Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

Stock 2000 Civic EX D16Y8 with 203,000 miles I bought it about a year ago with 173,000

I replaced my timing belt, water pump, tensioner and drive belts. The car started fine and I drove it around for 30 minutes pretty hard. It had a ticking that I was not happy about but some forums said that it would just go away, it mostly did but I was not satisfied. I decided to adjust my valves, the gap on the intake side was all a little large so I closed them down a bit and the exhaust needed some adjusting too. I started it and it ran only on 2 cylinders. I took the plugs out of those cylinders and put them in the 2 that were not firing. now none fire. I have fuel, I can see it on the plugs after I pull them and I can smell it.

Trying to fix it I replaced the ignition coil, distributor cap, rotor and plugs. the wires are only 1 year old.

I get a spark out of all four plugs when they are out of the cylinder and grounded. I have tried jump starting it to give it some extra juice but it does the same thing.

Here is a video of what is happening. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

oh, there was a misfire code when it was running on 2 cylinders but now no code- it isn't running.

Also, when I replaced the timing belt and water pump some coolant spilled onto the crank position sensor. It ran fine after I put it together though.

I can get pictures, sound clips and video of whatever you need, I'm lost and will appreciate any help I can get.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

Did you mark the spark plug wires and put them back in the exact same place that you took them off from?

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

When I replaced the distributor cap I took one wire from the old cap and put it in the same spot on the new cap.

The end that goes onto the spark plug it is pretty clear which goes where based on length.

I only did the distributor cap after it was misfiring, until that it was just the end that plugs into the spark plug.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

Are you 100% sure that you gapped the valves properly? If you are, remove the timing belt cover to make sure the timing belt has not slipped off the pulley, or skipped a tooth.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

I just pulled the valve cover and upper timing belt cover. I checked all of the gaps and they are all at spec. Cylinder 1 was at TDC when up was pointing up, 3 was at TDC when up was horizontally to the left, 2 up was down and 4 up was horizontally right, all 90 degrees apart on the camshaft and 180 degrees on the crankshaft. As long as the chiltons book has the right clearances, I'm right on.

When I took the old timing belt off, it was super loose, when I put the new one on I made sure there was a good amount of tension on it. If it didn't slip with the old one it would not slip with the new one.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

Recheck your gap. I'm running out of ideas :( Hvave you reset the ECU?

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

the valve clearances should be printed on a sticker on the back of the hood, just to make sure they are the correct values. if the car was running fine before the valve adjustment, it had to be something happened related to the valves you did.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

Found the sticker, it also has the catalyst info on it. The book was right.

The thing that makes it unclear for me is that I had it running after the valve job, it was on 2 cylinders only but it did run. only after I switched the spark plugs around did it stop running. the wires are making good contact since they spark outside of the cylinder.

I'm off to work, I will see if I can get a compression tester.

edit:

I reset the ECU last night too, no luck. I'll try it again, some guy told me to hit the brakes to release any electrical charge stored in a capacitor or something, I forgot to do that. That won't be until tonight, I'm off to work now.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

ecu reset will not matter, thats for minor changes in the fuel trims. did you use a good quality set of feeler gauges? is the engine light on for anything other than misfires? have you tried new plugs just in case? idk, here is a diy for valve adjustment for 01+ civic but you can still look thru it to get a general idea and maybe notice something you didnt do.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...djustment.html

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

I plugged in the computer and it didn't read any codes, the light is off. Can it throw a code if it is not running?

I read through the DIY, different engine but same procedure. The only difference in what I did is that through all of the work I have done the only time I disconnected the battery was to reset the ECU. Could I have shorted the main relay or something by not disconnecting it?

Also, I checked compression, 3 cylinders were around 120psi. The last one only had 90psi. This is the same cylinder that had a sooty plug while the rest had raw fuel on the plugs. A cylinder with bad compression would not prevent the engine from running though, right? It just wouldn't run right?

It seems to want to run on at least a couple of cylinders but it sounds like it then hits a wall and just stops and has to start over getting the engine spinning again.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

if you turn the car to ON position without starting engine, it should be able to read codes if there is any. those compression readings are a bit low, should be around 140 but that 90 is way below. still, motor should start...even if it runs rough.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

I was jumping the car to get enough power and turned it over a couple of times to measure compression.

Question on the valve lash adjustment: do I need to push the rocker arm down when checking the gap with a feeler gauge? My book says to push the arm down but the DIYs don't. There is play on the rocker arm and it could make a difference.

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

two new videos, the first one is the car trying to start with the cylinder with low compression without a plug installed. seems to spin almost freely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hSHDW9sX_8

the second one has plugs in all cylinders. sounds like that cylinder is working against the rest of the engine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf9cSq-mXT8

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

I'M A FREAKING IDIOT!!!:hithead:

I went out to check out the firing order again on the distributor cap because it only made sense that the wires were on in the wrong order. They were. I had looked at that several times, both before and after posting my problem on here and was sure it was correct. I don't know how it got mixed up, when I did the distributor cap it was transferred directly one by one.

Thank you all that posted replies to try to help me. tbohar, you were right all along with your first post.
:_doh:

Re: Timing belt + valve job = won't run
 

Haha it happens to everyone... Just sucks you lost your car for a few days but glad to hear you got it going again.