posted this in the technical talk forum. it obviously didnt belong there. so now im putting one in the general forum.
I just changed the head gasket on my 1.5l civic. it ran fine before the hg went. new in october relevant to this is the timing belt, water pump, plugs, wires, and cap.
i put it back together last night, got the timing marks to line up consistently, yet it wont fire. it smells like gas out the exhaust. i lined the marks up again, and checked the rotor, it was pointing to the #2 at tdc. so i moved the wires around one spot on the dist so #1 wire will fire at #1 tdc. well that didnt work.
i had the head decked, and idk what the guy could have done to change the relationship between the cam gear and the dist. and it also sounds like there is a rough spot when turning the car over. idk if its supposed to be like that or if maybe the valves are hitting.
to sum up, the lower sprocket timing mark and the cam ‘line up’ marks are good. i am getting a good spark when it does happen. i just dont think its happening at the right time. i do not see any connectors unplugged.
please help, this needs to be driven asap
is your firing order right? all your sensor connected? check for fuel?
are you positive you are getting spark? what color is it?
yea i am getting fuel, you can smell it out the exhaust. i pulled the #1 (drivers side) plug out and turned the motor over, it was a bright orange spark.
what the chilton told me was the motor went 4321 and the dist started at 6 oclock and went around clock wise.
i put the motor at #1tdc and the rotor was pointing to #2. shouldnt it point to #1?
orange colored spark is a weak spark, you want a crisp white.
i thought honda dizzy’s only can go in one way so you don’t flip it 180 degrees? am i wrong?
pull all plugs , plug into wires. lay plugs on head look for spark… dont think you getting gas if you smell it… if all 4 spark put them back,pull fuel pump fuse, get some starting fluid spray into intake turn over … it will fire…even if the order is off a lil it will try to start…now if that does not work check the timing … there is something wrong … most honds will fire if everything is right with timming and you have spark
dont worry where the rotor is… if you put it on the head fine you will be ok
tony the spark will work… and yes you are right they only go on one way unless you get a hammer
thanks guys, ill do that when my room mate gets home. right now i have the crank pulley off and of course all the belts so i can keep rechecking timing, so the little metal guide thing is also off, so i use the flat edge of a prybar to keep the belt on, lol…
im going to try and get ahold of the guy who decked it to see if he could have changed anything. can the cam sprocket go on multiple ways?
I think the chiltons firing order is off
1342
(::] top left is 1 top right is 3 lower right is 4 and the other is 2
THANK YOU!!!
besides the fact that my dist is in a diamond shape instead of a square it worked. if i had actually thought about how the pistons move id be able to figure it out last night.
it kind of not sputtered, but it kinda fired then it started right up, now im gonna put that guide on the crank and see if i can get it to idle. i really didnt want the timing belt to fall off…
hour later update, everything is running smooth and good. thanks again. i thought i was seriously fucked.
side note, i cleaned the intake with engine degreaser then carb cleaner (while it was off the car), and now the throttle valve is kind of sticky. i douched it with pb blaster then blew it off then put some silicone lube on it, it seemed to help… any thing else i should do in regards to that?
make sure your thermostat ground for the wiring harness is hooked up under a bolt, if its not the engine will not run or not run well
sounds like u got everything. if u torqued everything to the correct sequence and spec u should be good for another 100k. good job playa
so your firing order was messed up?
yea, chiltons had it all wrong, they had the firing order 1234, which doesnt make sense once ya think about it.