Hello everyone! I hope I am posting this in the right forum, if not I apologize and will move. I am trying to help my brother replace his engine in his 98 Tacoma 2.7L 4x4. Driving to work one day he threw a rod, thus the need to replace.

The only engine we could find was the same year taco, the only dif is that it was from an automatic transmission instead of a manual no big deal. (i think)

After getting it put together we turn the key and the starter doesn't engage. we do however hear the relay clicking in the fuse box.

we thought to bypass the starter we would pull start with a rope. engine turns with compression, but still no go. to bypass any fuel issues we sprayed starting fluid into intake and the engine didn't even attempt to burn up the starting fluid.

I am using the original wiring on the truck and not the wiring that came with the purchased engine as it went to an automatic engine.

what this tells me is that I may have several issues.

1. starter is bad - ill pull it sometime this week and bridge it and see if its bad/good.

2. no spark - my question to the internet is how do i properly diagnose if i have/don't have spark?

then if i don't have spark please give me a little direction on where to start.

Is this a common problem when replacing engines in Tacomas?

I am grateful for any help that you guys can give me.

After plugging in our OBD2 reader it comes back as "no DTS found"

 

At any time did you hear and see this new engine run??

If not it might be anything

Poor connections some place.

what was done with the auto transmission harness ?? Neutral safety switch ??

To check for spark a plug grounded to the engine or a fancy spark tester.

 

Why are you worried about spark if you can't even get the engine to turn over? You have an electrical issue obviously. Start with your battery connections, clean them really well and inspect the cables. Make sure all connections are tight. I can't tell you the thousands of these threads I have read that were solved by cleaning battery terminals or tightening loose connections. If your OBDII won't even read, that means it has no power.