Car started hard but ran fine, 4 or 5 miles later while going up a hill the car felt like it was skipping barely made it too top of hill and as soon as the throttle was let off it died. Fuel pump is working and we have spark, injectors are spraying but wouldn't start. Checked timing it was off a tooth, replaced belt and re timed. Car would only


start with the distributor bolts removed and turned toward the firewall. Re checked timing thinking it was off 180 but it was right on. Started car again and worked when distributor was still turned to the firewall, turned the distributor back to original spot and it stays running until hitting the throttle and then it cuts out. Pulled out the distributor and the coil, it seems to look okay, had old rotor and put it in and it started fine. The other rotor was almost brand new. Any suggestions why this would happen? Or what the problem is?

 

Did you reset the ignition timing in addition to the mechanical timing? Odd that an old rotor would make it run better, but just checking.

 

Install the ECU test jumper and check timing with a light. If it doesn't come in near the center of the adjustment range, the timing belt is still off. (Also check that the pin that keys the cam sprocket to the cam is intact).

 

If you' mean the distributor being on number 1 top dead center, all valves closed then yes I did that.

 

Not sure how to do that, but we will be going to pick up a Haynes manual

 

There's a slight mark on the key on one side, not cracked or broken. Would that affect the crank position sensor?

 

The crank sensor on a 97 does not control spark timing. It is all done through the distributor.

To make sure the pulley is on right, remove spark plug #1 and put a suitable metal rod in the hole to touch the top of the piston. Rotate the crank by hand until the piston is all the way up. This should line up the single notch on the outside crank pulley with the plastic pointer. If you then pull the distributor off with the engine at TDC, the slot in the end of the crankshaft should be vertical (perpendicular to the head, not absolutely vertical since the whole engine is tilted when installed in the car).

When you set with a timing light you set to the center notch of the group of 3 on the pulley. Again the ECU test jumper must be installed to use a timing light. Putting the ECU in test mode causes it to use a constant base idle timing rather than vary the timing like it does in normal operation.

 

Thank you for the information, I got to get my hands on a timing light! The car is running and is drivable, it has 190K hoping to get a few more years out of it without having to put too much money into it.

 

So we have another problem! Ever since we bought the 97 honda civic the engine light has been on saying fuel trim malfunction bank 1, and system running too lean. We have done a tune up, o2 sensors, fuel cap, put in different injectors and light will come on after a week of being cleared. The car idles low too . Any ideas of what it could be? Thank you.