mxchamp5

I have a 2001 honda civic lx coupe with the 1.7 liter in it . decided to do a head gasket replacment and got the head planed and new valve seals in it. its all back together and i couldnt get it fired up. so i took the timing belt back off cause thats my obvious first check is that "am i out of time?" checked the time but it could have been better so i decided to set the cam with the belt on so the crank wouldnt be far off... get in it and prime it and it fires up and shuts back off. by playing with the throttle i got it to run with my foot to the floor but would only sit at about 1000 rpms. not to mention in that time of it running , about 5 mins of it running the exhaust manifold was glowing red. so i started doing some research on here and people with the same problem say its a tooth out of time. so tried again (loosen tensioner a few turns, release spring, take the timing belt off, all lines are dead on , and put belt on with my buddy holding the crank so it wouldnt spin a tooth out, turn it counter clockwise 2 rotations and back at the mark and the cam and crank both line right up better than ever. (as i said before it would run at 1000 rpm with my foot to the mat.) so i get in and try to fire it up and no fire just cranking. most i got was a backfire thru the intake. checked fuel spark and timing again and eveything is there. im so lossed and confused please someone help

Slumpertcivic

Absolutely do not loosen the tension bolt with a belt on! That’s just asking to rip out the threads..

Other minor issues that may have happened..

The spacer washer was installed between the crank gear for the timing belt and the block?
​​​​​Crank gear installed with crank sensor pins outwards?
Crank sensor unplugged during any of the repair?

Crank sensor checked for proper installation alignment?
Crank gear verified no broken teeth.
The crank sensor is notorious on this forum for not working right after being unplugged due to corrosion.
Read that you can unplug the crank sensor , sending the ecu into panic safe mode . In that mode if the car runs, you have greatly narrowed down what to look at.