back ground- 99 Dx broke timing belt while driving.
Replaced belt, fired it up. Runs, idles rough, but revs up ok. Slight ticking noise- sounds like a spark jumping to ground kind of noise-
After warming up will hardly idle.

Where should I go from here????
Oh I rechecked the timing marks on crank and cam- appear to be on.....
Need cheapest fix, don't have much money if any at all....
Can I pull head, get a few valves and be good to go till I can save up money for a replacement?

 

Noise like sparks jumping could be... sparks jumping. Could have a bad wire or cracked cap. Run the engine in the dark and look for sparks.

Check valve adjustment. A valve that is set too tight will not close fully, causing loss of compression and starting / idling problems. It will get worse as the engine warms up.

Disconnect the fuel injectors one at a time to check for dead cylinders. (The usual method of disconnecting the spark plug wires can blow the coil). A crashed valve would typically make the affected cylinder completely dead.

 

also doing a compression test will determine if a valve is bent.

 

Does the crank pulley and timing cover have to be on to do a compression test?

 

you will need to crank the engine over to get a compression reading using a compression gauge

 

I know I need to crank motor over, but do I have to put the front cover and belts back on for it? since it don't run while doing it.....
I pull the fuel fuse correct to do test?

 

i believe you should be alright, and yea so the fuel dont dump into the cyl.

 

Also unplug the low-voltage wires to the distributor, so the coil does not try to fire into an open circuit.

 

Getting the time to work on it isn't gonna happen this week. Maybe Sunday.
But I did find a used head for $100 off a 2000 1.6. It should be the same head correct?

When trying to start the motor, it doesn't sound like it has full compression. It sounds like it spins freely before it starts. This is leading me to believe it's got a bent valves.

Plans are to replace motor when I can save up the money for it. So this is a band aid to get it going till then.