I recently bought a 89 Honda Civic and I think it has the 4G Japan '89-'92 B16A 1595 10.2:1 158hp@7600/112ft/lbs@7000 engine. I was told by the previous owner that he thought it had a blown head gasket. I've replaced the head gasket/intake/exhaust manifold gaskets as well as valve cover gasket. I came to find out that after I did all of this, it turns out that the water pump was shot and it was spraying water from the weep hole on the old water pump. As a result, I had to replace the water pump which involved removing the timing belt. I left the timing belt covers (upper and lower) off just in case I had a problem because you have to remove the crankshaft pully to get the lower cover off.

I have the car back together aside from the timing belt covers and the car won't start. I'm pretty sure it's the timing. I have air/fuel and plenty of spark which leads me to believe it's the timing. I have a chiltons manual which shows how to do the timing but I'm not sure that I'm understanding it correctly. I've lined the camshaft pully up properly (aligned the pulley marks with the top of the block). I've also aligned crankshaft pulley TDC mark with the mark on the timing belt cover. I also marked the distributor body to the #1 cylinder plug and compared it with the rotor.

I'm pretty sure that I forgot to take the slack out of the timing belt before tightening down the tensioner pulley and I'm thinking that it may have slipped a tooth or two when I bumped the engine to make sure that the timing belt was working properly. My dad noticed it had tons of slack so I'm thinking this may be the problem. It also may be 180 degrees out, I think we'll check that first.

We're going to re-adjust the timing again (reset the camshaft/crankshaft pulleys and remark the distributor) tomorrow. I want to be sure that we're doing this right and I was hoping someone here has done this before and could maybe explain it in dummy terms so that I can get this right. The car ran strong before I took it apart and the ignition is really strong when it turns over, it just won't fire at all.

I'd appreciate any help, thanks!

 

its your timing....the upper pulley marks have to be match up with each other in the center. if you look inbetween the two pulleys youll see a mark. line the two marks on the pulley with that. and have your pistons at 10 degreees before tdc. good luck

 

Hey! That wasn't dummy terms! lol --- You didn't even name the pulleys! Argh, sorry but that didn't help me at all. "upper pulley, in between pullies", I'm confused! I kind of figured that it was the timing, I just need reassurance that I'm doing it correctly.

 

Bump --- Help! []

 

i agree with Mike - can never figure that TDC stuff - just as well set it at the timing mark (what ever it is - i think 10 or 12 degrees Before) and put the rotor at the number 1 spark plug socket on the distributor. in other words, just set it at BTDC.
Did you have it running after you changed the head gasket ???
also, if i remember correctly, there are 2 marks on the camshaft pulley and its the mark that is red (will be a grooved mark and also made a red color) that goes to the 3 oclock position (about) and in line with the top of the head.
i will find my post about the marks on the crank pulley and post the link. too much to write.

 

found it. it is my post over here:
https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_224527/tm.htm

and someone by the name of Phil also has a very good post with the pictures that are helpful.
if it still doesnt start - then write back

good luck

 

I got it guys! It's running and pulling hard, yahoo! I found out the problem. On my car, if you look at the crankshaft pully from the wheel well, you can see a little circle that's painted red, I was going by that mark and I found out I was more than 90 degrees off on the timing! "Theres ur problem!"(haha). I was going with that mark instead of the marks blatantly located on the outer rim of the inside(blockside) crankshaft pulley. I checked in between pullies and the mark wasnt there but I found it on the lip of the crankshaft pulley instead. Once I found the right marks, I lined it up with the mark on the timing cover and she fired up after about 3 cranks.

YAY! I have a new problem, much less serious problem but I'm going to start a new thread on that! Austin, your the man, I didnt read your reply to this post, but I found your posts after searching around the forum, a few days ago.

This forum rox0rz!