hello, I have a 1993 honda civic dx with a 1.5 Liter D15B7 engine. my head gasket blew due to car overheating so i tore down the head, replaced the gasket, and had the head shaved. I now have everything back together but it does not want to start. i know it is getting fuel, spark, and compression so all thats left is the timing. is there anyone out there that knows how the timing is supposed to be set from scratch?

 

Take off the upper plastic timing belt cover so you can see the cam pulley. Rotate the crank by hand (counterclockwise) to TDC. The single mark on the crank pulley should be under the plastic pointer on the bottom cover. TDC can also be verified by removing spark plug #1 and probing in the hole with a metal rod to touch the top of the piston. Rotate crank until the piston is up as far as it will go.

Observe that the "UP" stamped in the cam pulley is up. If it is at the bottom, rotate the crank exactly one turn more back around to TDC again. With UP up, the two slash marks on the cam pulley should align (within +- one half timing belt tooth) with the top edge of the head.

If that's OK, remove distributor cap and confirm the rotor points to wire #1, depending on the model it is one of the wires on the side toward the back of the car. The other wires go 3, 4, and 2 going clockwise looking at the outside of the cap. Sometimes (rarely) the pin breaks and the camshaft goes out of sync with the cam pulley. This can be checked by removing the distributor, with the engine at TDC1 the slot in the end of the cam should be vertical (perpendicular to the top of the head).

If the engine has been cranked with the cam badly out of time, the valves may have been damaged. Test compression with a gauge to make sure the engine is mechanically OK. During a compression test, unplug the small wires going to the distributor to prevent firing the coil into an open circuit (spark wires disconnected since the plugs are removed). Such firing is likely to damage the coil.

 

ok thats exactly how i had the timing set and it does have compression so im sure thats not the case, what else could it be?

 

Did you check the distributor and firing order also? It is sometimes possible to put the distributor on with the shaft engaged 180 degrees out of time, and if it is like that the engine will not fire.

Also make sure any harnesses, sensors, injectors, etc. that you unplugged are plugged back in again. The 3-wire plugs for the MAP and the TPS are the same, so it is possible to plug them in wrong. The one with a solid white wire goes on the MAP.

 

yes the distributor and firing order is good, i just retarded the camshaft sprocket 2 teeth and after like 2 minutes of pumping the gas and turning it over i got it to start, i can rev the engine and it doesnt miss but as soon as i let off the gas (at idle speed) the car dies and then is just as hard if not harder to start it up again. im not sure where to go from here or what is causing this. and im sure i hooked all the sensors back up right. it seems like the timing still just isnt right, but ive followed all instructions on setting the timing.