. I really just wanted to get it on the water this weekend, the summer around here is drawing to a close and wanted to at least get a few good weekends out if it!

Thanks again!

 

[kustomkarl]

If it fills the fuel filter when you turn it over it is pumping fuel. I would wait till Monday to have the repair shop give it a look over. Something isn't right.

Karl